Cambridge, MA-based Pixability, a video marketing startup, has raised a little over $1 million in angel financing, according to founder and CEO Bettina Hein. The round was led by Launchpad Venture Group, with participation from members of several other New England angel groups including Beacon Angels, Boston Harbor Angels, Maine Angels, North Country Angels, and Walnut Venture Associates. Pixability’s board members include Goeran Grosskopf, Michael Mark, and Barry Coffman, and its board observers are Jean Hammond and Janet Muto. Last May, Xconomy profiled Pixability and how its strategy changed in its early days.

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It’s shaping up to be a busy week for Michigan venture capital and angel investment news.

—Dexter, MI-based ReCellular, an electronic waste company focused on collecting and recycling mobile phones, cameras, and other devices, said yesterday it has received an investment from Beringea. The amount of financing was not disclosed, but it was made through Beringea’s $185 million InvestMichigan Growth Capital Fund (this is the fund’s 17th investment). ReCellular has 280 employees in Michigan and is led by CEO Steve Manning. The company says it collects more than 400,000 mobile phones per month, of which 70 percent are resold and the rest are recycled. Farmington Hills-based Beringea is Michigan’s largest venture firm; it has more than 70 portfolio companies in the U.S. and U.K.

—The Michigan Women’s Foundation, a statewide organization focused on supporting female-focused programs, said yesterday its board of trustees has approved the formation of a Women’s Angel Fund that will provide investments in early-stage businesses owned or run by women. The program also will provide mentorship and professional support for female founders. Xconomy’s editor-in-chief Bob Buderi had the scoop on the angel fund news in this in-depth profile of the Michigan Women’s Foundation back in August. Financial details including the size of the fund and the size of individual investments have not been formally announced yet, although foundation CEO Carolyn Cassin told Bob investors will be asked to commit $20,000 a year for five years to the fund.

—With all the gloom and doom around the venture capital industry, it’s refreshing to see Michigan being among the 12 states having VC firms that raised money in the third quarter of 2010. That’s according to a Thomson Reuters study put out yesterday by the National Venture Capital Association. Ann Arbor-based Resonant Venture Partners has a modest haul so far (a reported $500,000 on its way to a targeted $10-$20 million). Last month, Bob posted a more complete list of Michigan venture firms that have recently closed funds or are raising funds now.

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It would have been a surprise—at least to me—to see any group of investors seek more deals in this turbulent economy. So it wasn’t shocking to see that many angel groups reported less deal activity in the Angel Capital Association’s (ACA) latest nationwide Angel Group Confidence Report.

The Lenexa, KS-based angel association says it tapped some 109 of its angel groups in the U.S. and Canada between November 6 and November 18 for the report, which details their deal activities during 2008 and expectations for next year.

For years, angel groups have joined forces with each other to form stronger investment syndicates. With the recession upon us, angel groups tell the ACA that they plan to continue co-investing with fellow angel outfits and other equity investors such as venture firms. So 90.3 percent of the surveyed angel groups say they plan to co-invest with other angel groups for the balance of 2008 and in 2009. A whole 79.6 percent of the angel groups plan to join early-stage venture groups during the same time period.

Still, 2008 didn’t turn out like many angel groups had expected on the investment front, with 47.9 percent of groups seeing less deal activity than anticipated and only 16 percent reporting more deals than expected. (Bob wrote about those very expectations for 2008 in the first quarter of this year.)

Drum roll… The numbers aren’t final just yet, but the average total amount that each group invested in 2008 is $1.72 million—down more than 10 percent from the average total of $1.94 million that angel groups invested last year. On the bright side, sort of, the average amount invested in each deal climbed to $280,936, up 6 percent from 2007. The total number of deals per group is estimated at 6.1 this year, and that’s down 16 percent from last year, according to the report.

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