Michigan Rise

A six-person team leads the fund, with an Executive Director, a Director of Portfolio Management, and a Director of Venture Investments forming the senior investment committee. The firm does not publicly name its principals, but the compact team structure indicates that sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio management are handled in-house without external investment committees.

Michigan Rise is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MSU Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 1973 to commercialize university research and drive economic development. The fund's mandate flows directly from that parent relationship — investing solely in Michigan-based startups — and it operates alongside other state programs through a formal partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

Michigan Rise makes direct pre-seed equity investments into individual startups; it is not a fund-of-funds and does not commit capital to external venture managers. The firm supplements its equity checks with grant assistance, mentorship, and connections to follow-on capital sources across Michigan's entrepreneurial network.

It operates differently. As a subsidiary of a nonprofit foundation with a state economic-development partner, Michigan Rise does not face conventional limited-partner liquidity timelines or pure return mandates. Success is measured partly by follow-on capital attracted to portfolio companies — nearly $700M by its own count — rather than solely by internal rate of return.

The firm targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies, writing first checks into Michigan-based technology startups. It participates in early-stage rounds that are typically $500,000 to $2 million in size, occasionally extending into subsequent rounds alongside other in-state or regional venture funds.

The firm does not publish a formal exclusion list, but its portfolio is confined to technology sectors with demonstrated commercialization traction from Michigan's university and industrial base. HardTech, Therapeutics, and Consumer Goods appear in its portfolio tagging system, while industries like extractive resources, traditional retail, and financial asset management are absent from any disclosed investment.

Deal flow originates primarily through the MSU Research Foundation's technology-transfer pipeline, faculty and alumni networks, referrals from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and the broader state-supported entrepreneurial ecosystem. The firm's East Lansing office sits inside the university's orbit, giving it early visibility into spinouts, licensed IP, and accelerator-graduate startups.