How can tech startups grow in Michigan? Look to Grand Rapids-based Blue Medora LLC. Its founders and investors say it is a textbook example of how Michigan’s high-tech startup ecosystem can work.
Blue Medora makes software that monitors the performance of large IT companies’ cloud-based applications. Customers include IBM, Oracle and VMware. Blue Medora made almost $10 million in revenue last year and is on track to double that this year.
The company was founded with a niche technology that could quickly generate cash flow. Then it got seed funding from two strong supporters of early-stage companies in Grand Rapids — Start Garden, a seed-stage venture capital fund and business incubator founded in 2012 by Rick DeVos, and the Grand Angels, an active angel network.
Its Series A round of venture capital, of $4.6 million in 2015, was led by Ann Arbor-based eLab Ventures LLC, a Michigan firm that scouts out deals in the state. Moreover, it was joined by VMware Inc., a highly regarded Silicon Valley IT company that gave Blue Medora instant national validation.
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