A group of investors calling themselves Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU) is preparing to invest in roughly 20 Michigan-based homeland security-based companies over the next 10 years.
BCU is the initial investor for the Michigan Homeland Security Resource Fund (HLSRF), which was created in cooperation with the Michigan Homeland Security Consortium (MIHSC).
“As investors we’re looking for the best companies with the best ideas that are the most likely to succeed and most likely to create the biggest payback for the owners,” says Dale Grogan with BCU.
Grogan says the group is looking for Michigan homeland security-based startups that are pre-revenue.
“It’s not quantified by region,” Grogan says. “We’re going to invest in 20 companies and every single company could be in Ingham County, though that’s not likely.”
The MIHSC is taking applications right now. Grogan says they hope to choose the companies within the first five years of the fund’s lifetime.
“The Consortium said, ‘There’s no real Silicon Valley right now for homeland security anywhere in the country so why not Michigan?’” he says.
Grogan says the investor’s relationship with MIHSC, a trade organization, is critical to the state’s efforts to foster a business climate for an industry that’s growing by 20 percent annually.
Source: Julie Metea, Battle Creek Unlimited
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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