Jan Garfinkle founded Arboretum Ventures on the premise that innovation is key to delivering value in healthcare, a principle she developed working in the medical device industry for over two decades. Her investments focus on promising medical technologies that enable meaningful healthcare system savings while maintain great clinical outcomes. Jan has led and held board seats in more than a dozen investments across five funds. Ara and Jan touch on a variety of topics including her background, the work she has accomplishment working with the National Venture Capital Association and how she started Arboretum Ventures.

Skot Welch is the Founder/President of Global Bridgebuilders (GBB). The firm is a results-focused organization with extensive experience in the development and implementation of sustainable, process-focused cultural competency, inclusion initiatives accomplished through comprehensive assessment and measurement systems development.

Ara and Skot talk about this new fund as well as other issues surrounding diversity, equity & inclusion. 

As associate vice president for research – technology transfer and innovation partnerships, Kelly works closely with the vice president for research as well as other leaders across the university to provide visionary and strategic leadership of UM’s innovation, business engagement and technology transfer activities, including the Office of Technology Transfer and the Business Engagement Center. In this role, she supports and encourages university-wide programs for intellectual property development, innovation, and engagement with business and venture communities in the region, across the nation, and around the globe. Ara and Kelly talk about the work happening at the Tech Transfer office and their impact in Michigan as well as a new fund they created. 

Jim is a Chicago native who joined Invest Michigan in 2016. He has over 10 years of experience in finance, entrepreneurship and business development. At Invest Michigan, Jim sources and leads new deals, manages and supports portfolio companies and serves on the boards of select portfolio companies. Jim and Ara had a great conversation covering a variety of topics including how Invest Michigan was created and the work they have done over the years with the Michigan entrepreneur community but we also discussed his methodology on working with entrepreneurs and managing expectations as well as his advice on how he approaches providing valuable support to them; and then we covered some of the work that is needed to help attack unconscious bias when it comes to helping fund diverse entrepreneurs.

Wayne Embree, Executive Vice President at Rev1 Ventures (Columbus, OH) is an experienced seed-stage investor with a track record of fueling startups with guidance and venture capital. He’s been involved in over 200 investments, including sitting on over 50 boards and taking more than 60 businesses through exits. Throughout his career, he has maintained his passion and enthusiasm for helping entrepreneurs change the world. Wayne has a BS in Natural Sciences from Western Oregon and an MS in Urban Planning from the University of Oregon. This episode is sponsored by Michigan Rise (www.michiganrise.com)

MVCA recently presented a webinar focused on an analysis of the venture and entrepreneurial community in Michigan through the release of the 2021 MVCA Research Report. This event features Michael Gross (Managing Director, Beringea, MVCA Chair), Jeff Rinvelt (Partner, Renaissance Venture Capital, MVCA Vice Chair & Research Report Chair) and moderated by Ara Topouzian (Executive Director of MVCA). This episode is sponsored by Michigan Rise (www.michiganrise.com)

Chris Rizik is the founder, managing partner, and Chief Executive Officer of the Renaissance Venture Capital, a first-of-its-kind network fund formed by a consortium of Fortune 1000 and major private corporations. Renaissance works to invest in and strategically connect venture capital funds and start-up companies with major corporations. Chris is also the founder and publisher of SoulTracks.com, America’s most popular soul music online magazine. Recorded in October, 2020.

Ara talks with Adrian Fortino, an experienced founder, operator, engineer and investor in the industrial technology sector. He is a Managing Director and leads the Intelligent Manufacturing practice at Mercury Fund (Houston, TX). Mercury Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm. With over $300 million under management, Mercury focuses on entrepreneurs and technology innovation originating in the U.S. Midcontinent. 

MVCA hosted a recent virtual webinar with Jeff Farrah and Justin Field from the National Venture Capital Association to discuss venture investing in the year ahead, including the impacts related to the Biden-Harris administration policy items, tax and carried interest, research and tech transfer, and capital markets. 

Ara talks with Razat Gaurav, CEO of LLamasoft, an artificial intelligence supply chain management company. Located in Ann Arbor, MI, LLamasoft was acquired by Coupa for $1.5B, marking a significant exit for their venture capital investors. Learn more about Razat's background and philosphies of being a founder.