Michigan
5 questions with a man who finds money for risky business ideas
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There was a time Michigan was an also-ran place for venture capital and helping startups in the Great Lakes State.
In fact, the state wasn’t on anyone’s radar 20 years ago as 95% of the VC action was taking place on the nation’s east and west coasts.
It helped inspire Chris Rizik to light a fire to help change that image.
The end result was the launch of Renaissance Venture Capital 17 years ago with the support of Business Leaders For Michigan and corporations like DTE Energy, Ford Motor Co., AAA, and Blue Cross Blue Shield and others who belonged to the statewide business group.
Renaissance Venture Capital has since used its network and investments to bring more venture capital to Michigan (over $3 billion ). To date, the Renaissance Venture Fund itself has raised more than $300 million, according to Rizik, who serves as founder and managing partner.
Jeff Donofrio, president and CEO of Business Leaders For Michigan, said: “We partnered in creating the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund because we believed in Chris’ vision to make Michigan a national leader in venture capital. Thanks to his leadership, it has become a reality and the fund is now a powerful catalyst for startup growth and a model for other states.”
Other VC funds like Invest Detroit and Mercury Fund have opened here as the region has become something of a hot spot for VCs.
Along the way, Rizik’s reputation as the go-to guy has grown.
“Chris’ phone number is on everyone’s speed dial,” said Patti Glaza, executive vice president and managing director of Invest Detroit. “From mentoring founders and serving on boards to leading conversations that strengthen our ecosystem, Chris embodies what makes Michigan’s venture community so special.”
Rizik, a former partner at Dickinson Wright law firm and chairman at Ardesta, a nanotechnology incubator, recently got applause from the National Venture Capital Association for his efforts to expand VCs, naming him one of three 2025 Venture Vanguard honorees, the highest national venture capital award. (Ann Winblad of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Howard Morgan of First Round Capital were the others.)
“A pioneering force of venture capital in the heartland, Chris has helped shape the Midwest’s startup ecosystem like few others,” Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA, said when they gave out the awards in June.
Connecting ideas to dollars
Rizik launched UnDemo Days in 2015 to provide a place for venture capital investors to come to Detroit to meet startups as they kick the tires in deciding whether to invest.
“It’s like speed dating for startups,” he said.
The last UnDemo Day was held Oct. 1 at Ford Field and introduced over 250 local startups to venture capital investors with over 900 people attending.
With so much going on, I posed a couple questions to Rizik (his answers are edited for length).
QUESTION: Tell me about state of venture capital in Michigan?
ANSWER: Michigan has been one of the fastest growing states for venture capital in recent years. We’ve always had great technology and a talented engineering workforce here, but for decades we underperformed at creating startups. Now there’s energy around startups in Ann Arbor, Detroit and Grand Rapids and other places and VCs are excited to come here. They are investing at more than four times the level they were when we started hosting our UnDemo Days.
Q: Explain how VC investors get involved in a startup?
A: Venture capital is high risk investment in startups that have the potential to grow very big very fast. They typically involve some kind of game-changing technology or process. These are companies that are generally too risky for banks to loan money to, but venture capitalists are willing to take the risk in hopes the company will explode into something that can change the world and at the same time provide lucrative financial results. A majority of these investments will not pan out financially, but the hope is that the successes more than make up for the failures.
Q: Where are the opportunities for VCs here?
A: Michigan is best known around the world as being particularly strong in areas like mobility, cybersecurity, life sciences, advanced materials, supply chain and advanced manufacturing.
Q: You just got a national award where you were credited for bringing VC opportunities to areas that have been challenged. How have you been able to succeed?
A: We are focused on what we are and what we are not, and we keep our focus in a world where there are temptations to chase shiny objects that take you off course. We are about investing in great venture capital funds around the country and connecting them with the Michigan ecosystem to help grow the state.
Q: Give me an example of a VC success story you’ve been involved with?
A: One of the most interesting was Orbion Space Technology. In 2018 we met the founder, Dr. Brad King (of Michigan Technological University) in Houghton where he started the company. He was creating a revolutionary propulsion system for satellites, and was committed to building the company in the U.P. But raising capital there was difficult. So we invited him to UnDemo Day and introduced him to venture capitalists. A Boston firm, Material Impact Fund, loved what they heard and became Orbion’s first institutional investor. The next year Orbion met more VCs at UnDemo Day. Now, Orbion is a leader in propulsion systems and one of the largest employers in Houghton. It is a great Michigan story and a great Renaissance success.
Contact Carol Cain at clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of “Michigan Matters,” which airs 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and 9:30 a.m. Sundays on CW Detroit 50. See Detroit City Councilman Coleman Young II, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, GOP Strategist Susy Avery, Adrian Fortino of Mercury Fund, Patti Glaza of Invest Detroit and Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital on this week’s show. You can also watch the show simultaneously on Fubu, Pluto TV, YouTube TV and Apple TV.
Before-and-after images of homes on Black Lake near Onaway provide perspectives on how the community was affected by April flooding.
Snowmelt and rain have stressed dams and caused lakes to flood in northern Michigan.
The Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Office shared on social media photos and videos that the agency captured of Cheboygan County floods on Friday, April 17 from both the ground and air.
Deputies “observed a level of destruction that simply cannot be understood from ground level,” the sheriff’s office said in the post.
Google Maps images taken from two locations on Black Lake in 2024, compared with the Friday images, show how the floodwater has changed the landscape.
On North Black River Road and Taylor Road, the water has overflowed to North Black River Road.
In the 400 block of South Black River Road, water has also flooded homes and lakeside property.
“Black Lake, Black River, Cheboygan River, Burt Lake, Mullet Lake, the Sturgeon River − and nearly every waterway in the county have overflowed beyond their banks, swallowing docks, roads, yards, and in far too many cases, homes,” the sheriff’s office post said. “What should be familiar shorelines are now unrecognizable expanses of water.”
“Our hearts are with every family affected by this flooding,” Cheboygan County Sheriff Todd Ross said in the post. “We know many of you are facing significant damage to your homes and property, and the emotional toll that comes with it. Please know you are not alone. We are working around the clock with our partners to ensure safety, provide support, and begin the process of recovery. Stay strong, stay connected, and don’t hesitate to reach out for help, we will get through this together.”
Nearby, the UAW Black Lake Conference Center shared images on social media of floodwater threatening its Old Lodge.
The conference center is located at 2000 Maxon Road in Waverly Township.
The Cheboygan County Road Commission and the Cheboygan County Office of Emergency Management closed the bridge at Five Mile Point Road on Saturday, April 18 due to significant road washout in the area of South Black River Road and Red Bridge Road.
The sheriff’s office had encouraged residents in parts of the area to evacuate earlier in the week and said Saturday it had completed evacuation efforts on the west side of the lake.
TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A 20-year-old Kalamazoo man is dead after crashing his vehicle into a tree Friday evening in Texas Township, according to Michigan State Police (MSP).
It happened on South 3rd Street and West PQ Avenue around 6:50 p.m., troopers said.
While he was driving in a no-passing zone, the Kalamazoo man swerved off the road to avoid an oncoming vehicle and subsequently crashed into the tree, according to MSP.
The 20-year-old died at the scene. A passenger was hurt, but police said their injuries were non-life threatening.
Troopers do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor, and the two were reportedly wearing seatbelts.
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This incident remains under investigation by MSP.
A Southfield man has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and equipment to create fake documents, federal prosecutors said.
Jerome Antwan Andrews, 41, pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing the driver’s license information and Social Security numbers of more than 250 people in a scheme that caused more than $550,000 in fraud losses, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said.
As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors say Andrews admitted to having an embosser, a laminator, a card cutter and an ID card printer and admitted that his business model was aimed at creating and selling fake Social Security cards and driver’s licenses in the names of real people.
“Jerome Antwan Andrews and his criminal associates stole more than $1.5 million by submitting hundreds of fraudulent claims to a pandemic program intended to help unemployed American workers. Today’s conviction of Andrews represents yet another attack in our war against fraud. It sends a stern warning that my office will relentlessly investigate those bad actors greedily lining their pockets with U.S. taxpayer funds,” said Anthony P. D’Esposito, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
Andrews faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gain or loss, according to prosecutors. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor investigated Andrews’ case.
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