Accelerate Michigan attracts more than 300 start-ups in its 3rd year

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is back again this fall and it's bring hundreds of innovative start-ups to downtown Detroit.

The business plan competition has attracted a little more than 300 applicants to vie for the contest's $500,000 top prize. Accelerate Michigan, in its third year, routinely attracts the cream of the crop of start-ups from the Great Lakes region along with a smattering of companies from across the U.S. who are looking at relocating to Michigan.

Accelerate Michigan also serves as a stage for these start-ups to showcase their technology to investors. Last year it attracted 60 investment professionals, ranging from angel investors to venture capitalists to private-equity firms. This year organizers have been able to up that number to more than 100.

"The focus this year is going to be putting Michigan on the map for the investment community," says Lauren Bigelow, executive director of Accelerate Michigan. "We were able to get more venture capital and private equity firms here to mingle with out local investors."

Accelerate Michigan will be held at the Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit from Nov. 13-15. For information, click here.

Source: Lauren Bigelow, executive director of Accelerate Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.