Author: Ara Topouzian

Building a strong entrepreneurial and investment community in Michigan hasn’t happened by accident; it’s taken the deliberate creation of meaningful, effective connection points between entrepreneurs, investors and entrepreneurial support organizations.  One of the best opportunities for MVCA members to connect to the vibrant community we’ve all built is on June 4, as Intermitten arrives for […]

The Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance (CVP) at the Ross School of Business will co-host the inaugural VC University LIVE program in conjunction with this year’s Midwest Growth Capital Symposium in Ann Arbor! The CVP is partnering with the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the University of California, Berkeley, School of […]

Michael Cole is part of Bank of Ann Arbor’s Technology Industry Group. In this guest blog post, he shares why a capital call line of credit can give venture firms predictable cash flow and investing agility featuring commentary from MVCA members Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, Arboretum Ventures and Augment Ventures. Bank of Ann Arbor is a […]

View the NEW 2019 MVCA Research Report Here! 61 Michigan-Based Startup Companies Received $385 Million in Venture Capital from Michigan Venture Capital Firms; $964 Million Needed for Continued Growth of Michigan Startup Companies Ann Arbor, MI – April 15, 2019 – Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA),  the nonprofit trade association that increases the amount of […]

MVCA Venture Fellow, Brandon Epstein, a senior associate at Detroit Venture Partners, attended SXSW 2019 for the first time. In this guest blog post, he shares three branding trends he learned from the conference with Michigan’s entrepreneurial and investment community. I was lucky enough to attend SXSW for the first time this year. The festival […]

Earlier this month, we announced Ara Topouzian as our new executive director! Ara has deep experience in the economic development sector and was formerly the president and CEO of the Troy Chamber of Commerce. In his own words, here’s why Ara joined MVCA, his vision for the association and what he does outside of working […]

Hirak Parikh has been a long-standing member of Michigan’s entrepreneurial and investment community as an entrepreneur and investor. Since 2016, Hirak has been the fund manager of University of Michigan’s Monroe-Brown Seed Fund, an early stage fund that makes investments in life-science spinouts from the University of Michigan. Now, he’s embarking on a new role as a […]

Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA), the nonprofit trade association founded in 2002 to increase the amount of capital and talent for Michigan’s entrepreneurial and investment community, announced today that it has hired former Troy Chamber of Commerce President & CEO, Ara Topouzian as its new executive director. In this position, Topouzian will work collaboratively with […]

Complion is the leading eRegulatory compliance solution for high-performing clinical research sites Beringea, a global private equity firm providing growth capital to high potential businesses, has led a $7 million Series B investment in Cleveland-based Complion, an electronic regulatory compliance (“eRegulatory”) solution for high-performing clinical research sites. The additional capital investment will help Complion extend […]

More than jobs were at stake for pharmaceutical scientists facing the closure of Pfizer Michigan Research & Development in Ann Arbor. The 2007 closure also created the potential to lose decades of drug development experience, including critical specialties that were in high demand from small and mid-size bio-tech and pharmaceutical clients. Former co-workers Gerry Cox […]