Invest Michigan, the new firm in charge of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, is opening its first office in downtown Detroit.
Invest Michigan won the request for proposals from the
Michigan Economic Development Corp earlier this year to manage the next investment round of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. The state-supported investment vehicle supports tech startups working toward commercialization with early stage capital infusions in the form of a convertible note equivalent to about $250,000. The new investment vehicle amounts to $5.8 million in state funds that will be invested in Detroit over the next two years, along with another $1 million for the University Commercialization Fund.
Startups eligible for the funding must have less than $1 million in revenue, less than $1 millon in third-party funding, and 100 percent matching funds from a third party source. Startups must also be based in Michigan and be beyond the concept development and analysis phase of developing their technologies.
Invest Michigan currently employs two full-time employees and one part-time person. It will occupy 1,400 square feet in the Guardian Building next week. Before it had been working virtually from its founding members laptops.
"We want to be in downtown Detroit and part of the renaissance here," says Charles Moret, president & CEO of Invest Michigan. He adds that "there is more and more interest from startups to be in Detroit" when explaining why it choose downtown Detroit over the likes of downtown Ann Arbor. Moret maintains that Invest Michigan will maintain its state-wide investment focus.
Source: Charles Moret, president & CEO of Invest Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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