Sam Hogg graduated from the Michigan Venture Fellows Program in 2014.
Sam joined Open Prairie Ventures in 2012 as a venture partner and is responsible for screening new investments, due diligence, and portfolio management, with an emphasis on Michigan-based activities. Prior to joining Open Prairie, Sam was the Director of Venture Development for Detroit-based NextEnergy where he oversaw the NextEnergy Seed and Micro-Loan Fund and NextEnergy’s role as general partner and Midwest office for Nth Power, a $450MM venture capital firm based in the Bay Area. Sam came to NextEnergy from Michigan State University Foundation, a $400MM evergreen fund underwriting the technology transfer assets and activities at Michigan State University. Prior to that, he was an environmental and energy manager for Vail Resorts in Colorado. Sam is a seasoned founder as well, starting the first ever digital interactive gifting platform, GiftZip.com, while in business school at Michigan State University. GiftZip.com was successfully acquired in 2011, after 24 months of operation, by SVM LP, the global leader in gift card marketing.
Sam graduated Summa Cum Laude in Environmental Biology from Albion College and holds a Masters in Business Administration in Finance from the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State.