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EAST LANSING, Mich. — It has been a rewarding and productive start for Michigan Rise Pre-Seed Fund III since going live in mid-August. The Fund has invested $875,000 in six companies across Michigan including Grand Rapids, East Lansing, Ann Arbor and Detroit. Portfolio companies are commercializing technologies ranging from advanced materials, cybersecurity, health-IT and medical devices.
The six companies in the Michigan Rise portfolio are:
- 86 Repairs
- AaDya Security
- Genomenon
- GreenMark Biomedical
- Ripple Science
- Zakuro
Michigan Rise is managed by the Red Cedar Ventures team, led by Jeff Wesley (Executive Director) and Prem Bodagala (Director). The leadership team has a wealth of operational expertise in fast growth companies as well as venture experience. A CPA by training, Jeff led highly successful Michigan companies previously, including Accu Bite Dental Supply and Two Men and a Truck International. Prem has ten years experience as an early stage investor and has led investments in over 50 tech startups across stints at Michigan Accelerator Fund I, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and Invest Michigan.
Jeff Wesley commented, “I am so pleased to partner with these great companies guided by leaders who we believe will not only drive success to their exciting ventures but do it in a manner that brings added benefit to Michigan’s entire entrepreneurial ecosystem. I am very proud of our team for cultivating these opportunities and launching the fund quickly to assist with much needed investment in a challenging fundraising environment with COVID-19.”
Michigan Rise attracted talent from the coasts with the addition of Manasa Gummalla (Associate) and Hunter Kettering (Analyst). Manasa moved back to Michigan from New York having previously worked as an analyst at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the Dalio Institute, and has a passion for investing in startups focusing on womens health. Hunter is a native of Idaho and recent History and Economics graduate of Claremont McKenna College and Venture for America Fellow, with previous experience working with West Coast venture firms. Both Manasa and Hunter were attracted to Michigan by the effervescence of the Michigan tech startup ecosystem which had a record year for venture capital investments in 2019 according to the Michigan Venture Capital Association.
Michigan Rise is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Michigan State University Foundation (MSU Foundation) with a mission to invest in Michigan based early-stage, high growth technology startups. Michigan Rise is the third iteration of Michigan’s Pre-Seed Fund, approved for 5 years and awarded $3M for tech startup investments in 2020 by the Michigan Strategic Fund. MSU Foundation also committed $2.4M to this vital program to help bridge the early stage funding gap in Michigan as private investments have moved downstream over the years.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have the support of Michigan Rise and the MSU community. I’m inspired by their dedication to helping early-stage companies like ours succeed, and I’m excited to leverage new relationships with the MSU alumni network to help grow our business,” said Daniel Estrada, Co-Founder and CEO of 86 Repairs. 86 Repairs is a technology platform that manages the end-to-end repair process for restaurant groups.
Funding from Michigan Rise has helped portfolio companies achieve milestones such as filing for regulatory approval to begin commercial sales, cultivating new sales channels for products, onboarding customer experience personnel as customers move from pilots to multi-year contracts and other value inflecting milestones while weathering the COVID storm.
“We feel fortunate to have strong support from Michigan Rise and the MSU Foundation and are grateful to both Jeff Wesley and Prem Bodagala, especially during these uncertain and challenging times. They have taken a close personal interest in our success, to the extent that Jeff now serves on our board of directors, which we value given his prior management experience in the dental industry”, said Steven Bloembergen, Chairman and CEO of GreenMark Biomedical Inc. GreenMark Biomedical is a dental healthcare company commercializing minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment products.
“We are seeing strong deal flow from across the state, with impending investments in the Upper Peninsula and Mid Michigan based companies in the next few weeks. It is gratifying to note that two-thirds of our current portfolio is led by underrepresented teams, bucking the national trend. Our pipeline is strong and we anticipate a similar investment run rate through the end of the year”, said Prem Bodagala.
If you’d like to learn more about Michigan Rise or would like to seek investment in your technology startup, please check out our website at michiganrise.com.
