Venture Michigan Fund II Invests In Plymouth Venture Partners II
TROY -- The Venture Michigan Fund II L.P. said Monday that it had invested in Plymouth Venture Partners II L.P., a venture capital fund that invests in growth stage technology firms, primarily in the Great Lakes region.
The investment amount was not disclosed.
Credit Suisse's Customized Fund Investment Group manages Venture Michigan, which will make investment commitments totaling $120 million to venture capital funds during the three-year investment period. This was the third investment commitment the VMF II has made.
Said Sean O'Donnell, of the Credit Suisse CFIG Michigan investment office. "The team at Plymouth truly embraces the VMF II's mission of helping to build and diversify Michigan's economy and we are eager to begin working with them."
Mark Horne, managing partner of Plymouth Venture Partners II commented, "Our firm has a long-standing tradition of investing in Michigan, and this commitment will help accelerate our activity within the state."
Plymouth Venture's strategy focuses on providing growth capital to younger companies that have begun to commercialize their products or services and are in need of up to $5 million in additional capital. The fund announced a final close in September at over $41 million. Plymouth Venture Partners II has already invested in three companies, two of which are located in Michigan. For more information on the investment criteria, visit www.plymouthvc.com.
Venture Michigan invests in venture capital funds targeting seed and early stage capital Michigan companies in a wide variety of high growth, emerging industries. These include advanced manufacturing, health care and life sciences, information technology, alternative energy, and homeland security and defense. Venture capital fund managers participating in the Venture Michigan program will be required to invest at least as much in Michigan-based companies as they receive in capital commitments from Venture Michigan. Fund managers will be selected to receive capital from Venture Michigan through a competitive process.
The Venture Michigan Fund, a Michigan nonprofit corporation, was formed under the Michigan Early Stage Venture Investment Act of 2003, as amended, with a view towards stimulating Michigan's economic health by fostering job creation, retention, and expansion through the promotion of investment in venture capital funds specializing in seed and early stage investments. For more information, visit www.venturemichiganfund.org.
Credit Suisse's Customized Fund Investment Group is one of the largest and deepest investment teams dedicated to private equity investing. The group is headed by Managing Director and Global Head Kelly Williams, who founded CFIG in 1999. As of Dec. 31, CFIG managed more than $27 billion in commitments to private equity funds of funds and co-investments, both in the United States and internationally. CFIG's more than 125 professionals are based at the group's offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Austin, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Portland and Raleigh. In addition to the $120 million VMF II, CFIG manages the $95 million Venture Michigan Fund I, the $109 million Michigan 21st Century Investment Fund programs and co-manages with Beringea LLC the $185 million Invest Michigan Growth Capital Partners Fund and the $130 million Invest Michigan Mezzanine Fund. In total Credit Suisse manages over $500 million of Michigan-target investment initiatives, making Credit Suisse on of the largest pools of private equity capital in the State and establishing Michigan as a leader in supporting capital investment in the industries of tomorrow. For more information, visit www.credit-suisse.com.
