InvestUP in Marquette and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) have created the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, a $3 million pre-seed fund to support entrepreneurs in the outdoor recreation industry in the Upper Peninsula and across the state.
The fund will make investments ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 in promising Michigan-based startups commercializing new technologies in outdoor recreation. It’s also the first of its kind in the Upper Peninsula, the only seed fund in any rural location across Michigan and one of only two funds managed by economic development organizations in the state.
The fund is supported by the MEDC through the Michigan Innovate Capital Fund (MICF) program, which aims to bolster local early-stage startup companies, create a conducive capital environment, and foster high-growth technology companies.
“The great outdoors are among Michigan’s greatest assets, and outdoor recreation is a critically important and rapidly growing sector for the Upper Peninsula and the entire state of Michigan,” says Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP.
“The Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund will be a gamechanger for innovators and entrepreneurs who exist at the intersection of technology, industry, tourism, and natural resources, and who recognized that quality of life is often tied to the quality of outdoor recreation opportunities. We are grateful for the opportunity to manage the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund.”
InvestUP has created an advisory board that features partners from across Michigan. The board features regional partners, including Innovate Marquette SmartZone and Michigan Tech University in Houghton County in the Upper Peninsula.
The partners will help the fund evaluate startups for potential investments and offer connections to outdoor recreation organizations, venture funds, seed funds, and strategic investors and partners in Michigan and nationwide. It expects to support 30 to 35 companies over the next two to three years.
Innovate Marquette, a regional SmartZone with the goal of transforming the region into a centralized hub for technology and innovation, including outdoor recreation as one of the targeted sectors.
It helped enable and secure the Fund through a $700,000 Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its specialty in outdoor innovation and recreation should provide valuable connections for the fund’s advisory board and grant recipients.
The outdoor recreation economy nationwide continues to flourish, with annual growth of 11.8 percent in 2022. In Michigan, outdoor recreation brought $12.4 billion in value-added economic impact, and the sector includes nearly 120,000 jobs (a growth of 7.4 percent year over year) in a wide range of occupations that require various skills including design, manufacturing, retail sales and hospitality.
Snow activity, in which the Upper Peninsula specializes, enjoyed an 88 percent increase in the last three years.
In 2022, the Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry moved within MEDC to strengthen the state’s focus on retaining and attracting outdoor recreation businesses and products. The office’s director, Brad Garmon, was appointed to chair the national outdoor industry Confluence of States coalition for 2023.
The Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund already is helping entrepreneurs across Michigan in the outdoor recreation industry.
At the recent Innovation Week 2024 at Northern Michigan University, Grounded, led by CEO Sam Shapiro, won the grand prize of the event’s Outdoor Innovation Pitch competition. Shapiro was given a $50,000 investment for his outdoor startup.
Interested companies and organizations are encouraged to visit michiganoutdoorfund.com or contact the fund’s managing director, Jim Baker, at jim.baker@michiganoutdoorfund.com.
