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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

New Milestone and Enduring Growth

[Traverse City, MI – June 30, 2021]  Northern Michigan Angels reached another milestone – over $6.6 Million invested in more than 30 entrepreneurial early-stage companies over the last decade. 

In the first half of 2021 NMA members invested $538,500 in five early stage Michigan companies – three are current portfolio companies – Atlas Space and Promethient, both located in Traverse City, and Esperovax. Investments were also made in two new companies – PassiveBolt and Claira. .   

NMA is actively planning for future growth – new members, new sponsors and the use of technology for members to learn about prospective investment opportunities. To support these efforts NMA launched a totally new website at NorthernMichiganAngels.com.  Anyone interested in becoming a member, a sponsor or making a pitch about their early stage company can use the website capability to indicate their interest.   

For most of 2020 and the first half of 2021 pitches by business founders continued regularly and successfully using technology – mostly Zoom.  With a computer and access to the internet members and presenters can participate no matter where they may be located at the time of a scheduled pitch presentation. In June pitch presenters and members participated in-person and virtually.  Current plans are to realize the benefits and continue this approach for the foreseeable future.  

Current NMA membership stands at 44 members. To support the geographically expansive membership efforts, a new ad was created by Idea-Stream which appeared in the July 2021 issue of Traverse City Business News (TCBN). Both are Traverse City businesses and are among our seven valued sponsors displayed prominently in the ad.  

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).

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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.

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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.
Angel Investing

NMA Hosts CEO Network in Traverse City, MI

On Friday the Northern Michigan Angels had the pleasure of hosting the CEO Network group of Lansing, MI. The attendees enjoyed a trip to Chateau Chantal Winery, dinner at the Boathouse restaurant and then an informative morning at NMA’s portfolio company Atlas Space with Mike Carey and Sean McDaniel.

20fathoms space
20Fathoms Coworking and Incubator Space, Traverse City, MI

The group then proceeding up to 20Fathoms for a tour of the incubator and coworking space by Keri Amlotte and Maria Purvis and then wrapped up with a presentation on NMA Accredited Investor Membership facilitated by Bradley Matson, the Administrative Director of Northern Michigan Angels. Several members of NMA joined, including Dennis Arouca, Dave Summers, and John Zaloudek.

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20 Fathoms May Update

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Here are the latest updates from our community partner 20 Fathoms…

 
Virtual Event with Google Cloud’s Director of Global Healthcare Solutions, Aashima Gupta
Thursday, May 6, 12 pm EST
“Digital Health 2025”
In her role at Google Cloud, Aashima Gupta sets the direction for the transformative healthcare solutions and leads engagement with healthcare key executives in helping transform their business strategies that define new models for care, revenue generation and improved patient experiences.Virtual Event with Clinical Officer, Exponential Technologies Center of Excellence at Anthem, Elif Oker, MD
Thursday, May 20, 12 pm EST
“Health in 2026:  The Changing Care Landscape”
In this presentation, Dr. Elif Oker will provide insights into what this new dynamic means for making healthcare more personalized, predictive, and proactive. Participants will also learn how health systems, clinicians, patients and payers are adapting to digital models of care delivery, addressing social drivers of health, and supporting people impacted by the digital divide.

Virtual Event with Co-founder of U.S. Robotics and Principal of Boomerang Catapult, Casey Cowell, and Co-founder & CEO of HealthBridge, Greg VandenBosch
Thursday, Jun. 3, 12 pm EST
“Building an Investor/Tech Startup Relationship”
Highly successful entrepreneurs Casey Cowell and Greg VandenBosch share their expertise on building tech companies and fundraising in the Midwest, far from the coastal startup and investment hubs.
NSF and NVCA: Invention to Impact
May 12, 1:00 pm
Innovation programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) advance ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace to strengthen America’s economy, health, and security. The Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) in the Engineering Directorate leads several programs to translate fundamental research into market solutions. IIP supports and trains researchers with promising technologies, as well as funding high-tech startups. Learn about the NSF’s central role in accelerating the growth of the national ecosystem and hear about specific funding opportunities.Scale Up North Awards
The Scale Up North Awards recognize and celebrate the vibrant and varied companies doing business up north, their achievements, and their impact on the community and economy. This year’s finalists for the Emerging Business Award are Common Good Bakery, Earthen Ales, and Taste the Local Difference. Finalists for the Hagerty Scaling Business Award are Higher Grounds Trading Company, Short’s Brewing Company, and Traverse City Whiskey Co. Attend a virtual event:
NEW! Full Stack React Developer (Contract)
20Fathoms member business Allovance is a software start-up focused on strategic prioritization, strategic alignment, and decision-making. They are seeking a full stack JavaScript developer who is proficient with React.js.Full Stack Developer
This is an exciting opportunity to join the growing tech team at Starboard Solutions, a 20Fathoms member business. Starboard was founded on a simple principle: make supply chain design fast, powerful, and catered to the needs of supply chain leaders. This is a remote position, although candidates must live in Michigan, Colorado, or Montana.

Associate (Portland, OR)
As a member of the Portland Team, the Associate will be responsible for building, maintaining, and improving advanced financial models. You will create data‐driven marketing materials for customers to demonstrate the value of energy supply and data and prepare investment memoranda and presentations for team leaders. This position requires a high level of understanding of the energy industry and project financing to support construction and operations of projects including tax equity and debt. Please send resumes or leads to careers@20fathoms.org.

Associate, Strategy & Innovation
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. Responsibilities include market research, investor communications, financial modeling, and utility data analysis. This position requires a high level of understanding of the energy industry, as well experience in banking, consulting, or transaction advisory services. Please send resumes or leads to careers@20fathoms.org.

Americorps VISTA: TCNewTech & 20Fathoms
TCNewTech and 20Fathoms seek an Americorps VISTA for a full-time, 12-month volunteer position based in Traverse City, Michigan. In this position, the VISTA will help expand organizational capacity through community outreach and membership program support. Contact keri@20fathoms.org with questions.

Dell Boomi Integration Developer
20Fathoms seeks to hire a Dell Boomi Integration Developer to join a global team building out a world-class FinTech platform. This position requires you to be hard-working, dedicated, and desirous of being part of a major disrupter in healthcare and fintech industries. You must be experienced with cloud-based architecture and comfortable working in a cross-functional team, in addition to other requirements. Send leads/referrals to careers@20fathoms.org and Erich will follow up with them.

Software Development Engineer
20Fathoms seeks to hire a Software Development Engineer to work collaboratively in a global team to build and implement a world-class cloud-based FinTech platform. You’ll be building out RESTful APIs using Java and Spring Boot or Hibernate, solving bottlenecks within an Agile team environment, working with cross-functional teams, and more! Send Leads/referrals to careers@20fathoms.org and Erich will follow up with them.

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.

20 Fathoms’ Sponsors

           
       
Aunalytics

Naveego Acquired by Aunalytics

Naveego, an NMA portfolio company and an emerging leader of cloud-native data integration solutions has been acquired by Aunalytics, a leading data platform company, delivering Insights- as-a-Service for enterprise businesses. The announcement of the acquisition has been featured in Yahoo Finance.

Continue Reading on Yahoo! Finance 

Michigan Celebrates Angels

Michigan Celebrates Angels 2021 Recap

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The Northern Michigan Angels attended yesterday’s virtual event, Michigan Celebrates Angels – Investing in Michigan’s Future hosted by the Michigan Angel Community.

A copy of the recording and slides from the keynote presentation has been provided by the Michigan Angel Community. To download the 2020 Annual Research Report and learn more about the Michigan Angel community, please visit the Michigan Angels website for more information.

ATLAS Space Operations Making Headlines

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Northern Michigan Angels’ portfolio company, ATLAS Space Operations, keeps making headlines.

“ATLAS Space Operations in Traverse City is a part of three new missions that just launched into space.

The rocket will have a satellite that will send back information for three different companies- Astroscale, LinaSpace, and Axelspace.

Each of the missions help to detect changed in Earth’s atmosphere.C9178de5 A9a1 495d A729 5a924f4e8992

One scans Earth, one checks for environmental changes, and the last measure how much debris is floating in space.

All of the information collected from the satellite will go through ATLAS to be decoded and given back to the scientists running the mission.

Vice President of Sales, Matthew Schmidt says, “We at ATLAS we’re really driven by a mission ourselves and that’s to be a big part of the new space economy. Real innovators and have it happen right here in Northern Michigan. That’s our mission in addition to supporting all the missions we do worldwide.”

Continue reading at 9and10 News…