State Supports Establishing Innovation Evergreen Fund

A new $60 million Michigan Innovation Fund to help launch Michigan-based startups got the support of the Michigan legislature last month, as it was included in the $82.5 billion state budget lawmakers passed for the 2025 fiscal year.

While the $60 million met most lawmakers’ expectations, three House representatives are sponsoring a pending bill package that would allocate $105 million for such a startup fund.

The $105 million fund would be provided to five established Michigan-based nonprofit early-stage evergreen funds, which would then invest the funding in in early-stage startup companies operating in the state that are commercializing competitive edge technologies. The coalition includes Ann Arbor Spark, Detroit-based ID Ventures (the venture capital program of Invest Detroit), the Michigan State University Research Foundation, University of Michigan Accelerate Blue Fund and the Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center of Western Michigan University.

The proposal is led by ID Ventures and is backed by more than 25 partners across the state of Michigan, including universities, venture capital firms, and groups like MichBio. The goal is create a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in Michigan, and put the world on notice that the state is serious about helping company formation and commercialization that in turn will help in company and talent attraction.

During the Mackinac Policy Conference, Gov. Whitmer announced three steps designed to make Michigan more innovative by supporting entrepreneurs, including the hiring of a new Chief Innovation Officer at the MEDC, the creation of a $100,000 “Shark Tank”-style competition and a directive that the state help innovators test their ideas.