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Category: Community News

Northern Michigan Angels’ Executive Director Wins July 2, 2022 TCNewTech “Reverse” Pitch

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[Traverse City, MI – July 2, 2022] TCNewTech in Traverse City put five Michigan investors in
the hot seat to pitch their firms to entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses in the
Northern Michigan area. The unique format was intended to educate local entrepreneurs and
startups, about who the players are and what they are looking for when investing in young
companies.

Jody Trietch, from Northern Michigan Angels, won the audience vote by a resounding margin.
She graciously donated the $500 winner’s check directly back to TCNewTech after pitching
about angel investment.

Jody Trietch, Executive Director, Northern Michigan Angels

Jody provided excellent insights into NMA’s funds and the types of companies that angels are
looking to invest in, and left the audience with several questions to ask themselves as they
prepare for their angel pitches.

View Jody’s Pitch

Representatives of other participating investment firms included in this “reverse” pitch event:

 

  • Josh Hart presented on Venture Capital and discussed how to maximize your chances
    of getting picked. Josh was representing Sweater Investment. He drew attention to the
    number of applications that the firms receive and the common denominator which
    typically differentiated an applicant. This ultimately boiled down to relationships and
    name recognition.
  • Thomas Coke discussed Incubators and Crowdfunding. Thomas is the Entrepreneur-In-
    Residence at GSVU and CEO of VarsityGems. Thomas provided fantastically honest
    insight into the statistics and options available to companies around these two concepts.
  • Broc W. Edwards pitched Seed and Pre-Seed Funding and represented his venture firm
    Pronoia. Broc brought an impressive amount of Wall Street experience to the stage.
    Broc advocated advancing Michigan investors, working with Michigan companies, rather
    than out-of-state funding flowing into Michigan.
  • Lowell Gruman took the stage in stride, representing a local favorite, Boomerang
    Catapult LLC. Lowell, a local powerhouse VC was pitching Series Round Funding A-C.
    He broke down what each stage’s goals and outcomes were and provided valuable
    insight and advice.

About Northern Michigan Angels (www.NorthernMichiganAngels.com)
Northern Michigan Angels (NMA) was founded January 2012 and is a 501 (c) 6 non-profit.
Members invest in scalable entrepreneurial companies whose potential success will have an
economic and quality of life impact in Michigan, especially in northwestern Lower Michigan.
Each member makes their own investment decision. NMA is not a fund and does not provide
investment advice. NMA is a member of the Angel Capital Association (ACA).
About TCNewTech (https://tcnewtech.org)

Up to 5 presenters highlight the new tech product or business venture each month – 5 minutes
to present and 5 minutes of Q&A.  Between presenters the audience is allowed to make brief
announcements for things such as job openings, persons seeking employment, other events
happening in the area related to technology. The audience is typically made up of technology-
minded people, tech companies looking for staff, individuals looking for investment opportunity,
start-up founders looking for investors, and tech geeks that just like learning about new
offerings. There is no charge to attend or to present.

NMA Featured in Ron Jolly Interview

An Evening With Peter Heller | National Writers Series
Our Executive Director Jody Trietch and Committee Chairs Steve Lang and John Zaloudek joined local radio host Ron Jolly to discuss our record setting year last year and our big plans for the coming year. 

The recording of the interview is available here.

 

Ron Jolly Radio Interview

NMA Featured on Ron Jolly Radio Show

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This morning Northern Michigan Angel’s Executive Director Deanna Cannon and Board Members Dave Summers and John Zaloudek were interviewed by local radio personality and newsman Ron Jolly. The interview focused on NMA’s new growth and developments going forward.

Ron Jolly Radio Show Interview
Photo of a Previous Appearance

Ron and Co-host/Producer, Colleen Wares, cover current topical stories from northern Michigan, around the state, and the world. Ron Jolly has covered northern Michigan on radio and TV for over 30 years. He’s known for featuring the latest news or hear nuggets of unusual historic facts weekday mornings between 7-10am.

Listen to the full interview here: https://soundcloud.com/ronjolly/n-m-angels-deanna-cannon-john-zaloudek-dave-summers-8-19-21mp3

20 Fathoms Logo

Update From Our Partner: 20Fathoms

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Here is an update from our community partner 20 Fathoms…

“…our inaugural HealthSpark Accelerator wrapped up with our Demo Day last month, but we’ve got news of a brand-new tech event — Northern Michigan Startup Week — kicking off in May 2022.  Our Beer30 networking events have been flourishing, and the Women in Tech meetup is increasing in attendance each month. Feel free to join us and meet more of the startup/tech community!

Other news of interest in this newsletter:

HealthSpark Accelerator graduates first cohort of digital and telehealth startups

The HealthSpark Accelerator, a program of 20Fathoms, recently graduated the 10 companies in the first cohort.  On June 30, they presented their final pitches to a panel of VIP judges and successfully completed the intensive, 12-week program. During the accelerator, these founders networked with industry and investment experts, raised funds, expanded their businesses, made friends, won pitch competitions, and applied their learnings to help scale their businesses.

Meet the Mentor: Dave Summers

Dave is a 20Fathoms mentor, in addition to serving as Vice Chairman of SCORE Traverse City and a Director with Northern Michigan Angels. Over the span of his career, he has worked with over 100 companies in chairman, director, investor, senior leadership, and mentor positions. Recently, we asked him to share some insights from his deep expertise advising companies.

Why coworking and entrepreneurship spaces are crucial to digital economic development

The Center on Rural Innovation recently identified three pieces of necessary infrastructure that rural communities need for digital economy ecosystems: Broadband, coworking and entrepreneurship spaces, and local leadership capacity. They’ve also highlighted how their communities model them, and offer best practices for how other rural communities can enhance their own infrastructure.
Related: 20Fathoms, a nonprofit organization, is now accepting donations via our website. We rely on the support of our community to help us provide educational programming, office space, resources, and community that fuels growth in Northern Michigan.

New Members

We are pleased to welcome (and welcome back) a plethora of new members to our space!

  • Alaura Anderson, Owner/President of Arrowhead Bookkeeping
  • Nick Beadleston, Founding Partner at Good Impacts
  • Marisa Behnke, Customer Experience Strategist at Signet Jewelers
  • Spencer Couturier, Radiologist at Grand Traverse Radiology
  • Joel Evenhouse, Client Success Manager RIA at Betterment
  • Nathaniel Harris
  • Pamela Harris-Kenwabikise, Owner/Operator of Chippewa Creations
  • Jacob Miller, Director of Foundational Informatics, IBM Watson Health
  • Nicole Raphael, Ojimaakwe of Financial Literacy Services by Indigi Qkwe
  • Elaine Tait, Principal and Futurist at Great Lakes GrowthWorks
  • Marion Wabanimkee-Minzey, CEO of MPC Backwoods

Join Our Community

Our members are tech entrepreneurs who include startup leaders, small business owners, chief technology officers, developers, and designers. At 20Fathoms they’ve each found a home and an environment that promotes productivity, creative problem solving, and new connections. Learn more about our workspace.

Northern Michigan Startup Week

Save the Date!: May 9-15, 2022
Join us for Northern Michigan Startup Week, hosted by 20Fathoms in collaboration with Northern Michigan Angels and Newton’s Road. There are three tracks available: High School Invention Competition, College Startup Competition, and the TechStars Startup Weekend.

Beer30

Thursday, Jul. 29 and Aug. 12, 3:30 – 5:30 pm
20Fathoms
Join us for a relaxed evening of beers (provided by The Workshop Brewing Company), conversation, and gorgeous views of West Bay. This is a great way to reconnect with 20Fathoms or check out our new space! Please RSVP.

Women in Tech

Thursday, Aug. 19, 6 – 8 pm
The Filling Station
Women in Tech is a northern Michigan social group for anyone who identifies as a woman and is working in/interested in the tech industry or tech-related roles. They promote building local connections, professional growth, and supporting women entering and advancing in the industry. Questions? Drop us a line at womenintech@workwithloop.com.
In this role of Vice President — IT and Software Engineering (with a 20Fathoms member company), you will leverage your background and expertise in software development, financial services, cloud architectures, and agile methodologies to internally drive the planning and delivery of a custom FinTech platform. Please send resumes and leads to careers@20fathoms.org.
20Fathoms member business Allovance is a software start-up focused on strategic prioritization, strategic alignment, and decision-making. They are seeking a Full Stack React Developer (Contract).
The position of Senior Software Developer is an exciting opportunity to join the growing tech team at Starboard Solutions, a 20Fathoms member business. This is a remote position, although candidates must live in Michigan, Colorado, or Montana.
As a member of the Portland Team, the Associate will be responsible for building, maintaining, and improving advanced financial models. This position requires a high level of understanding of the energy industry and project financing. Please send resumes or leads to careers@20fathoms.org.
20Fathoms seeks to hire an Associate, Strategy & Innovation. As a member of the Innovation Team, this associate will help lead efforts to develop unique energy solutions for data centers utilizing both on- and off-site energy assets. Please send resumes or leads to careers@20fathoms.org.

Job Board for Local and Remote Tech Professionals

Looking for your next opportunity in tech? Check out our Tech Job Board, curated weekly for remote job opportunities for developer, design, and marketing tech professionals.

Local Innovator: Cherry Capital Foods and Tamarack Holdings

Traverse City-based Cherry Capital Foods and their family of companies under the Tamarack Holdings umbrella are local food industry leaders. They, along with partners throughout the state, are working on a grant-funded project to analyze and develop solutions to food waste. They intend to use technology to align supply chain management with consumption.”

Learn More at 20Fathoms.org
TCnewTech Logo

TCnewTech Resumes In-Person Pitches

TCnewTech was back in person on Tuesday, July 6th, at City Opera House in downtown Traverse City. Five startups pitched to win the $500 prize provided by Pitch Prize Sponsor and NMA Sponsor DGN Advisory. Each company had five minutes to present their emerging business to a hybrid, in-person and online audience of investors, city and government stakeholders, local tech professionals, media, and fellow entrepreneurs.

Theresa Smith of Ola Filter Corporation sought seed funding for an easy-to-use, ultra-affordable water filter that removes bacterial contamination from drinking water. Ola Filter Corporation is a women-founded, triple bottom line social business focused on people, the planet, and sustainability. They have team members in Ann Arbor, MI, Bend, Or, & San Marcos, Guatemala.

Philip A. Hallstedt of Northport, Michigan presented Getcharged.com. The Get Charged Company provides customers with access to the latest cleantech products. Their goal is to create a more sustainable future that is less dependent on fossil fuel. They are seeking seed funding to further their mission.

Steven Lenon of  Vert9 Company which has a mission to make drone capabilities accessible and financially possible for everyone by making drones modular and modifiable for the everyday consumer. Additionally, they are building a network of drones for industrial use. This Midland, Michigan based company sought their first round of investment.

Joe Gleason of genusConnect, a content delivery and engagement platform for the health care market, showed the audience their technology in real-time during the event. The genusConnect platform is designed to connect care partners, families, and community resources to improve health outcomes.

20 Fathoms Logo

20Fathoms June Update

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The latest from our community partner 20Fathoms…

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ford Insurance Business Minute: 20Fathoms

Ryan Confer of Ford Insurance Agency recently sat down with Lauren Bigelow, Executive Director of 20Fathoms, to learn about our community of startups and the value they bring to the Northern Michigan region. In the video, they discuss the goals of 20Fathoms as we work to assist startups, our various programs, and more.

Women in Tech

Thursday, June 17, 5:00 – 6:30 pm
The Filling Station
Join Traverse City’s very own Women in Tech as they great the summer with an informal meetup. Please RSVP if you plan on attending!

Beer30

Friday, June 25, 3:30 – 5:30 pm
Raise a glass to our amazing 20Fathoms community at our newly reinstated Beer30s! We’ll be hosting it at our space, with RSVPs required. Members of the public and the 20Fathoms community are welcome!

Ready to Break Free from Your Home Office?

Join us for a tour and we’ll show you what 20Fathoms has to offer. Complete the form to get started.

HealthSpark Accelerator Demo Day

Wednesday, Jun. 30, 12:00 – 2:30 pm
Experience the ingenuity of the fearless founders revolutionizing healthcare.

The HealthSpark Accelerator supports a diverse group of founders with world-class resources that help them grow and scale. Our inaugural cohort of digital and tele-health founders are building bold businesses that will transform the world we live in. Tune in on Wednesday, June 30, to hear from companies on the frontlines of innovation in rural healthcare and get an early view of the newest digital health technologies.

Our HealthSpark Accelerator companies are focused on resolving challenges that impact patients, providers, and caregivers in rural areas, including chronic disease management, access to care, remote patient monitoring, patient follow-up and compliance, care management, mental health, and provider burnout. Demo Day is the showcase event for the 2021 HealthSpark Accelerator cohort, hosted by 20Fathoms After 11 weeks in this high-intensity acceleration program, founders from the 10 participating digital health companies will give their pitches to a panel of judges.

Investors; leaders in healthcare innovation, digital health, and rural healthcare; members and supporters of healthcare, tech, and startup communities; and community leaders; are all invited to attend.

Financial Management

Wednesday, Jun. 16, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
During this webinar we’ll guide you through the basics of financial management. You’ll learn about the importance of a bookkeeping system as we review real small business examples of Cash Flow Statements, Profit & Loss, and Balance Sheets. We’ll guide you through about 40 minutes of the most important questions to ask yourself when starting a business, pausing for audience questions and feedback along the way. We have reserved 20 minutes for a live question and answer session, in which one of our certified small business consultants will answer questions from the audience on a first come, first served basis.

NFTs – Explosive Growth and Where the Technology is Headed

Thursday, Jun. 17, 1:00 pm
NFTs – a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos and built on the Ethereum blockchain – are an exciting new area of technology. With $150M transacted in 2020 to $1.5B transacted in Q1 2021 alone, the velocity around this sector is explosive. Please join Orrick for a conversation with leading investors, issuers, and exchanges to discuss where the technology is headed and how NFTs can be leveraged for brand building and IP protection, additional revenue streams, and risk mitigation.

The Journey of the LBTQIA+ Entrepreneur

Thursday, Jun. 17, 1:00 pm 
Mentor Makers Live is honored to have Andres Wydler from StartOut, Juliette-Marie Somerset of Somerset Capital, and Yasir Fattah from OPEN (Out Proud Employees of Nasdaq) in an intimate fireside chat + Live Q&A. In this session, we’ll explore LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurship and mentorship, how to be an ally to LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurial community, communities of entrepreneurs within the LGBTQIA+ community facing challenges disproportionately, etc.

Small Business Set-Aside Programs: What You Need to Know

Thursday, Jun. 22, 1:00 pm
The federal government spends approximately $500 billion in private sector contracts every year. Over 20% of those contracts must be awarded to small businesses in set-aside programs. For investors considering investments in small businesses in these set-aside programs, it is important to not only understand each program’s requirements, but how each program fits into the investor’s strategic goals. Join Cy Alba and Meghan Leemon, attorneys in PilieroMazza’s Government Contracts Group, as they discuss key details of the government’s small business set-aside programs.

Product Market Fit

Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2:00 pm
Pavan Katepalli attained Product Market Fit(PMF) while an early stage C-level executive at Trilogy Education Services and was acquired for $750M. After the exit, he embarked upon studying PMF. In this session, Pavan will share how to use customer interviews to gain context and hidden insight around the problem you’re solving, choose the right customer to build your product around, prioritize your product roadmap around customer interviews and actions, and choose the right actions to measure stickiness in your product.

IER & How it Can Help Foreign-Born Founders

Thursday, Jul. 8, 1:30 pm EST
Join NVCA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to learn more about how the International Entrepreneurial Rule (IER) can enrich the VC ecosystem by creating additional avenues for foreign-born entrepreneurs to build companies in the U.S.

Enhanced Model Term Sheet v2.0

Thursday, Jul. 15, 1:00 pm EST
Join NVCA and Aumni to learn more about the Enhanced Model Term Sheet v2.0, which will democratize access to key insights and help venture investors as they partner with entrepreneurs to build new companies. With significant growth in global VC investment, access to actionable analytics has never been more critical for the private market.