Houston venture capital firm opens Ann Arbor office headed by U Michigan Graduate

University of Michigan graduate and serial entrepreneur Adrian Fortinio will lead a new office for the Houston-based Mercury Fund–a venture capital firm–according to a report in Crain’s Detroit Business. Fortino co-founded FlockTag and was a vice president at Invest Detroit before being tapped to lead Mercury’s new Ann Arbor office. The firm, which raised more […]

Cornell University’s Binoptics sold to Massachusetts company for $230M

Ithaca laser-technology company Binoptics is being bought by M/A-Com Technology Solutions of Lowell, Mass., for $230 million in cash, the company announced Wednesday. Binoptics, in business since 2000 using technology developed at Cornell University, develops and makes semicondutor microchip lasers for equipment in the data and telecommunications industries that use light energy rather than electricity. […]

Medical device startup benefits from Philadelphia seed fund

Two years after the city of Philadelphia launched a $3 million seed fund, the fund has invested in a medical device company — one of four companies to receive investments topping $700,000 and the only healthcare business among them.Velano Vascular received $400,000 from the fund. The medical device company is developing a needle-free approach to […]

UTexas-San Antonio honors eight researchers at second annual Innovation Awards

UTSA President Ricardo Romo, Vice President for Research Mauli Agrawal and the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation recognized eight UTSA faculty members yesterday at the university’s second annual Innovation Awards luncheon. The UTSA Innovation Awards program recognizes UTSA researchers who have contributed to the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by securing patents and/or commercial licenses to protect, develop and […]

North Dakota investor Dakota Venture Group backs marketing-tech startup Buzz360

Eagan startup Buzz360 has closed on $385,000 in financing with backing from North Dakota investors, including a student-run venture fund. The marketing-technology company will put the capital toward ramping up sales and marketing of its software. Dakota Venture Group, a Grand Forks-based fund run by University of North Dakota students, led the equity component of […]

Investment booms in Pittsburgh thanks to new venture fund

It’s hard to miss investment in Pennsylvania when it takes the form of a downtown high rise or new sports complex, but if you’re not in the business community, you may not be aware of the robust — less visible — investments that propel the state’s economy. In Pittsburgh in the first nine months of […]

Early stage digital health companies get some love from Maryland TEDCO fund

Vheda Health, a digital health company that seeks to help people with chronic conditions, is one of a handful of healthcare startups that have received backing from a commercialization fund from Maryland’s Technology Development Corp. They were part of a list of 15 companies that received $1.5 million. It follows a funding allocation from earlier […]

Utah Student-run venture capital fund empowers and supports students

In charge of a $500,000 venture capital fund, a group of 10 students from Utah universities are trying to find and fund the best entrepreneurs on local campuses. As investment associates for Campus Founders Fund, they meet weekly to hear pitches from students and then collectively decide whether or not to fund them. If funded, […]