In most cases, an entrepreneur with a great idea will approach a venture capital fund and ask for an investment to help get their plan off the ground. In the case of the
Michigan Accelerator Fund I (MAF-I) and
nanoRETE in East Lansing, the process went in reverse. The new Grand Rapids-based fund, which was awarded $6 million by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, actually launched nanoRETE themselves, at the request of one of their investors, the MSU Foundation.
“They said to us, ‘would you please help identify some of the assets that are being developed at the university so that we can commercialize them?” says Dale Grogan, Managing Director of the MAF-I and chairman of nanoRETE. “There is a ton of intellectual capital that comes out of [MSU research].”
Working with MSU Technologies, MAF-1 identified the work of Dr. Evangelyn Alocilja as the right fit for the fund. Dr. Alocilja develops nanoparticle-based biosensors for rapid, point-of-care identification and diagnosis of infectious agents, that is, she has created tests that identify agents such as salmonella and E. coli far more quickly than available tests.
“The novelty and the market opportunity of what she is doing is unparalleled,” says Grogan. “She has a method that shaves three days off of food testing. The market for this is enormous.”
NanoRETE just set up in a 1,100 square foot office in MSU’s MBI Complex and currently employs five workers. MAF-I has invested under $500,000 in the company since it began in 2011.
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