Michigan's Huron River Ventures Partners Announces $11M Fund For Energy Efficient Startups

“Ann Arbor is the natural startup hotbed,” said Tim. “We intentionally opened our first office in Ann Arbor. That’s the center of talent in the Midwest.” Huron River Ventures Partners, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based early stage venture capital firm, just announced that it recently closed the final round of its first fund, Huron River Ventures I at $11 million. Tim Streit and Ryan Waddington, managing directors of Huron River Ventures, are ready to invest in more companies looking to change the way we consume energy. The pair moved to Ann Arbor and started investing in young startups in 2010. Since then, they have made seven seed-stage investments in energy-efficient companies including Side.Cr, FarmLogs, and Ambiq Micro. But this isn’t about just solar or wind energy. This is about companies with a novel approach to consumption and use. For example, as Sterit told me, they invested in Side.Cr because of how it changes transportation, Michigan-based FarmLogs for its potential to disrupt agriculture, and Ambiq Micro, a company that claims to build the most energy-efficient microchips. This isn’t a fund looking for companies built around buzzwords like “cleantech” or “green energy”. This is venture capitalists investing in technology that’s clean. Both are from the great state of Michigan, attended the University of Michigan, and returned to the Great Lakes State after stints elsewhere. “The caliber of talent here, young tech talent, and on a relative basis, is a greater access to talent and the cost of doing business.” Tim said. “You have access to human capital and financial capital that’s growing very quick. I think you need to overlay the Midwest work ethic. We are very bullish on the work ethic.” As someone who has spent a good deal of time in Detroit and Ann Arbor, I can tell you this is a very common sales pitch. I was born in Michigan and never left. We’re very proud of our talent and work ethic. But the state is struggling to retain the talent it trains. As Tim explained, Ann Arbor naturally attracts talent. “That being said, it’s a bit harder to stand out in Ann Arbor than Detroit.” “Why fight for money in Ann Arbor when there’s low hanging fruit in Detroit,” he said flatly, pointing out the free office space and access to technical resources provided by Dan Gilbert’s companies. “But this isn’t Silicon Valley.” he added. “Fellow VCs discovered we

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