Ann Arbor's venture capital leaders envision vibrant recovery

Not even the recent financial tsunami can wash away the venture capital groundwork that has been laid in Ann Arbor.

Excerpt:

More than $200 million in government funds allocated to Michigan-based venture capital investors in recent years will enable Ann Arbor’s VC sector to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a crippling blow, local experts said.

National observers have notably predicted that the financial crisis would liquidate one out of every three venture capitalists. But local VC proponents say many Michigan investors have positioned themselves to survive the crisis.

“We have just as much of a chance to survive as other states,” said LeAnn Auer, executive director of the Ann Arbor-based Michigan Venture Capital Association. “That’s because we have a lot of the infrastructure built - we have a great entrepreneurial economy that’s been plugging along and improving within the last few years.”

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