May 14—TRAVERSE CITY — The second Northern Michigan Startup Week began a little later than initially designed.

But it was smooth sailing from there.

Instead of starting on May 5, the planned TechStars Startup Weekend was condensed into a one-day clinic on May 7.

"Water Innovations" was the theme for the second Northern Michigan Startup Week. An expanded partnership between Traverse Connect, 20Fathoms, Commonplace, Northern Michigan Angels, Newton's Road and TCNewTech, a variety of events were held from May 7-11 at several different locations.

A majority of the events are free and open to the public. Several were designed for all ages.

Spartan Innovations Program Manager and TCNewTech Board Member Bradley Matson coordinated the second Northern Michigan Startup Week and was pleased with it, even before all the final numbers were tallied.

"It's been great," Matson said Thursday morning. "We about doubled the number of events from last year and had almost double the number of participants."

A virtual silent auction was held during the week that benefitted The Watershed Center of Grand Traverse Bay.