ANN ARBOR – Southwest Michigan First will host a reception at the 24th annual Michigan Growth Capital Symposium in Ann Arbor Michigan June 15.
MGSC is the oldest venture capital forum of its kind in the country and is presented by The University of Michigan Ross School of Business School and its Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance. The two-day conference provides an opportunity for financiers to meet up-and-coming new business and emerging technologies on the University?s campus. Last year?s event drew nearly 500 attendees from across the nation. An opening-day reception has traditionally served as an anchor networking opportunity for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Southwest Michigan First is the first outside entity to take a leadership role in shaping this important dinner.
?In its young, five-year history, Southwest Michigan First has made tremendous strides to put Kalamazoo on the Venture Capital map,? said David Brophy, Director, Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity, Univ. of Michigan Ross School of Business. ?Together, we have an opportunity for an event of unprecedented prominence with a serious Midwest focus.?
Gail Lindsey, equity investment director for Southwest Michigan First said the reception provides an important educational opportunity for venture capitalists outside the Midwest to learn about all that Michigan has to offer.
?The Michigan Growth Capital Symposium has served as a model for our efforts in Kalamazoo? Lindsey said. ?We want to build on that success, and we can?t imagine a better way to do it than by combining efforts. We want Michigan to become the place in the Midwest where investors and technology gather to collaborate, make investments and promote entrepreneurialism.?
Southwest Michigan First began hosting entrepreneurial forums in 2000, as a way to foster new business creation and venture capital activity in and around Southwest Michigan. The events, presented as the Investing in Innovation Series, bring together investors, entrepreneurs, industry thought leaders and venture capitalists from across the Midwest and the nation.
The monthly investment series ? Kalamazoo Venture Tuesday ? is held the first Tuesday of each month at the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center. A micro version of the two larger events, KVT provides a regular opportunity for three-to-four entrepreneurs to present their business plan to an audience of about 75 people in the fields of business development and venture fund investments, local business leaders and fellow entrepreneurs. Combined, these events have featured close to 275 companies. In 2004 alone, the series drew 16 new venture capitalist firms from as far away as New York and California to Kalamazoo for the first time.
?Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo serve as great compliments to each other in terms of innovation and access to capital,? Lindsey said. ?And we?re excited about the opportunity to educate attendees about the new business creation initiatives of both communities and the growing force of Michigan in the venture capital arena.?
For more information about the MGCS, contact Jessica Annaloro at (734) 761-3399 or by email at [email protected]. Visit the MGCS Web site at www.MichiganGCS.com. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
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About the Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity
The Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance at the University of Michigan Business School hosts a series of nationally recognized venture capital, private equity finance seminars and investor events. Dr. David J. Brophy is the director of the Center and conducts research on private equity markets. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.umich.edu/~cvpumbs.
