ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Angel Fund invested nearly $3 million in six deals during 2015, including almost $1.6 million in the last quarter alone.
With 100 members, the Michigan Angel Fund is the largest angel organization in Michigan and has 15 companies in its portfolio. The group funds companies that are seeking early investments from $250,000 to $2 Million.
The fund was established by Ann Arbor Spark, with administrative support from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., to help finance early stage companies in Michigan and to attract additional angel investors. In general, seed funding comes at the earliest stage of business formation. Series A is usually the first round of financing for a new venture after seed funding.
“MAF investments in these Michigan companies not only directly support our entrepreneurial economy, but also attract outside investment to the state,” said Skip Simms, MAF manager and senior vice president at the economic development agency Ann Arbor Spark. “Angel activity continues to expand throughout the state, with a growing number of investors committing themselves to funding the next generation of startups in Michigan.”
The fund led a $750,000 Series A in Detroit-based BoostUp, a social savings site that helps people save for a down payment on their next car or home purchase.
Romulus-based Eco-Fueling raised funding as part of a bridge financing round totaling $500,000. The funding will expand the market for its Eco-Fueling Injection System, developing a dual-fuel diesel combustion technology to mix E85 ethanol fuel based and diesel fuel in in the combustion chamber of a diesel engine.
The Michigan Angel Fund participated in a Series AA in Detroit-based FoodJunky.com, led by Midland-based Blue Water Angels. Foodjunky.com is the way businesses order food online. Its clients include Hewlett Packard, BDO, Quicken Loans, and General Motors.
The fund led a nearly $1 million round of investment in Ann Arbor-based Genomenon. The company’s software helps researchers better understand patient genomes for diagnosis an discovery. Other investors in this series seed round included Detroit-based Detroit Innovate, Denver, Colo.-based Three Leaf Ventures, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Danmar Capital LLC, and Farmington Hills-based Invest Michigan.
Troy-based Levanto recently closed an oversubscribed $1.6 million seed round led by the Michigan Angel Fud, with participation from San Francisco-based Crosslink Capital, Commerce Ventures and Steelhead Ventures, Boston-based RockPoint Capital, and Toronto-based Gibraltar Ventures. Levanto combines mobile technology, data analytics and the advice of a financial expert to help households do a better job of financial planning, budgeting, spending and saving.
The fund also invested in Ann Arbor based-SkySpecs pushed the company to a nearly $4 million raise, led by Ann Arbor-based Venture Investors and Huron River Ventures. SkySpecs’ drone technology can be operated by anyone in the field, and is focused on wind turbine inspection, with plans to expand to other inspection applications, like cell towers, power transmission, and civil structures.
As managing member, Ann Arbor Spark coordinates screenings of Michigan Angel Fund applicants, conducts due diligence, and works with the Ann Arbor-based startup organization New Enterprise Forum to prepare companies for their investor presentations. Spark also works with business accelerator organizations around the state to identify quality companies for potential MAF investment.
Businesses interested in applying for MAF investment should visit http://www.miangelfund.com/entrepreneurs/working-with-us.
