ANN ARBOR – The Wolverine

Venture Fund, managed by The Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute

for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of

Business, announced participation in a follow-on round of early stage

financing for Intelligent Clearing Network. The financing round was

led by Early Stage Partners, a longtime supporter and partner of the

University of Michigan and the Wolverine Venture Fund, which has offices in

Cleveland and Ann Arbor.

Connecticut-based ICN is an innovative software-as-a-service

company that electronically validates and clears paper and digital coupons

and other incentives in real time at the point-of-sale in grocery, drug and

mass merchant retailers. ICN’s single connection to a retailer POS can help

solve the problem of mis/malredemption and fraud for the coupon industry.

The WVF student team responsible for conducting due diligence and

spearheading the investment with Early Stage Partners represented a mix of

business, accounting and legal expertise, all of which contributed to the

review and co-investment process. The student team included Jacob Cohen, JD

2011 and Ross MBA 2011; Michael Godwin, Ross MBA 2010; Luis Calderon, Ross

MBA/MS 2010; and Venkota Chakka, Ross MBA 2010.

“It was really a delight working with this team and with the Wolverine

Venture Fund,? said Jonathan Murray, Managing Director of Early Stage Partners.

?ICN management commented that the student team was more

informed, better prepared, and asked better questions than many

professional investors. We’re really pleased to have the WVF as an

investment partner.”

With more than ten years of investment and innovation, the $5.2 million

Wolverine Venture Fund is the country’s first student-led venture fund and

has served as a model for other university programs over the years. Since

its inception, the Wolverine Venture Fund has invested in more than 20

companies in a wide range of innovative industries such as information

technology, life sciences and alternative energy.

“It has been an active year for the Wolverine Venture Fund with student

teams busy researching and managing multiple investment opportunities,”

said Tom Kinnear, Executive Director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie

Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, and Wolverine Venture Fund Director.

“This current deal with ICN provided a unique opportunity for our students

to evaluate follow-on early stage financing and work with a great VC

partner. This year also represented a record number of exits and returns on

prior investments and we look forward to continuing the momentum next

year.”

About the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial

Studies / Center for Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance at the Ross

School of Business at the University of Michigan.

The Institute and its Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity

Finance bring together a potent mix of knowledge, experience and

opportunities from the front lines of entrepreneurship and alternative

investments. The student learning experience is further enhanced through

internships, entrepreneurial clubs and organization and events that serve

to provide viable networks and engage the business community. The School’s

two student-led investment funds, with over $5 million in management,

immerse students in the business assessment and investment process. Members

of the Advisory Board include Samuel Zell, Chairman of Equity Group

Investments; Michael Hallman, former COO of Microsoft Corporation; and

Eugene Applebaum, Founder of Arbor Drugs, Inc.

For more information, click on ZLI.Bus.Umich.Edu

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