Michigan
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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.
Michigan
College basketball rankings: Michigan holds off Arizona at No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports poll
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There is no change at the top in the USA TODAY Sports men’s college basketball coaches poll this week, but the margin for the No. 1 team is much closer.
Michigan is still first, receiving 16 of 31 No.-1 votes while keeping its record clean for another week. But No. 2 Arizona has closed within four poll points of the Wolverines with 14 first-place votes after the Wildcats blew away Alabama to rack up yet another ranked win on the road over the weekend. Duke holds at No. 3 overall, claiming the remaining first-place nod, and Iowa State and Connecticut continue to round out the top five.
TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball poll
In fact, the first 11 positions in the poll are the same. Purdue, Gonzaga, Houston, Michigan State and Brigham Young comprise the lower half of the top 10, with Louisville retaining the 11th spot.
Vanderbilt climbs two spots to No. 12 as Alabama slides four places to 16th. Nebraska makes the week’s biggest jump, a gain of seven positions to No. 15 after the unbeaten Cornhuskers defeated Illinois on the road.
No new teams enter the Top 25, as Iowa hangs on to the final spot after a loss to Iowa State.
Michigan
Bodies of missing snowmobilers recovered from icy Michigan lake
MASON COUNTY, MI – The bodies of two missing snowmobilers were found Sunday morning.
Two Grand Haven men were recovered by first responders in six feet of water on Dec. 14 in Round Lake off Sugar Grove Road in Mason County’s Sheridan Township.
The riders, aged 65 and 49, were reported missing at 12:30 a.m. after their family had not heard from them for several hours, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office.
At first, through family of the missing, police believed the two may have been snowmobiling on trails in Lake County.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office started searching trails in attempts to locate them.
Around 4:30 a.m., the search expanded to include eastern Mason County.
A searcher located snowmobile tracks leading onto Round Lake off Sugar Grove Road. A further search showed no tracks leaving the lake.
Due to darkness and heavy snowfall, a check of the lake from shore could not be performed.
At first light, police saw what appeared to be a snowmobile helmet several hundred yards offshore on the ice.
Mason County Sheriff’s Office launched a drone when weather permitted and spotted a hole in the ice.
There was a helmet at the hole.
Rescuers attempted to get to the area, but kept falling through the ice, making rescue efforts impossible, the press release stated.
The Michigan State Police Dive Services Team and Mason County dive team were called to assist and made their way onto the ice.
An airboat from the Manistee County Sheriff’s Office responded to support recovery efforts.
While the team worked to get to the hole in the ice, an MSP diver fell through the ice, but was properly tethered to another diver and was pulled from the ice unharmed.
Law enforcement recovered the bodies in approximately six feet of water. Two snowmobiles were also found submerged under the ice.
The Ludington Police Department, United States Coast Guard-Manistee, Michigan DNR-Law Enforcement, Branch Township Fire Department, Carr Fire Department, Fountain Area Rescue, Free Soil Fire Department, Hamlin Fire Department, Irons Fire Department, Luther Fire Department, Pleasant Plains Fire Department, Manistee Fire Department and Norman Township Fire Department all assisted at the scene.
Michigan
Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing
One of the best college football coaches of all time, Urban Meyer, lent some sympathy to Sherrone Moore — or at least his family — in the wake of the former Michigan head coach’s shocking firing last week.
“Last night, I said a prayer for that family,’’ Meyer said on “The Triple Option Podcast,” speaking of Moore’s wife and daughters.
“I mean, you’ve got three little girls,’’ said Meyer, who won a national title at Ohio State a little over a decade ago. “You’ve got a guy that was on top of the road a week ago.”
That changed in stunning fashion, as Moore, a married father of three, went from leading the Wolverines to out of a job, fired in Ann Arbor for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
The situation only worsened when Moore was later arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.
On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.
Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore
Even Meyer, who created some controversy of his own during a brief, ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars — when he was seen on video in 2021 that showed him dancing suggestively with a woman who was not his wife and was later fired before finishing his lone season in Jacksonville — was stunned by Moore’s downfall.
“They’re up 6-0 on the Buckeyes at home,” Meyer said of Michigan’s early lead against rival Ohio State on Nov. 29. “And then, also, you wake up, and they’re in this situation. Rivalries aside, this is all human element. Now, this is something that, from what you read, that’s some serious stuff that went on. And just, all of a sudden, you start seeing the impact. Forget football. Who cares about football?’’
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