Our perspective.

This is part one in a four-part series highlighting the Michigan organizations participating in 2015 Demo Week, a series of presentations where the latest cohorts of companies that have completed an accelerator program present to investors.  Demo Week participant organizations include Coolhouse Labs, Desai Accelerator, Techstars Mobility, and Detroit Venture Partners.  Today, Coolhouse Founder and Managing Director, Jordan Breighner, introduces us to […]

by Maureen Brosnan Miller, Executive Director, MVCA Think of geraniums, America’s longest front porch and horse drawn carriages and instantly you’re transported to Mackinac Island. It sounds like a Pure Michigan ad, and in many ways it is, but this version has the added advantage of having many of Michigan’s top policy leaders and agenda […]

Congratulations to IncWell Venture Capital’s Reda Jaber, named today to the Crain’s Detroit Business “20 in their 20s” list!  Great work Reda! Timing was everything for Reda Jaber. He was finishing his M.D. last year and had a 9 p.m. deadline to submit his preferred list of residencies. He was about to hit the “send” […]

Recently, House legislative leadership introduced a road funding plan (HB 4607 & 4608) that would decimate MEDC’s economic, business, community development, job training and entrepreneurship programs through a proposed $185 million reduction in its operational budget.  The House Roads and Economic Development Committee met yesterday and heard testimony from many in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.  As […]

MVCA member and Arboretum Ventures managing partner and cofounder Jan Garfinkle has experience leading a venture community, as Chairperson of the MVCA Board in 2008-2009. But she’ll have a new, larger constituency to represent now that she’s been elected to the National Venture Capital Association’s 2015-2016 Board of Directors. Her appointment is another indication that […]

Recruiting and hiring the right talent is a key challenge for companies growing quickly. Fortunately, resources abound for MVCA members and their portfolio companies, including the MVCA Executive Attraction Program, which is designed to increase the number of venture-backed executives in Michigan. It provides assistance with recruiting and first-year salary expenses associated with hiring all […]

As Ludlow Ventures’ Brett deMarrais finishes his two-year MVCA Fellowship, we asked him to reflect on his time as a Fellow, including how he was able to help tell the Michigan VC story outside the state and the grisly career ending he hopes to avoid.  Tell us about your Fellow position – where are you, […]

By Emily Heintz, Associate Director, MVCA Maureen and I just returned from San Francisco, where we were in town for NVCA’s VentureScape conference, an annual meeting of the nation’s venture capital community. The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) has been a valuable partner to us in spreading the story of Michigan entrepreneurial and investment success […]

HRV is pleased to announce a $5 million Opportunity Fund. It will co-invest alongside of HRV I in the later stage growth rounds of our portfolio companies. The fund is similar to other Opportunity Funds by leading venture capitalists including Mark Suster, Fred Wilson, and Brad Feld. Opportunity Funds are the industry’s response to companies […]