Patti Glaza
Executive Vice President
Invest Detroit, Detroit
Employees: 55
Assets Under Management: $60M
Patti Glaza has translated the technology skills gained early in her career to her current role as executive vice president of Invest Detroit and managing director of ID Ventures, both in Detroit. She also has helped turn the area into a hub for high-tech startups.
Born in Dearborn, Glaza grew up in Port Huron and graduated from Michigan State University in East Lansing with a degree in international relations and economics. Her first job out of college was as a technology consultant with Anderson Consulting. While there, she managed national projects with Fortune 500 companies in financial systems and supply chain logistics.
“The technology skills I developed served me through the roles that followed,” Glaza says.
Her “pivotal moment” came while working toward her MBA at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, when she landed an internship with Avalon Investments, the capital venture fund founded by former Gov. Rick Snyder and Chris Rizik.
“They gave me the opportunity to read through hundreds of business plans, pitch businesses that I thought were interesting, and also work hands-on with some of their portfolio companies. That’s really where I got the startup bug,” she says.
Her interest in startups led to a role as director of marketing, then director of business development and client services, at Health Media, a behavioral health startup in Ann Arbor that eventually was sold to Johnson & Johnson.
“It’s easy to ride a bullet train to success,” Glaza says. “It’s much harder to survive the typical roller coaster of a startup. While no one wants to live through layoffs and reorganizations, being able to see a company reorganize and get stronger really helped me, and gave me the experience to help startups in my current role as a venture professional.”
From Health Media, Glaza joined another Ann Arbor media company, Small Times Media, as CFO. Before she left, she was CEO of the trade media company that focused on the commercial development of nanotechnology.
“I learned a ton during that time — transparency in leadership, how to keep teams motivated, (and) how to manage boards,” she notes. “The common thread of that time was really learning about people.”
Glaza got her first experience leading a nonprofit when she and a business partner created the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization, a clean tech association in Washington, D.C.
“For some reason I always picked jobs where there weren’t many women,” she says. “I had to build credibility quickly, keep working hard on relationships, and demonstrate value.”
In 2011, Glaza managed the Michigan office for Arsenal Venture Partners, overseeing the organization’s operations in the Great Lakes State and Hawaii.
Three years later she joined Invest Detroit; at the time, it consisted of 15 people when attracting investment in the Motor City was a hard sell. Today, Invest Detroit has 55 employees and $60 million in assets under management.
“Fifteen years ago, Detroit wasn’t on anyone’s tech radar map,” she says. “You really had to work hard to find investors to invest alongside you in subsequent rounds.
“Today, through the work of an incredible group of people across the tech ecosystem, the density has become real. That density excited other founders to come into the city. Now, Detroit is ranking really high in the emerging global tech market. People are seeing it as less of a hindrance and more of an opportunity.”
At Invest Detroit, Glaza’s primary responsibilities include sourcing and facilitating the development of early-stage and high-growth companies by providing guidance and investment capital. She engages in outreach activities supported by a network of experienced entrepreneurs, and helps ensure women and minority entrepreneurs are proactively mentored to build their high-potential tech startups.
“I love Invest Detroit’s mission of filling the technology capital gap in the city,” she says.
Along the way, Glaza became an adviser and board member for organizations that include the Michigan Venture Capital Association (she was its chair in 2024), TechTown Detroit, the University of Michigan’s Innovation Partnerships National Advisory Board, and Ann Arbor SPARK. She also holds director positions in Genomenon, MicroLam, and Ripple Sciences, and is an active entrepreneurial instructor for the NSF/NIH I-Corps.
Glaza says she enjoys her role at Invest Detroit because it involves continuous education.
“I have to be learning,” she says. “Every day is different. One day I’m looking at a therapeutic company, another day I’m looking at a robotics company, (and) the next day I’m looking at a consumer product app. It just keeps me challenged.”
“I wear my grandmother’s wedding ring, passed down through my mother, as a tribute to two incredibly strong women whose examples of resilience, education, and love helped shape who I am today. Their encouragement and determination continue to inspire me.”
