Last year meant several things to North Coast Technology Investors. The Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm made some high-profile investments, expanded its portfolio and began deploying its third investment fund in earnest.
"It was one of the most active years we had in a while," says Hugo Braun, co-founder of
North Coast Technology Investors.
The 20-year-old venture capital firm has in excess of $100 million under management through three investment funds that are invested in 35 companies. It closed on its third investment vehicle, worth $30 million, in 2010 and currently has eight portfolio firms in that fund.
It's latest investment is in
Stik, an Internet start-up based in downtown Detroit's M@dison Building. North Coast Technology Investors co-led the Series A round worth $2.3 million with
Detroit Venture Partners. Stik's technology helps authenticate that online reviews were made by actual people. It was founded by two Metro Detroit natives that graduated from Harvard with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg. They moved it to downtown Detroit last fall and have since hired six people.
North Coast Technology Investors' investment in Stik was its fourth of 2012. Among its higher-profile investments from last year was a follow-up investment in Ann Arbor-based
CytoPherx, a clinical stage medical device company. Braun expects North Coast Technology Investors' team of three to make four investments this year.
Source: Hugo Braun, co-founder of North Coast Technology Investors
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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