Our venture capital fund has established itself as the nation’s largest privately funded, regional venture capital fund of funds. The fund invested in four venture capital funds during its first year of operation, including:
- Arboretum Ventures, an Ann Arbor-based fund that principally focuses on early stage medical device companies.
- TGap Ventures, a Kalamazoo fund that invests in various areas, including medical products and services, information technology and software
- RPM Ventures, an Ann Arbor fund that has a national reputation for its work in information technology, particularly IT with industrial applications
- 5AM Ventures, a fund based in California and Massachusetts that is one of the nation’s leading investors in early stage drug development companies
The fund had strong financial results in the first year. While the nature of venture capital investing typically results in negative returns in the early years, our first year resulted in a 9% appreciation in our investments, well above industry averages. We have also begun our work of utilizing the RVCF as a bridge between the venture capital/start-up company community and the state’s strong business and industrial base.