Skip Simms oversees all of Ann Arbor SPARK's entrepreneurial activities including its capital programs. He was the architect of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund co-investment program, the multiple microloan programs managed by SPARK, and is the managing partner of the Michigan Angel Fund.
While we’re closing the books on the second quarter of 2020, we really only have one quarter’s worth of COVID-19 economic data to analyze. As an angel investor, I was curious about how our Michigan-based tech entrepreneurs see things today after weathering the past three months of the pandemic.
A quick survey of company execs provided perspective. We received 41 responses from Michigan-based startups and early stage tech companies that successfully or tried to raise capital the past 12 – 18 months. Below are the survey results and some of my observations, which are mostly anecdotal based on conversations with many of these leaders.
The last question was open-ended, giving respondents the chance to share what kind of help they could use from investors. While it comes at no surprise that additional capital was at the top of their list (47%), the responses confirmed the value of introductions to potential customers (20%).
Almost everyone is saying the third quarter should be up in almost every aspect. It will be interesting to see on September 30 to what degree the growth curve moves.
The survey data is displayed in the slideshow below. You can expand the window and control the slide transition using the controls.
