InvestUP receives $1.6M from Michigan Innovation Fund

UPPER MICHIGAN (WLUC) - The state wants to supercharge the Upper Peninsula’s opportunities for innovation.

On Monday, we told you InvestUP would receive $1.6 million from the first-ever Michigan Innovation Fund (MIF).

InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante talked about how one company’s support from the state of Michigan propelled it into space.

“That idea on the back of a napkin, with this type of entrepreneurial investment and support, now employs 80 people in Houghton that are putting satellite thrusters into space,” said Fittante.

The InvestUP CEO is talking about Orbion Space Technology in Houghton. Like Orbion, Fittante says he wants other new companies to grow and stay in the U.P.

Fittante says he hopes, with the new Michigan Economic Development Corporation fund, InvestUP will help achieve that goal.

“The idea, really, is there are companies like Orbion that are in the offing that we’ll be able to invest in and see them grow in scale here,” said Fittante.

With this latest award, InvestUP has now received three investments from the state in the last eight years. In turn, Fittante says his group has invested $2 million into innovators in the outdoor recreation space.

“This will allow us to continue that work,” said Fittante. “The hope is, with the additional investment, we’ll at some point see this fund become perpetual or, as they call it in the industry, evergreen.”

InvestUP is one of eight groups receiving funding from the state but the only one in the U.P.

Alison Todak, Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Innovation for the MEDC, says the U.P. is an important part of the state’s recreation landscape.

“Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a launchpad for outdoor innovation,” said Todak. “We’re excited to support startups as they look to scale in the U.P., furthering their growth journey.”

U.P.-based businesses can apply for funding through the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund here.

There is an additional $7.2 million from the MIF that you can apply for. The first deadline is Wednesday, July 16 at noon ET. The second deadline is Friday, Aug. 8 at noon ET. More information can be found here.

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