ANN ARBOR—The Wolverine Venture Fund at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business has announced participation in Arbor Photonics’ Series A round of financing.

Arbor Photonics is an Ann Arbor company commercializing technology that originated in the U-M’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

This second investment from U-M was made possible by the Frankel Investment Fund, a student-managed venture capital seed fund at the Ross School of Business. With the Frankel Fund’s original investment in 2007, the Wolverine Venture Fund was granted investment rights in future rounds.

Arbor Photonics has developed a scalable optical fiber technology that enables high-power fiber lasers to be used in a variety of new materials-processing applications in the automotive, electronics and aerospace industries while offering a lower-cost replacement to existing bulky laser systems. Led by Phillip Amaya, a 20-year veteran of the laser industry, Arbor Photonics used the Frankel seed money for customer identification, prototype development and assembly, and the development of engineering and manufacturing plans for the company.

“The partnership exhibited through these two investments in Arbor Photonics demonstrates the synergies of our two student-led venture funds,” said Tom Kinnear, executive director of the Ross School’s Zell Lurie Institute and director of the Wolverine Venture Fund. “Each fund provides an opportunity for students to gain real-world experience with the due diligence and investment process while addressing different stages of financing.

“The Frankel Fund, in particular, exposes students to the unique challenges in early stage investing?from finding the deal, competing with others for the initial financing, and influencing the funding uses and structure.”

The $3.5 million Wolverine Venture Fund is the country’s first student-led venture fund and since its inception 10 years ago, has invested in more than 18 companies in a wide range of industries such as information technology, life sciences and alternative energy.

“We’re very fortunate to find both the technological and financial seeds for our business at the University of Michigan,” Amaya said. “The Frankel Fund’s early-stage investment played a critical role in helping us transform the technology into a product demonstration and the business concept into a competitive strategy.

“Now, with the Wolverine Venture Fund investment and the completion of our Series A round, we are well-funded to meet our employee growth and product development goals.”

Zell Lurie InstituteRoss School of Business