Ann Arbor SPARK receives $1 million in state funding for new business incubator collaboration efforts

The Michigan Strategic Fund awarded $1 million to Ann Arbor SPARK to create a new Washtenaw County Incubator Collaborative (WCIC).

The collaborative is being created in partnership with the MC3 Business Accelerator and Michigan Research Institute (MRI) both of which also are based in Ann Arbor.

The funding, which is matched by a $722,500 contribution from MC3 and MRI, will be directed towards a two-year project designed to address challenges to the Ann Arbor entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The primary focuses of the effort will be increasing collaboration between incubators and bridge funding gaps for startup companies SPARK CEO Paul Krutko said in a statement.

“This award enables Ann Arbor SPARK and its WCIC partners to provide companies and entrepreneurs with access to critical services that catalyze revenue growth, job creation and new investment,” he said.

SPARK operates two incubators in Washtenaw County. SPARK Central is located on East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and the SPARK East incubator is on West Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti. Laurel Champion, MLive's general manager for Southeast Michigan is on the Ann Arbor SPARK business development committee.

The new collaborative will allow startup businesses greater access to wet lab space at MC3 and MRI in addition to greater technical vetting and product prototyping.

State funding for the initiative was provided by the 21st Century Jobs Fund, a program administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. designed to grow and diversify Michigan’s economy.

According to the press release, the WCIC will create 10 new jobs in various entrepreneurial support positions to help administer the new incubator services and infrastructure.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2