Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund Invests $585,000 in Three Start-Ups
Three Michigan companies recently received investments from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, totaling $585,000. To date, the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, a collaborative effort of Michigan’s SmartZones, has awarded 63 Michigan companies with seed funding totaling more than $14 million. The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund companies have attracted more than $18 million in matching grant and equity funds. In 2011, the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital... [Read More...]
InPore Technologies Wins SmartZone Award
InPore Technologies was presented the first SmartZone Award at the GLEQ Awards Banquet recently. InPore Technologies was selected for the strength of its business plan, the industry, technical and entrepreneurial experience of its management team, and its ability to raise funds. The Smart Zone Award is sponsored by the Michigan SmartZones, funded through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and administered by Ann Arbor SPARK. It was created to benefit... [Read More...]
Crain’s identifies SPARK as “scratching the entrepreneurial itch”
From Crain’s cover’s Washtenaw/Livingston …Goldschmidt is one of the nearly 70 new startups that have begun working with Ann Arbor Spark this year, a roughly 25 percent increase from the same period in 2008, according to Skip Simms, director of business acceleration services at Spark. Much of the spike is driven by an increased awareness of the resources available to Ann Arbor’s entrepreneurial community and an increase in... [Read More...]
“Open Source” Economic Development
Economic development in Michigan should take a page from the playbook of the ever-evolving software industry. Its “open source” philosophy – the source code that drives development should be open and available to all – is a model that can propel Michigan’s success in growing, retaining, and attracting business. Michael Finney, SPARK President & CEO Ann Arbor SPARK has taken steps to pilot this approach to economic development by designing... [Read More...]
