31
May
Health-Care Startup CEOs Weigh Pros and Cons of Launching Companies in Michigan
The 2018 Michigan Growth Capital Symposium provided the perfect forum for a panel of startup executives to weigh the pros and cons of launching venture-backed health-care companies in Michigan. The pros far outnumbered the cons. The “Big M” is a big plus for startup founders and chief executives in Ann... Read More
31
May
MGCS Panelists Predict Move toward Consolidation in Cybersecurity Industry
The cybersecurity industry is undergoing rapid changes that are remaking the competitive landscape, said a panel of experts at the 2018 Michigan Growth Capital Symposium. With new breaches occurring nearly every day, a growing number of retailers, Internet companies, banks, hospital systems and other large organizations with valuable customer data... Read More
31
May
Midwestern Tech Transfer Offices and Investors Forging Closer Ties, says MGCS Panelists
University technology-transfer offices and venture capitalists in the Midwest have a lot to gain by working together, said a MGCS panel of experts drawn from universities, research institutions and venture capital firms in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. “Venture investing is a relationship business,” stated Erik Iverson, managing director of the... Read More
31
May
Blockchain and ICOs Offer Opportunities and Uncertainty for Entrepreneurs and Investors, Say MGCS Panelists
Blockchain is a powerful, potentially transformative technology that has attracted the attention of entrepreneurs and investors. Whether it will turn out to be a boom or bust over the long haul is still open to conjecture. At the 2018 MGCS, a panel of researchers, entrepreneurs and investors took a critical... Read More
31
May
MGCS Takes on New Name and Identity as Midwest Growth Capital Symposium
University of Michigan Finance Professor David Brophy, who founded the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium nearly four decades ago, announced that the nation’s longest-running venture fair is taking on a new name and identity. From now on, the MGCS will be called the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium to reflect the growing... Read More
31
May
Michigan Must Harness and Retain its Talent and Brain Power, Says 2018 MGCS Keynote Wendell Brooks
Wendell Brooks, senior vice president of Intel Corporation and president of Intel Capital, returned to Ann Arbor and his alma mater on May 15 to deliver an important message at the 2018 Michigan Growth Capital Symposium. “It’s the Midwest Big Ten schools that are filling the engineering talent [pool] in... Read More
2
May
Trillium Will Introduce its Automotive Cybersecurity Platform at the MGCS
In June 2015, two “security researchers” remotely took control of a Jeep Cherokee while it was traveling at 70 mph on a U.S. highway. The hackers used the car’s entertainment system, which was connected to the mobile data network, to manipulate critical functions such as steering and braking. This hacking... Read More
2
May
Square 1 Bank Carves Out a Niche as a Venture Debt Lender to Startups
Square 1 Bank, a division of Pacific Western Bank, has carved out a unique niche as a venture debt lender to life sciences and technology entrepreneurs as well as a financial services partner to venture capital firms. This dual role positions the bank as a valuable sponsor of the 2018... Read More
2
May
Automation Alley Positions Michigan as a Global Leader in Industry 4.0
Ready or not, Industry 4.0 is here. This so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution is rapidly transforming manufacturing in Michigan, in the U.S. and around the world. The velocity, scope and systems impact of these transformational changes is unprecedented in modern history. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution, a.k.a. Industry 4.0, brings a fusion... Read More
2
May
OXX Looks to MGCS Investors to Keep its Rugged Appliance Products Perking
OXX is serving up a novel appliance product line that it hopes will whet the appetite of investors at the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium in May. “Our mission is to be a rugged-appliance company with products spanning six broad categories,” says Kent Brown, who is chief executive of the... Read More