LANSING - Gov. Rick Snyder Friday appointed Peter Cracchiolo, vice president of Masco Capital Corporation, to the Michigan Early Stage Venture Investment Corporation Board of Directors. The board?s goal is to promote investment in venture capital businesses that help small Michigan businesses grow. ?The key to reinventing Michigan is to create an environment where entrepreneurs
DETROIT - Students from the Blackstone LaunchPad, Wayne State University's student entrepreneur program, and other colleges around the Metro Detroit area will showcase their business models at Wayne State's Get Launched! Event Nov. 15. Also at the Get Launched! event, Hatch Detroit will reveal the winner of their contest for the next great Detroit-based retail
ANN ARBOR -Three new companies have moved into the University of Michigan Venture Accelerator, which provides space, services and mentoring for emerging U-M start-ups. The accelerator is now 60 percent full after just seven months in operation. Negotiations with several other prospective tenants are underway, and accelerator officials now project that the facility at U-M's
LANSING -The Mobile Technology Association of Michigan announced that it has partnered with the Small Business Association of Michigan to offer enhanced membership benefits to its members. ?This new strategic partnership between SBAM and the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan brings tremendous added value to small business owners,? says SBAM President and CEO Rob Fowler.
ANN ARBOR ? Applications are open for the Ann Arbor SPARK Entrepreneur Boot Camp, a two-day intensive training session that starts Sept. 29. Entrepreneur Boot Camp is an instructive way to gain critical feedback and advice about your business model, management team, competitive positioning, market strategy and other key elements that determine if a start-up
LANSING - A total of 11 companies have invested $57 million in venture capital deals in Michigan during the first six months of 2011, according to data reviewed by the Wall Street Journal's online edition. But the state lags many other states in terms of the number and amount of venture capital deals done so
GRAND RAPIDS - Hopen Life Science Ventures, a life science venture capital fund, announced Aug. 4 the initial close of $25 million for its second fund, Hopen Life Science Fund II. The fund will remain open to new limited partners with a target fund size of $50 million expected by January 2012. Hopen Life Science
ANN ARBOR - Augment Ventures, a new early-stage venture capital fund in Ann Arbor, recently closed its first round of funding and made its first investment in Aperia Technologies, a cleantech company. Augment, which has an overall fund goal of $20 million, will invest in transformational cleantech and IT companies with high caliber and passionate
ANN ARBOR ? The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is back for a second year and again offering $1 million in cash prizes to student-lead and business start-up companies in the state, or willing to move to the state. Top prize is $500,000. Company deadline is Aug. 10. The student competition, with a deadline of Sept.
WASHINGTON ? A major disaster has devastated your community, and landlines are down. Will you be able to use Facebook or Twitter to keep your employees, customers and vendors aware of your status? How will you distinguish good information on post-disaster social media channels from the scams? Business and civic leaders in Joplin, Mo., had