What they did discuss was how to handle the available $6.7 million that isn’t getting claimed from the most recent round of competition. Two more companies, Avidimer Therapeutics and Accuri Cytometers joined Cielo Med Solutions in not agreeing or unable to take the loans awarded. So the next two companies that had a tie score that just missed the cut are now eligible to step up and accept an award. Fisher Coach and Incept Biosystems are now going through due diligence and will probably sign notes totaling $3.875 million.
So what to do with the remaining $2,849,916. They can’t go to the companies with the next best scores. There are four of them and their combined ask is over $7 million. There was concensus that dividing the dollars up evenly among the four was not a good idea. What they did was ask the MEDC staff to do some investigation of the circumstances of those four companies today versus when they originally applied, nearly nine months ago.

One other action item on the agenda was the approval of the RFP for a $6.8 million award to a pre-seed fund. Applications will be due in February and the award in April.

Hopefully there will be a 2009 competition and it will come soon. Stay tuned.

SEIC Board and 21CJF Competition
Minutes and meeting dates for SEIC and info about 21CJF

Accuri Cytometers
website for Accuri

Ciello Med Solutions
web site for Cielo

Fisher Coachworks
website for Fisher Coachworks

Avidimer Therapeutics
website for Avidimer

Incept Biosystems
website for Incept Bio

Here are the winners of the competition:

Accuri Cytometers, Inc.
Fulcrum Composites Inc
AI Medical Devices, Inc.
Critical Signal Technologies, Inc.
Solidica, Inc.
NeuroNexus Technologies, Inc.
Compendia Bioscience, Inc.
Hybra-Drive Systems, LLC
Nephrion, Inc.
Cielo MedSolutions LLC
Tolera Therapeutics, Inc.
Metabolic Solutions Development
Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Avidimer Therapeutics, Inc.
Arbor Photonics
Nanocerox, Inc.
Pixel Velocity Incorporated

Hybra-Drive received the largest amount $3.352mm.  Fulcrum Composite asked for the smallest amount.  Both companies received investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund last year.

11 of the companies are in Ann Arbor.

Congratulations to the companies and the teams helping those companies prepare their applications.  Next round will probably start in January.

21CJF Website
Official website for all things 21st Century Jobs Fund

The SEIC met last week to approve the list of companies that met the requirements for eligibility for the 21st Century Jobs Fund competition.  26 companies were rejected from the 117 that applied leaving 91 companies to be reviewed.  Those 26 should have received word by now but we haven’t heard any rumblings yet.

David Haviland with Shepherd Advisors attended the meeting and did his usual great job recapping the results in his blog.

As you know by now NCMS is the reviewing organization.  They have 75 reviewers lined up to start the process.  The written reviews are underway.  Half the reviewers are VCs or other technology start-up experts.

The SEIC meets again on August 20.  That’s the next time we will hear anything official about the competition.  We will learn at that time what companies will be asked to make personal presentations to reviewers in Lansing.

I have no doubt the deadlines will be met.  Same as you, we are anxious to see how many companies at the end of the day will be funded and at what levels.  We did learn something new last week from an insider.  There will not be just one loan document afterall.  There will be two, one a straight loan with warrants and the second a convertible note.  And both will be negotiable.

Good luck to all that applied and let the best plans win.

7/22/08 SEIC Board meeting summary

National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
web site

The SEIC board is meeting Monday February 25.  At that meeting they might approve the RFP for applicants to compete for the $30 million round of funding available this year.  Our friend David Haviland at Shepherd Advisors, who tries to attend all the SEIC meetings, was at the January meeting and reports on what he heard in his blog at

http://mi21cjf.proboards100.com/index.cgi?board=306news&action=display&thread=22.

A draft RFP has been reviewed by an SEIC committee and is expected to be presented at this meeting and approved.  It outlines who will be eligible to apply for investment. As is established in the legislation creating the 21st Century Jobs Fund it will be limited to companies in one of the four technology sectors of Advanced Automotive & Materials, Alternative Energy, Homeland Security, and Life Sciences.  The message coming from the MEDC and SEIC is that only for-profit companies that are early in their development but have revenue will be considered.  A match will be required but we’re short on details about what constitutes a match.  It’s probably safe to assume cash is best and at least a 1:1 ratio will be expected.

Another big difference this time will be the judging.  Emphasis will be more on commercialization and expectation for sales and employment growth versus technology. A business plan is going to be more important than a white paper.

So keep your eyes and ears open for news out of Lansing on Tuesday regarding the actions coming out of Monday’s SEIC meeting.  If you want to review the minutes of past SEIC meetings or see who the 19 members of the board are you can find it all at http://www.themedc.org/Boards-Committees/SEIC-Board/Default.aspx.

Shepherd Advisors blog on January SEIC meeting
David Haviland gives a good summary of what was discussed at the meeting.

SEIC Board
SEIC members, minutes and responsibilty

Our friend David Haviland went to the Michigan Strategic Fund Board meeting last month to find out what he could about the next competitive round of funding via the 21st Century Jobs Fund.  Follow the link below for his report.  It’s a good review of the big picture of the 21CJF program and the portion committed to the competition for early stage companies.

David says the SEIC will meet in January with a couple weighty issues: 1) how will the review process work and by whom; and 2) review the RFP and determine when to release it for competitor applicants.  David indicates the SEIC won’t meet again until March.  I went to the MEDC website to see when the SEIC Board is scheduled to meet and their 2008 schedule is not up yet.  They met monthly for a while in 2007 and I think they could meet in February if they felt there was a productive reason.  There is a sense of expediency with all parties.  Everyone in Lansing wants the next round to get going.  Maybe I’m just being too optimistic. Furthermore there is a strong desire by all concerned to make the award decisions quicker than last time around. So I think David’s assessment that it could be August before awards are made, my optimistic view is that it could be June or July if they can get their act together.  Of course, among the cynical in the crowd it could be September with checks not being cut until October or later.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing to know at this time is a suggestion from key MEDC staff.  Draft a good business plan.  The business plan format will probably the one they will use for competition submissions, rather than a grant type application.  Remember, the awards this time around will be going for companies ready to start commercializing their products and services, no research activity.

Skip Simms

David Haviland’s 21CJF Update
Dave’s update on the next round for 21CJF

The Michigan Strategic Fund Board meets next Wednesday.  Although the minutes of their January meeting are not on-line yet it is common knowledge that they did not approve the SEICs request to start a new round of funding for Michigan start-ups.  The MSF wants to use the $34 million for other programs.  Some of those dollars may be for programs that will help Ann Arbor respond to the opportunities and challenges we face with the closing of the Pfizer facility.

But it puts on hold the next round of funding through the 21st Century Jobs Fund.  Attached is a link to a summary of the January SEIC meeting by David Haviland.  Although David thinks the next round could start in May or June, don’t be surprised if it is much later in the year.

21st Century Jobs Fund Application Delay
Start of next round of funding for start-ups via 21CJF unknown