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Michigan Pre-Seed Capital fund recipient Limo-Reid pays back $750,000, plus interest, to 3 investors

September 30, 2009 Regional Updates
As reported by Tom Henderson, Crain’s Detroit Business September 30, 2009
Ann Arbor Spark, as well as two other community-development organizations, have been repaid with interest for early support of a Deerfield-based company that hopes to revolutionize transmission systems for trucks and military vehicles.Limo-Reid Inc. has paid back $250,000, plus interest, that Spark loaned to the company as part of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund in 2007. Also getting paid back their investments of $250,000 each were Detroit-based NextEnergy and Troy-based Automation Alley.

At the time of the loan, the company was known as Hybra-Drive Systems L.L.C.

Last fall, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. invested $3.4 million in the company, which got matching investment from two out-of-state venture capital firms, Ridgewood Capital and Khosla Ventures.

The VC investment was contingent on the company switching from a limited-liability company to a Delaware C Corp. The company also chose to change its name to avoid confusion with a company with a similar name.

Limo-Reid makes hydraulic-based power trains that increase fuel efficiency.

“What is cool is this money goes back into the fund and can be deployed, again,” said Elizabeth Parkinson, Spark’s managing director of marketing and public relations.

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