Investing in Michigan’s growing economy.
September 30, 2025 | 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Tickets $150 | Vanguard Hotel
Presented by Ann Arbor SPARK.
Curious about how startups raise money—and where the capital is flowing? This summit brings together venture capitalists, angel investors, and founders to explore investment trends and growth strategies. Whether you’re fundraising, investing, or just startup-curious, this event is packed with insights and connections.
Michigan Startup Capital Summit 2025 Agenda
Registration, Networking, Coffee
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Welcome Remarks
10:25 a.m. – 10:35 a.m.
Keynote
10:35 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.
- Peter Hill, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Business Leaders for Michigan
Business Leaders for Michigan’s goal is to make Michigan a top 10 state for jobs, talent, and a thriving economy. Peter Hill will connect this with the need for a robust innovation economy, which he’ll talk about in the context of their newly released Innovation Economy Scorecard.
Company Presentation 1 – MAKA
11:05 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
- Isabel Sheinman, Co-Founder & CEO
Networking Break
11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
The Coalition Effort to Grow Michigan’s Innovation Ecosystem
11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
- Jenn Hayes – Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Invest Detroit
- Kelly Sexton – Vice President, Innovation Partnerships, University of Michigan
- Paul Krutko – CEO, Ann Arbor SPARK
The panel will discuss the coalition work happening in the innovation ecosystem over the last several years, which led to the formation of the Michigan Innovation Fund, as well as current advocacy efforts to support the state’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation budget and an angel investor tax credit.
Company Presentation 2 – Atterx
12:20 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- Jim Milar, CEO
Lunch & Networking
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Fireside Chat on Angel Investing
1:30 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
- Dawn Batts (Moderator) – Co-Founder, Commune Angels
- Kristina Montague – Chair, Angel Capital Association
Kristina Montague, Managing Partner at the JumpFund and ACA Board Chair, and Dawn Batts, Co-Founder of the Commune Angels and ACA Board Vice Chair will discuss the latest data, insights, and trends in angel investing.
Company Presentation 3 – Lutely
2:20 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
- Kyle Jekielek, Co-Founder & CEO
Networking Break
2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Voices of AI: Insider Perspectives on the Latest Trends and Applications
2:45 p.m. – 3:35 p.m.
- Danny Ellis, Founder, Side Quest Strategies
- Rada Mihalcea, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
- Shane Emmons, Founder and CEO, Swept Ai
- Jason Harper, Founder & President, Ready Signal
Artificial intelligence continues to dominate early-stage investment, becoming a central focus of angels and VCs. Ann Arbor Entrepreneur Danny Ellis will moderate a discussion on the latest in AI and what’s important for investors, with Rada Mihalcea, UM Professor and Director of the Michigan Artificial Intelligence Lab, and Jason Harper, Founder of RXA and Ready Signal.
Company Presentation 4 – ProbeTruth
3:35 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
- MJ Cartwright, CEO
Closing Remarks
3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Happy Hour & Networking
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Michigan Startup Capital Summit Speakers
Plus more being announced soon!
Peter Hill
Vice President of Strategic Initiatives
Business Leaders For Michigan
Peter Hill is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Business Leaders For Michigan, a statewide organization driven by CEOs from the state’s leading employers, all working toward a shared goal: making Michigan a Top 10 state for jobs, talent and a thriving economy.
Peter is leading the organization’s work around talent, innovation and economic growth.
Peter previously was an associate partner at McKinsey & Company in Detroit, where he was a leader in economic development and government performance, working with states and regions on topics from unemployment to technology strategy to regional growth and innovation.
Prior to McKinsey, Peter was a strategist at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where his work included resiliency planning, sector development, and managing the creation of the city’s workforce development strategy alongside the Jobs for New Yorkers Task Force. He started his career in the nonprofit sector, consulting for mission-based organizations at Root Cause and running youth leadership programs in Mexico and the U.S. as part of Amigos de las Americas.
Peter has a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Keynote: Peter Hill
Business Leaders For Michigan
Dawn Batts
CEO,
Milestone Growth Capital Institute
Dr. Dawn Batts leverages more than two decades of experience in business strategy and growth capital to build inclusive investment pipelines and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her research and work focus on addressing the common barriers that contribute to economic disparities.
As CEO of Milestone Growth Capital Institute, Dawn develops and delivers initiatives that train and support angel investors and entrepreneurs while expanding access to early-stage capital. Previously, she managed growth capital programs at TechTown Detroit, curating the Catalyst Angel Program and the Tech Start-up Fund. She also co-founded Commune Angels, a community of investors funding scalable, transformative tech companies.
Dawn shares her expertise nationally as Vice Chair of the Angel Capital Association Board and as a gubernatorial appointee to the Michigan Early-Stage Venture Investment Corporation Board. She also serves on the Tech for Tomorrow Research & Strategy Advisory Council (RSAC) and Living Cities’ Inclusive Capital Council.
Dawn has a B.A. in Accounting from Michigan State University, her MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and her PhD in Anthropology from Wayne State University.
Dawn Batts
Milestone Growth Capital Institute
MJ Cartwright
CEO,
ProbeTruth
MJ Cartwright has led startup initiatives with disruptive technologies and positive social and business impacts. Her experience spans many different industries including manufacturing, education, healthcare, medical devices, and legal tech.
After a successful exit and transition with her last company Court Innovations in the legal tech space, she has been doing state-wide mentoring operating out of the University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships Team. This is where she was introduced to Professor Khalid Malik’s work in detecting deepfakes and is now the CEO of ProbeTruth.
Court Innovations focused on bringing courts online across the US with Matterhorn’s online dispute resolution (ODR) platform. Before Court Innovations, MJ has led or has been part of leadership teams for numerous initiatives including CNC Connections, Arbor Ultrasound, Edington Associates, ViaDerm, and HealthMedia/Johnson & Johnson. She has an MBA from Eastern Michigan University and a BSEE from the University of Michigan.
MJ Cartwright
ProbeTruth
Danny Ellis
Founder,
Side Quest Strategies
Danny is an Ann Arbor based entrepreneur, founder, engineer, mentor, and now strategic consultant focused on energy, robotics, and industrial automation start ups. He is the former CEO and co-founder of SkySpecs, the global leader in automating wind farm asset management with robotics and software. Danny is a two-time graduate of the University of Michigan with degrees in Aerospace Engineering. He has recently joined the board of AssetCool, a UK based company upgrading energy grids for more power throughput. He is also working with other tech start-ups on solar farm asset management, renewable energy coatings, autonomous robotics, and software analytics. Additionally, Danny is working as an EIR in a few early stage start up programs to help the next generation of entrepreneurs. Danny lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, three daughters, and two goldendoodles.
Danny Ellis
Side Quest Strategies
Shane Emmons
Founder & CEO
Swept
Shane Emmons is a Michigan native and serial entrepreneur. Based in Saginaw and a three-time graduate of the University of Michigan, he started his career with a decade in data science at Frankenmuth Insurance before moving into the startup world. Over the past 15 years, Shane has experienced the full spectrum of startup life, from scaling products to tens of millions of users and navigating 9-figure exits to ventures that didn’t make it past their first anniversary. He has coached technical leaders stepping into management for the first time and taught as an CompSci adjunct professor at the University of Michigan. Today, as Founder & CEO of Swept, Shane is building the trust-layer for Agentic AI in Michigan, and proving startups here can scale beyond what is often thought possible.
Shane Emmons
Swept
Jason Harper
Founder & President,
Ready Signal
Managing Director,
RXA @ OneMagnify
Jason Harper is a seasoned data science leader and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in analytics, machine learning, and AI. Leveraging his MBA from the University of Michigan and economics degrees, Jason advises companies on strategy and ensures the measurable impact of data-driven initiatives.
He founded RXA, Ready Signal, and Weave Workforce—pioneering ventures in consulting, data-as-a-service, and workforce optimization software. With two machine learning patents and contributions to leading data science publications, Jason’s expertise has consistently fueled innovation and business success. At RXA, he delivered an extraordinary 3000% return for investors in just six years, showcasing his rare ability to blend entrepreneurial vision with strategic execution.
Now serving as President of Ready Signal and Managing Director of RXA @ OneMagnify, Jason drives the strategic direction of both organizations, delivering innovative data science solutions to global clients. His leadership fosters growth, operational efficiency, and business transformation, making him a recognized figure in advancing how companies leverage data to compete and win.
If you would like to reach Jason, you can find him on LinkedIn:
Jason Harper
Ready Signal
Jennifer Hayes
Senior Vice President, Public Policy
Invest Detroit
Jennifer joined Invest Detroit in January 2018 and has more than 20 years of experience in organizational management, public policy, external affairs, and economic development. She currently leads the organization’s public policy work. In the past three years, she has successfully led the creation of the Michigan CDFI Coalition and led advocacy efforts that resulted in $189 million total for Michigan’s CDFI and venture ecosystems. Before taking on public policy full time, she was responsible for a variety of areas including technology management, internal process improvements, and management reporting during which she oversaw the implementation of multiple new organizational software platforms.
Prior Experience: Prior to joining Invest Detroit, Ms. Hayes served as director of administration and outreach with Business Leaders for Michigan, a non-profit executive leadership group that represents CEOs of the state’s largest companies in Michigan, and as a senior legislative analyst for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. She began her career in the Michigan Legislature, holding various policy positions in the Michigan House and Senate over eight years and working on a variety of economic development and tax policy public policy initiatives and legislation. Her last position was senior policy advisor with the Michigan House of Representatives’ Republican Policy Office where she led efforts around economic development and tax policy work for two House Speakers.
Professional & Board Affiliations: Ms. Hayes serves as chair of the Detroit CDFI Coalition and its Policy Committee and as treasurer of the Michigan CDFI Coalition and its Policy Committee. She is also a Board member with the Detroit Youth Sports Commission. She has also participated in the Inforum Executive Leadership Program and Detroit Regional Chamber: Leadership Detroit program.
Education: Bachelor of Science, Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science-Human Resources; Minor in Political Science; Emphasis on Business Administration/Accounting from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Jennifer Hayes
Invest Detroit
Kyle Jekielek
CEO & Co-Founder
Lutely
With over two decades in the music business, Kyle Jekielek got his start hustling more than 10,000 copies of his album hand-to-hand in the NYC subways. One of those CDs eventually reached an MTV music supervisor, landing his first placement. From there, Kyle built a career licensing music to TV shows, video games, movies, and commercials.
In 2020, Kyle left New York for Michigan with his wife and two kids. He is now launching Lutely, a music technology platform that helps artists and record labels maximize the value of their catalogs with AI.
Kyle Jekielek
Lutely
Paul Krutko
President & CEO
Ann Arbor SPARK
Paul Krutko is Ann Arbor SPARK’s president and CEO. Ann Arbor SPARK is a public-private partnership of business, government and academic institutions working to create economic prosperity in the Ann Arbor area of innovation. In his role as CEO, he leads the organization’s efforts to expand the regional economy through initiatives to support entrepreneurs and early-stage companies accelerating their growth to full potential. SPARK implements a strategic framework designed to maintain and to enhance the region’s global competitiveness.
Paul has nearly four decades of economic and community expertise. He led San Jose, California’s economic development efforts in Silicon Valley where he served as the chief development officer. Paul founded Peloton Development, a consultancy devoted to advising businesses and municipal, regional, state and national governments on economic development and climate prosperity strategies and on creating high performing economic development leaders and teams. Paul was responsible for downtown development under Mayor Michael White in Cleveland and Mayor John Delaney in Jacksonville, Florida.
He earned a Bachelor of Urban Planning and Design degree from the University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, and Art. In addition to his responsibilities as SPARK CEO, Paul Krutko was honored to serve as chair of the preeminent professional economic development organization in the world, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). He was designated an Honorary Life Member of IEDC in 2013. Paul is the immediate past Chair of the Board of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) serving in that capacity from 2019 to 2021. He is also treasurer of the American Center for Mobility.
Paul Krutko
Ann Arbor SPARK
Carrie Leahy
Member and Chair
Bodman PLC
Ms. Leahy concentrates her practice in corporate and business law. She counsels both established and emerging businesses on general corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, compliance with securities regulations, and issues involving venture capital funding. Ms. Leahy is chair of Bodman’s executive management committee.
Ms. Leahy has drafted and negotiated transactional documents for both publicly and privately held entities involved in mergers and acquisitions ranging in size from $250,000 to more than $1 billion. She has drafted and negotiated operating and joint venture agreements and advised corporate boards in connection with various transactions. She has also advised clients on entity formation, corporate governance and other general business issues. Ms. Leahy has extensive experience working with the University of Michigan’s Technology Transfer Office and is part of a Bodman team that has represented a significant number of start-up and spin-off companies that have recently licensed technology from U of M.
Ms. Leahy’s securities law experience includes representing clients in connection with public and private securities offerings; preparing registration statements, proxy statements, and periodic reports; and advising clients generally on their securities law obligations. Ms. Leahy also assists public companies with their NYSE listing and reporting requirements.
For ICLE, Ms. Leahy has authored materials in the past on Choosing a Business Entity and moderated a panel discussion on “Advising the New Startup Company: Formation and Funding” (2013).
Ms. Leahy serves on the board of directors of Inforum Michigan. She is also a board member for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone Local Development Finance Authority and a member of the United Way of Washtenaw County Campaign Cabinet. Ms. Leahy also serves on the board of the Detroit Regional Chamber. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan Business Law Section Council.
In 2025, Crain’s Detroit Business honored Ms. Leahy as one of Michigan’s Notable M&A Dealmakers, and in 2021, she was recognized as one of Michigan’s 100 Most Influential Women. DBusiness magazine has four times listed her among Detroit’s 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025). Ms. Leahy has been listed in Chambers USA under Corporate/M&A, in IFLR1000 under Mergers & Acquisitions, in DBusiness magazine “Top Lawyers” 2025 under Corporate Law, in Michigan Super Lawyers 2019-25 under Business/Corporate, and in The Best Lawyers in America 2021-26 under Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law.
Carrie Leahy
Bodman PLC
Rada Mihalcea
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
University of Michigan
Rada Mihalcea is the Janice M. Jenkins Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, the Director of the Michigan Artificial Intelligence Lab, and co-founder of Initium AI. Her research interests are in natural language processing, including LLMs, multilingual natural language processing, and computational social sciences. She is an ACM Fellow, a AAAI Fellow, and a former ACL President. She is the recipient of a Sarah Goddard Power award (2019) for her contributions to diversity in science, an honorary citizen of her hometown of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2013), and the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers awarded by President Obama (2009).
Rada Mihalcea
Initium AI | U-M
James Millar
Chief Executive Officer
Atterx Biotherapeutics
Mr. Millar has over 25 years of financial and business expertise plus extensive management and business development experience as a senior executive with both large and earlier stage companies. Prior to joining Atterx, Mr. Millar was Chief Executive Officer at Cormatrix Cardiovascular, a commercial stage regenerative MedTech company focused on the development of novel cardiovascular repair and regeneration technologies. The company engaged in research, development and commercialization of platform technology for regenerative heart valves and heart failure indications, enabling medical surgeons with migration, vascularization and remodeling of pericardial, cardiac and venous tissues. At Cormatrix, Mr. Millar led the company’s fundraising efforts including the successful completion of a $7.0 million convertible debt offering. He also guided company through the restart of clinical studies for the FDA approval of a regenerative heart valve product.
Prior to Cormatrix, Mr. Millar was the founder and Managing Principal of The Vine Group, a business advisory group providing strategic planning, valuation analysis and financing assistance to growing businesses. Mr. Millar has advised, managed or led over 100 transactions with an aggregate value of over $1 billion. Prior to founding The Vine Group, Mr. Millar held various senior level financial and business development management positions in high growth companies (TheraTx, Kinetic Concepts, Thrive Coffee).
Mr. Millar received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and both a Masters of Health Administration and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
James Millar
Atterx Biotherapeutics
Kristina Maurer Montague
Managing Partner
JumpFund
Chair
Angel Capital Association
Kristina Montague is Managing Partner of JumpFund, an early-stage fund with a mission to engage more women in angel investing and increase access to capital for female founders across the Southeast US. Kristina is also a partner in Next Wave Impact Fund, which invests in impact ventures through a gender lens, and Mindshift Capital, a fund focused on women-led ventures globally. In addition, Kristina serves as Chair of the Angel Capital Association, the largest professional network of angel investors, and is on the board of the Footprint Foundation and Teach For America Nashville/Chattanooga. She is the author of the new book Jump In: Women Investing in Women, Growing Our Capital and Impact, which encourages more women to invest in the change they want to see in the world.
Kristina Montague
Angel Capital Association & The JumpFund
Joseph Morrison
Partner, Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Chair
Barnes & Thornburg
Joseph Morrison advises entrepreneurs, family offices, venture investors and high-growth companies to effectively navigate investment transactions, company sales and legal and business challenges. With a background in business and technology consulting, Joe counsels clients on technology and intellectual property licensing, venture and institutional financing rounds, governance matters, and employment and commercial contracting matters. He is a trusted adviser to family offices, high-growth companies, and venture investors around the U.S., a role that allows clients to focus their time on executing strategic plans and consummating investments that further core business goals.
Joe is a versatile attorney who applies strategic thinking across all his work to become a valued counselor for his clients. Additionally, Joe advises multi-generational family offices and high-net-worth individuals on high-growth company investments as a core part of his practice. Known for his deep knowledge of market norms while also getting deals done efficiently, clients seek his guidance to negotiate venture and growth equity financings as well as merger and acquisition transactions.
Active in the Ann Arbor startup scene, Joe is regularly invited to present before student groups, local startup groups, and University of Michigan classes, covering legal issues facing high-growth companies and entrepreneurs.
Joseph Morrison
Barnes & Thornburg
Kelly Sexton
Associate Vice President for Research – Innovation Partnerships & Economic Impact
Innovation Partnerships, University of Michigan
As Associate Vice President for Research – Innovation Partnerships and Economic Impact, Kelly works closely with the Vice President for Research as well as other leaders across the university to provide visionary and strategic leadership of U-M’s innovation, corporate research and technology commercialization activities, including overseeing Innovation Partnerships. In this role, she supports and encourages university-wide programs for intellectual property development, innovation and engagement with business and venture communities in the region, across the nation and around the globe.
Prior to her arrival at U-M in 2018, Kelly was the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Commercialization and New Ventures at North Carolina State University, where she served as principal investigator for an NSF I-Corps site and co-founded an alumni angel investor network to provide a new source of funding for university startups and spinouts.
Kelly holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Molecular Pathology from the University of California, San Diego where she was supported by a fellowship from the California Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Kelly completed her postdoctoral studies at Stanford University where she was awarded a fellowship from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Kelly serves as co-chair of the U-M Roundtable on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, on the Board of the Michigan Venture Capital Association, and as Vice Chair of the Ann Arbor SPARK Board of Directors.
Kelly Sexton
University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships
Isabel Sheinman
CEO & Co-Founder
Maka Media
Isabel Sheinman is the co-founder of Maka, an AI-powered children’s media platform that combines developmental science and personalized curation to transform how families experience screen time. Previously, she co-founded NABU, a global literacy nonprofit that has reached over 15 million children with early-grade reading materials, and has built ventures across the nonprofit, VC-backed, and corporate sectors. With a background spanning Georgetown, NYU Stern, and leadership roles at Mastercard, Isabel brings a decade of experience at the intersection of education, technology, and social impact to her mission of building healthier digital futures for children.
Isabel Sheinman
Maka Media
Alison Todak
Vice President of Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Alison Todak is Vice President of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), where she leads strategic efforts to strengthen Michigan’s entrepreneurial and innovation landscape. She oversees a portfolio of programs and partnerships designed to support startups, scale-ups, and ecosystem builders across the state, with a focus on inclusivity, access, and economic impact.
Alison brings a strong background in venture capital, community building, and founder support. Before joining MEDC, she was Director of Platform at Plymouth Growth, supporting portfolio companies and leading firm-wide marketing, communications, and ecosystem engagement. Earlier in her career, she helped shape Michigan’s startup scene as Ecosystem Development Manager at Bamboo in Detroit and as Managing Director of Cahoots in Ann Arbor. She also co-founded and ran programming for the Desai Accelerator at the University of Michigan, supporting tech startups with mentorship and pre-seed funding.
A champion for inclusive entrepreneurship, Alison co-founded Shine & Rise in 2019, a support network for women in tech. Her work centers around building communities where entrepreneurs can access the resources and relationships they need to succeed.
Alison Todak
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
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