Attendees Celebrate 10 Years of Critical Funding and Support for Michigan Startups
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition (AMIC), a program of Invest Detroit’s ID Ventures, Wednesday November 13th announced EVOQ Therapeutics was selected as the grand prize recipient at the tenth annual pitch competition. The pitch competition celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the pitching competition, which provides critical funding and support for Michigan startups.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of AMIC,” said Martin Dober, senior vice president and managing director of ID Ventures. “This significant milestone highlights the dedication of Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to fueling the growth of startups. With their support, startups have been able to receive the critical funding and support they need to build innovative, high-tech companies in the state.”
ID Ventures and its top sponsors Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Invest Michigan, William Davidson Foundation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Belle Michigan Impact Fund, among other corporate and startup leaders across Michigan, awarded nearly $1 million in cash to eight innovative startups that were selected from 24 semifinalists. Nearly 400 top investors, entrepreneurs and community leaders attended the event at the State Savings Bank in Detroit, MI.
2019 AMIC Award Recipients:
- Grand Prize - $350,000: EVOQ Therapeutics
- Second Prize - $150,000: DeepHow
- Third Prize - $50,000: Pivot
- Woman-Led Prize - $150,000: Pivot
- Industry 4.0 Prize - $25,000: BrandXR
- People’s Choice Prize - $10,000: PassiveBolt
- 10 Year Anniversary Prize - $10,000: Pivot
AMIC enables entrepreneurs to showcase their companies and meet one-on-one with fellow entrepreneurs, investors, business acceleration resources, and experts in their specific sector during carefully curated meetings. This year, AMIC was proud to facilitate 240 meetings with more than 100 entrepreneurs, investors and subject matter experts.
Since its launch in 2010, AMIC semifinalists have created over 1,300 jobs and attracted more than $900 million in additional investment. Previous awardees include Vertecore (2018), Orbion Space Technology (2017), SPLT (2016), Banza (2015), SkySpecs (2014), VNN (2013), Algal Scientific (2012), Celsee (2011), and Armune BioScience (2010).
For more information about AMIC and its sponsors, please visit www.acceleratemichigan.com. Share the news by using the event hashtag #AccelerateMICH and follow @AccelerateMICH on Twitter and Facebook.
To see the video highlighting AMIC's mission and 24 semifinalists, visit their Facebook link.
About Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, a program of ID Ventures, is a competition that supports Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by offering entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase their companies to investors while building connections with entrepreneurs, business acceleration resources, and experts in their sector during carefully curated individual meetings. For more information, visit www.acceleratemichigan.org.
About ID Ventures
ID Ventures, the venture team of Invest Detroit, supports promising Michigan-based high-tech startups through investment capital and programs that strengthen the startup ecosystem. As a collaborative investor and community partner, our approach is to provide inclusive access to resources for Michigan entrepreneurs with high-growth potential.
