Huron River Ventures builds startup ecosystem in Kerrytown

Huron River Ventures isn't just a venture capital firm looking to build a portfolio of startups and investors. It’s working to build its own little entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kerrytown.

The 4-year-old VC, which specializes in early stage investment, opened up its first office this spring in Kerrytown. It is sharing the space with a handful of other venture capital firms and a few startups, including Local Orbit and TurtleCell. The idea is to create a concentration of techies and investors in a cool space in one of Ann Arbor's most cosmopolitan neighborhoods.

"We wanted to see if we could create a little space with some critical mass," says Ryan Waddington, partner of Huron River Ventures. "We wanted to create a space where people could bump into each other more frequently."

Huron River Ventures renovated the old Ann Arbor Observer space on the 1st floor of the Market Place building at 303 Detroit St. Arboretum Ventures already occupies the third floor of the building. Huron River Ventures was also able to recruit the Ann Arbor offices of a number of VCs, including Draper Triangle, Cultivian Sandbox, Arsenal Venture Partners, and Detroit Innovate.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to build out a big office when you're a staff of one," Waddington says.

Huron River Ventures, which has a core staff of two people, closed on a $11 million investment fund (its first) in 2011. It has made 11 investments, has 10 portfolio companies, and has recorded one exit. It currently has one term sheet out for another investment and is looking to make three more investments by the end of this year.

Source: Ryan Waddington, partner of Huron River Ventures
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.