Michigan Medical Society Fund to Target Several Startups Annually

A new fund has been created by the Lansing-based Michigan State Medical Society to invest in early-stage medical-device and technology companies around the state.

The fund, Quantum Medical Concepts, is planning to invest up to $250,000 in each of two or three startups a year, according to Ben Louagie, the medical society’s chief operating officer.

There is no fixed pool of money in the fund to invest from. For now, investments will be made as-needed from the medical society. Eventually, the society would like to have a dedicated pool of money.

“We wanted to start slow and see how it goes. We’d like to do something more formal with a dedicated fund in the future,” said fund manager Tom Stewart.

In addition to providing capital, the fund will offer management help to the startups and their founders through an affiliation with Lansing-based Common Wealth Enterprises LLC, a consulting firm run by Stewart that provides services to startups.

Common Wealth also runs the Center for New Enterprise Opportunity business incubator in Lansing.

“A lot of times, entrepreneurs and inventors don’t understand business and how to grow an idea into a profitable business,” said Stewart. “By offering support for those management functions that the founders lack, Quantum can increase the likelihood of success and minimize the investment risk.”

Medical businesses funded by Quantum will undergo a needs assessment that analyzes their proficiency in such core business areas as accounting and finance, human resources, operations and product development.

Based on that assessment, Quantum will design a program for each company to guide its growth.

Louagie said that one likely source of portfolio companies will come from medical society members, some of whom hold patents for devices that have designed for their own medical practices but haven’t commercialized.