Avegant Announces Series B Funding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MARCH 26, 2015 – ANN ARBOR, MICH. —  The Michigan Angel Fund (MAF) led a $1.7 million round of funding for Arborlight that recently closed. The company will use the funding to further commercialization efforts for its award-winning LightWell product.

“The Michigan Angel Fund is focused on companies like Arborlight that need early investment to make the leap, and bring a product to market,” explained Skip Simms, MAF managing director. “Arborlight’s potential is impressive, and the company is an exciting example of how technology can be incubated in a university setting, and progress forward and have real economic impact.”

LightWell, which can be seen in a video from Arborlight available at http://bit.ly/1NdcgF5, offers the benefits of a skylight, with the convenience of a light fixture. It emulates daylight conditions by tracking the position of the sun, and matching color, intensity and directionality throughout the day, in real-time.

“The evidence supporting the positive health and cognitive effects of dynamic daylight conditions in work, school, medical and retail environments is overwhelming. The demand for daylight in spaces deprived of traditional windows and skylights is a multi-billion dollar opportunity,” said Michael Forbis, Arborlight chief executive officer. “With the support of our investment community, Arborlight is meeting this substantial demand with its much acclaimed Daylight Emulation technology for commercial and home applications. These additional resources will enable the company to expand the marketing, sales, operations and engineering teams immediately.”

In addition to MAF support, Arborlight, a spin-out from University of Michigan’s Office of Technology Transfer, has received funding through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and a Local Development Finance Authority microloan administered by Ann Arbor SPARK. The company, which participated in Ann Arbor SPARK’s Entrepreneur Boot Camp in 2010, also received business accelerator grants from Ann Arbor SPARK.

MAF is a $2 million fund that, with more than 70 members, is the largest angel organization in Michigan. MAF funds companies that are seeking early investments from $200,000 to $2,000,000.

MAF’s managing member is Ann Arbor SPARK, which coordinates screenings of fund applicants, conducts due diligence, and works with the New Enterprise Forum to prepare companies for their investor presentations. Ann Arbor SPARK also works with business accelerator organizations around the state to identify quality companies for potential MAF investment. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation provides administrative support to MAF.

About Ann Arbor SPARK

Ann Arbor SPARK, a non-profit organization, is advancing the region by encouraging and supporting business acceleration, attraction and retention. The organization identifies and meets the needs of business at every stage, from start-ups to large organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK collaborates with business, academic, government, and community investor partners including the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, Washtenaw County, Livingston County, Washtenaw County etcs/Michigan Works!, the City of Ann Arbor, Bank of Ann Arbor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. For more information, please call (734) 761-9317 or visit www.AnnArborUSA.org.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., February 17, 2014 — Fueled by the desire to give student athletes the media recognition they’ve earned, Varsity News Network (VNN), a customized, streamlined sports information technology platform for high school athletic departments, today announced it has completed a $3 million Series A financing round which will fuel national expansion of its platform and launch the company’s mobile app.

VNN’s Series A round was led by Arsenal Venture Partners (AVP), with participation including, but not limited to North Coast Technology Ventures, RSL Venture Partners, Start Garden, Grand Angels, Northern Michigan Angels, First Step Fund, Muskegon Angels and the Michigan Angel Fund.

“In just over two years we’ve grown the VNN platform to include more than 250 schools in 14 states, supporting hundreds of thousands of students and their families,” said Ryan Vaughn, co-founder and CEO of VNN. “With this capital, we are poised to grow even faster and reach the 40 million students and family members who are left out of traditional sports media coverage.”

Local media can only cover the biggest high school games, and even those are limited to the highest profile sports like football, leaving millions without even basic coverage of their sport. Since its founding, VNN has redefined how high school athletics are reported in a community by aggregating news from athletic departments, as well as from local sports enthusiasts.

Athletic directors can leverage the VNN platform to systematically create local, user-generated media content about their student athletes, providing unprecedented access to the triumphs, stories, media and memories that shape the lives of student athletes and their families.

“We are very excited about VNN and how their platform can become the sports destination for local communities. They have put together a great team with an extremely scalable IT platform,” said Chris Fountas, General Partner at Arsenal Venture Partners. “VNN is perfectly positioned to assist schools throughout the nation to establish, enhance and easily manage their web and mobile presence. Arsenal recognizes the value VNN brings to this underserved market and looks forward to assisting VNN with scaling and market adoption.”

VNN’s platform generates rich media content targeting athletes and parents. This audience is segmented into hyper-local communities and monetized in a scalable way through advertising, e-commerce and digital fundraising. More than 250 schools have licensed the VNN platform, with an average of 20 new schools joining each month.

In late 2013, VNN won the $500,000 top prize in the annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the largest business plan competition in North America. Accelerate Michigan winners are among Michigan’s most promising startups and companies to watch. VNN has a growing team of sports and technology enthusiasts. To find out more about Varsity News Network’s exciting career opportunities, visit varsitynewsnetwork.com/were-hiring.

About Varsity News Network

VNN is a leader in high school sports media, providing high school athletic departments with a custom online communication platform to systematically promote their athletes and teams. Through these professional collegiate-quality websites, companies of all sizes are able to connect with the scholastic athletic community in their town while branding their products and services. For more information about VNN visit www.varsitynewsnetwork.com.

About Arsenal Venture Partners

Arsenal Venture Partners is a national multi-stage venture capital firm. Arsenal partners with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build exceptional enterprises by leveraging strategic relationships with some of the world’s largest organizations, both corporate and government.  These partnerships enable Arsenal’s portfolio companies to accelerate growth, utilize capital more efficiently, and reduce the associated risks of building emerging growth companies.  For more information about Arsenal visit www.arsenalvp.com.

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