Out-of-state venture capital firm Flagship Ventures is close to signing a lease for a office in downtown Ann Arbor and expects to open its doors later this month.
The Massachusetts-based VC hired a recent graduate from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business to head up the office.
Flagship Ventures was one of the investors in
Accuri Cytometers, an Ann Arbor-based start-up recently acquired for nearly $300 million, and is looking to duplicate that success with similar investments in the local healthcare arena.
To make that happen it has hired Dr. Michael Johnson, a recent MBA graduate from U-M and fellow at the university's
Medical Innovation Center. He helped co-found
Converge Medical Technologies last year and has worked extensively with venture capital at the Ross School of Business.
"I had the background in what they wanted to do and I was on the ground here," Dr. Johnson says. "I had already worked at the
Wolverine Venture Fund. It was a great fit a lot of reasons."
Flagship Ventures has received investments from the
Venture Michigan Fund II and the
Renaissance Venture Capital Fund. It has an active investment in
Tangent Medical Technologies and is looking to make more investments in local start-ups this year. Dr. Johnson points out that Flagship Ventures specializes in early stage investments but is also open to later-stage investments.
Source: Dr. Michael Johnson, head of Ann Arbor office for Flagship Ventures
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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