News

From all indications, corporate VCs are gaining traction in the venture capital investment arena. That is changing the landscape for traditional VC firms and venture-backed startup companies. “Some of the numbers would suggest there has been an across-the-board increase over the last 10 years in corporate VCs participating in financing,”... Read More

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... Read More

In April, Ara Topouzian stepped into his new role as executive director at the Michigan Venture Capital Association. He plans to use his experience in economic development to support and attract new members to the MVCA and to foster greater collaboration in the community to promote business growth. The MVCA... Read More

One of biggest challenges confronting the Midwest’s entrepreneurial and investment community has been the region’s so-called density gap. The expanded scope of the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium, formerly the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium, will help to alleviate that pain point, according to Russ Straate, associate director of the University of... Read More

Over the past 17 years, veteran startup founder and CEO Jen Baird has raised nearly $60 million in financing for new ventures across different industries. In the process, she has tapped a variety of funding sources, including government grants and contracts, angel groups and venture capital investors. Currently, Baird is... Read More

For Andrew Maxey, BSME ’05, the genesis of his carbon-fiber recycling startup, Vartega Inc., came years ago while he was working part-time at the City Bike Shop in Traverse City, Michigan. A customer accidentally drove his car into the garage with his carbon-fiber bicycle still mounted on the roof rack... Read More

Every year, 1.5 million people die from systemic fungal infections worldwide. Among the most vulnerable are patients whose immune systems have been weakened by cancer treatment, abdominal surgery or organ transplants. Infants and the elderly also are at risk. Alarmingly, the incidence of these infections is expected to increase in... Read More

Cleveland Clinic Ventures is deploying strategic capital to accelerate the growth and development of research projects and startup companies focused on bringing to market innovative medical devices, health-care information technology, therapeutics and diagnostics emerging from the Cleveland Clinic. At the 2019 Midwest Growth Capital Symposium in May, investors will learn... Read More

The University of Michigan’s robust research projects in the life sciences continue to fill the commercialization pipeline at the U-M Office of Technology Transfer. “Roughly half of the startups spun out of the University are life-science companies focused on therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, health information technology or research tools,” says... Read More

Customers. Talent. Cash. Those three building blocks, underpinning the growth and success of venture-backed entrepreneurial companies launched in Michigan and the surrounding region, have been supported over the past 38 years by the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium, formerly the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium. Now the MGCS’s tenacious efforts are starting... Read More