Plymouth Venture Partners raises $16M, adds 2 partners in Ann Arbor

Plymouth Venture Partners has finished the first round of fundraising for its latest capital call, bringing in $16 million in new seed capital funding.

The downtown Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm plans to raise $35-$40 million in fresh investment funds by the end of this year. That money will be directed at local start-ups in the southeast Michigan and northern Ohio areas.

"We expect to make 20 investments in this fund," says Mark Horne, CEO of Plymouth Venture Partners. "We expect to make two to four in 2010."

With that goal in mind the company has doubled the number of partners from two to four. Its staff rounds out to five people and a couple of interns from the University of Michigan.

Plymouth Ventures made 29 investments as of 2009, and all of the companies are based in the Great Lakes region. Horne says the firm likes to keep its investments within a reasonable car ride of their Ann Arbor home base, which is a common strategy in the venture capital and investment world. He adds that Michigan is a "target rich environment" so the firm doesn't have to look too far to find worthy candidates.

"The region is so under-served in terms of capital," Horne says. "There are a lot of opportunities for investment right here."

Source: Mark Horne, CEO of Plymouth Venture Partners
Writer: Jon Zemke
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