MVCA’s VentureTrack 2026 will train Michigan’s next generation of venture investors as the state tries to turn research and startups into companies producing high-paying jobs. Michigan’s $56 billion bioscience industry shows what’s at stake.

ANN ARBOR — Michigan has nearly 48,000 bioscience jobs paying an average $110,204 a year. A statewide effort to train more venture capital investors could help determine whether Michigan creates thousands more of those high-paying jobs — or watches promising companies and technologies grow somewhere else.

The Michigan Venture Capital Association will hold VentureTrack 2026 Sept. 23 in Ann Arbor, a one-day program designed to train current and prospective venture investors in everything from evaluating startups and conducting due diligence to understanding term sheets, raising capital and building investment portfolios.

The event is part of a broader three-year effort backed by $500,000 from the Michigan Strategic Fund to expand Michigan’s venture-capital talent pool.

The timing matters because Michigan already has a surprisingly large bioscience industry: 47,815 jobs, average annual wages of $110,204 and nearly $56 billion in statewide economic impact.

Yet Michigan’s challenge isn’t simply inventing new medical technologies.

It’s finding enough capital — and enough investors who understand complex technology businesses — to turn Michigan research into Michigan companies and ultimately Michigan jobs.

48,000 Jobs Paying $110,000

Michigan’s bioscience industry generated an estimated $55.72 billion economic impact and included 3,319 establishments, according to MichBio, the state’s biosciences industry association.

Bioscience employment has increased about 42% since 2006, while workers now earn an average $110,204 annually — about 66% more than Michigan’s overall private-sector average wage.

The industry encompasses pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, research and testing, agricultural biosciences and related businesses.

Michigan also has particular strength in medical devices and pharmaceuticals, ranking ninth nationally in medical-device employment and 10th in biopharmaceutical employment, according to MichBio.

But despite those strengths, Michigan’s overall national ranking in bioscience employment has slipped as competing states have expanded more rapidly.

Michigan isn’t necessarily going backward.

Other states are moving faster.

Michigan Has The Research. Does It Have The Capital?

Lack of scientific research isn’t the problem.

Michigan’s universities conduct about $1.62 billion annually in bioscience-related research and development, while National Institutes of Health investment in the state has approached $1 billion annually.

The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University generate research that can potentially become medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutics, pharmaceuticals and new companies.

But discovering a technology and building a company around it are two very different things.

Life sciences can be particularly difficult to finance.

Unlike some software startups that can develop products and generate revenue relatively quickly, medical-device, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies may spend years moving through research, clinical testing and regulatory approvals before reaching the marketplace.

That can require tens of millions — and sometimes hundreds of millions — of dollars in investment.

If Michigan scientists develop promising technologies but entrepreneurs eventually must go to Boston, San Francisco, San Diego or other major venture markets to find sufficient capital, Michigan risks exporting not only intellectual property but potentially the companies and jobs that come with it.

Michigan Wants More Venture Investors

That’s where VentureTrack comes in.

The Sept. 23 program at Bamboo in Ann Arbor will provide training in venture-fund fundamentals, deal sourcing, due diligence, term sheets, cap tables, fundraising and investment decision-making.

VentureTrack is part of MVCA’s broader Michigan Venture Talent Development Program, supported by the $500,000 Michigan Strategic Fund award.

The idea isn’t simply to produce more people who can write investment checks.

Michigan needs investors capable of evaluating sophisticated technologies and determining which companies have the potential to become major businesses.

That can be particularly important in life sciences, where investors may need to understand intellectual property, clinical trials, Food and Drug Administration regulations, reimbursement, manufacturing and long development timelines.

Michigan Venture Capital Association Executive Director Ara Topouzian has argued publicly that Michigan needs more capital available to its startup ecosystem.

“To remain competitive within the Great Lakes region, Michigan must proactively provide funding that enables VCs to deploy more capital into our ecosystem,” Topouzian said in comments published on the MVCA website as part of its 2024 Impact Report.

Topouzian was not interviewed by MITechNews for this story.

MVCA’s own research shows Michigan’s venture-capital picture isn’t entirely bleak.

Four Michigan venture firms collectively raised nearly $500 million in 2023, the state’s strongest venture fundraising performance in more than a decade, while more than $1 billion was invested in Michigan-based companies that year.

But MVCA also identified gaps in the financing pipeline, including the need for more pre-seed capital to help very young companies get started.

The challenge is creating enough capital throughout a company’s development to keep promising businesses growing in Michigan.

Bioscience Shows What’s At Stake

Michigan already has examples demonstrating what can happen when research, entrepreneurs and venture capital come together.

The state’s venture ecosystem includes investors specializing in healthcare and life sciences, including Ann Arbor-based Arboretum Ventures, while Michigan companies are developing medical devices, therapeutics, diagnostics and other healthcare technologies.

The economic-development pipeline looks straightforward:

Research → Startup → Capital → Scale → Michigan Jobs

But a company can stumble at every stage.

A researcher may struggle to commercialize an invention. A startup may fail to obtain its first financing. A growing company may run short of expansion capital. Or entrepreneurs may conclude that another state offers deeper investment markets and move there.

That’s why training more Michigan venture investors potentially matters far beyond the financial industry.

Michigan doesn’t simply need more startups.

It needs more startups that become major Michigan employers.

What Would 10,000 More Bioscience Jobs Mean?

Michigan already knows bioscience companies can create high-paying employment.

Nearly 48,000 workers prove it.

Adding another 10,000 bioscience jobs at today’s $110,204 average annual wage would represent roughly $1.1 billion in additional annual payroll flowing to Michigan workers and their communities.

There is no guarantee that training more venture capitalists will produce those jobs.

But capital is one of the ingredients required to transform research into startups and startups into larger companies.

Michigan doesn’t need to create a bioscience industry from scratch. It already has one generating nearly $56 billion in economic impact.

The question is whether Michigan can use its universities, research, manufacturing expertise and growing investment community to make it substantially larger.

The next challenge isn’t proving biosciences can produce $110,000 Michigan jobs.

It’s figuring out how Michigan gets the next 10,000.