Advancing High-Tech and Biotech Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and Private Equity Investments in Michigan
Zsuzsanna Fluck, associate professor of finance and director of the Broad College's Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity & Entrepreneurial Finance (CVCPEEF), has been awarded $30,000 by the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE) for a research project with Lisa D. Cook, assistant professor of economics and international relations, Department of Economics, and James Madison College. The two co-investigators will undertake a study on "Disruptive Technologies, Company Partnerships, Financing Strategies and Venture Capital: Advancing Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Michigan." The MIIE leverages Michigan universities' economic knowledge by helping with the commercialization of this knowledge and encouraging entrepreneurial risk-taking.
The MIIE leverages Michigan universities' economic knowledge by helping with the commercialization of this knowledge and encouraging entrepreneurial risk-taking.
The funding for Fluck and Cook's project will support student teams working with entrepreneurial biotechnology companies at the Michigan Molecular Institute (MMI). The MMI, located in Midland, Michigan, is an independent, nonprofit research and educational organization that conducts basic and applied research in polymer science and technology. The project will be completed between September 2011 and August 2012.
These outreach projects enhanced the educational experiences of the students by incorporating hands-on, high-tech and biotech entrepreneurship and venture capital projects into their curriculum.
The CVCPEEF advances and promotes research on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and private equity investments by MSU faculty and students, disseminates this research, and forms and maintains mutually beneficial relationships with MSU alumni entrepreneurs, venture capital and private equity professionals and companies, Michiganbased entrepreneurs, the Michigan Venture Capital Association, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. It also partners with similar peer institution centers within the U.S. and globally on research, teaching, and outreach activities. In addition, the CVCPEEF arranges for non-classroom learning opportunities and student internships for Broad College students, and advises them on entrepreneurship projects.
In 2010, Dr. Fluck, together with Jim Plonka, CEO of MMI and an advisory board member of the CVCPEEF, led a team of Broad College MBA students who provided entrepreneurial, high-tech and biotech firms in Midland with professional advice and market and financial analysis on their business and financial plans. As a result of the students' assistance, the companies were able to expand in the directions recommended, raise financing, and provide more local employment opportunities. These outreach projects also enhanced the educational experiences of the students by incorporating hands-on, high-tech and biotech entrepreneurship and venture capital projects into their curriculum.
Fluck is also a member of the leadership team of the MSU Institute for Entrepreneurship.
