Innovation & Job News

TechArb is graduating 31 business teams this fall, making for almost 100  student-led start-ups that have passed through the small business incubator since its launch in 2009.

The University of Michigan developed the incubator with the idea of creating a space designed to encourage college student entrepreneurship. It has since helped launch a number of new economy-based start-ups, including companies in software, bio-tech and alternative energy.

Each semester-long class has carried about 30 start-ups on average, but the leaders behind TechArb are planning to shrink those class sizes in the new year, cutting particioation in half to 15.

"These teams we're letting in are much more mature and venture quality," says Moses Lee, associate director for student ventures at TechArb.

In the past, TechArb had welcomed both mature start-ups that went onto score investment from venture capital firms (Are You A Human) and the raw entrepreneurial ambitions of students with business ideas. Lee expects the future, more mature start-ups will still span a number of industries and expects this class to have start-ups in the software, bio-tech and engineering spaces.

Source: Moses Lee, associate director for student ventures at TechArb
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A group of five University of Michigan students are turning PhD work into a new back brace and a business called EXO Dynamics.

EXO Dynamics is developing an electro-mechanical back brace for medical professionals that prevents injury and lessens pain without reducing mobility. It has developed a couple of prototypes and plans to begin testing the technology in hospitals over the next year.

"This means users pain and suffering in their back is reduced," says Jorge Sanz-Guerrero, CEO & co-founder of EXO Dynamics. "It also means the need for surgery is also reduced."

The group of innovators have been developing the back brace this year at TechArb, a small-business incubator geared toward student-led start-ups run by the University of Michigan. EXO Dynamics plans to transition to the Venture Accelerator in the university's North Campus Research Complex later this year.

The start-up plans to continue testing its product over the next year and hopes to launch its product next year. The firm is looking to nail down some seed funding before the end of this year.

"This year we are raising $250,000 through microloans, pre-seed funds and local investors," Sanz-Guerrero says.

Source: Jorge Sanz-Guerrero, CEO & co-founder of EXO Dynamics
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Internet companies big and small have been struggling with how best to commercialize advertising on mobile devices. A new start-up based in Ann Arbor, AdAdapted, thinks it has an answer.

"Mobile advertising really isn't working for anyone," says Michael Pedersen, founder of AdAdapted.

The Tech Brewery-based start-up's software solves this problem with an advertising platform that allows advertisers to work with developers to strategically place ads in things like mobile video games. Think of it as an in-app product placement.

"We allow the developer to have more control where an ad will go," Pedersen says.

AdAdapted recently received financing from the Michigan Microloan Fund. Loan amounts from that fund aren't disclosed but are about five-figures in size on average. The 4-month-old start-up and its seven team members plan to use its loan to expand its product platform and prepare for the launch of its Beta version.

"The Beta should be done with in the next few weeks," Pedersen says. "We're also working on landing our first pilot."

Source: Michael Pedersen, founder of AdAdapted
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Weinreich Labs is reinventing the violin in Ann Arbor, creating technology that preserves the quality of the amplified and recorded sounds of the instrument.

The 2-year-old start-up was founded by a violin maker, a physicist, an engineer and a designer. The company's instrument is a violin that produces heirloom quality music when amplified or recorded. It is expected to give musicians the ability to amplify a acoustic sound (think stereo speakers) without feedback or loss of tonal character, problems that have long plagued the music industry.

"If a players buys one of our products they're buying an instrument that sounds great in an amplified setting," says Alex Sobolev, CEO of Weinreich Labs. "It also works in a recording studio where it can be very challenging to properly mic stringed instruments."

Weinreich Labs' four person team is putting the finishing touches on its prototypes and plans to begin commercializing its violins early next year. The firm recently received financing from the Michigan Microloan Fund (each microloan is worth about five figures worth of seed capital on average) that it is using to buy production-quality electronics and develop a mobile app.

"This loan does a number of things for us," Sobolev says. "In the worst-case scenario, this gets us to a trade show with a number of prototypes to showcase."

Source: Alex Sobolev, CEO of Weinreich Labs
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

An Ann Arbor-based venture capitalist is helping connect Metro Detroit's emerging investment community with the rest of the world by opening the Detroit chapter of TiE called TiE Detroit Angels.

Sonali Vijayavargiya is the managing partner of Augment Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that launched out of Ann Arbor last year. She is now chairing TiE Detroit Angels as a way of growing the region's investment community and connecting it with opportunities around the world. TiE Detroit Angels will focus on investing in a broad range of promising start-ups.

"This group is made up of a diverse group of people," Vijayavargiya says. "We have physicians and entrepreneurs. We will invest across sectors."

TiE is a global, not-for-profit, non-political, and non-religious organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurs around the world. When TiE first started it stood for The Indus Entrepreneurs, which signifies the ethnic South Asian or Indus roots of the founders. Today TiE stands for Talent, Ideas and Enterprise.

TiD Detroit Angels will focus on forming an investment consortium of wealthy individuals willing to provide seed capital to promising startups in Metro Detroit. The group expects to grow to a size of about 30 members within its first year and will look at the pitches from dozens of local startups from a number of different sectors.

Source: Sonali Vijayavargiya, chair of TiE Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A small Ann Arbor-based bio-tech start-up recently received a little infusion of cash, with which it expects to make a big splash next year.

AMF-Nano recently received financing from the Michigan Microloan Fund, where the microloans usually average about five figures in size. The 3-year-old start-up plans to use that money to continue the development of its innovative nano sensor that could help detect heart attacks and be implanted in pacemakers.

"There is a need for instruments to be smaller, cheaper and better for the human body," says Rakesh Kapragadda, president & chief scientist of AMF-Nano.

The two-person team is working out of the University of Michigan's Kellogg Eye Institute where it is developing a smart sensor system. That system could be used by cardiac patients to help self-monitor their own heart for signs of heart attacks instead of habitually visiting medical centers for checkups. Another version of the platform could be used in pacemakers.

"All of the funds will go toward the commercialization of these technologies at the University of Michigan," Kapragadda says, adding he expects his start-up to commercialize the technology within six months.

Source: Rakesh Kapragadda, president & chief scientist of AMF-Nano
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Michigan Microloan Fund, a program managed by Ann Arbor SPARK, has made another round of microloans to a broad range of start-ups, most of which are based in Ann Arbor.

The Michigan Microloan Fund makes microloans worth between $10,000 and $50,000 to small businesses developing new technology in Michigan. The loans are meant to help augment the shrinkage of traditional financing options since the onset of the recession. One of the recipients, Grand Rapids-based FoodCircles, is using the seed capital to develop more versions of the 4-month-old's mobile apps.

"The mircoloan has allowed us to try a lot of different experiments," says Jonathan Kumar, managing director of FoodCircles. He oversees a team of four employees and two interns.

The Michigan Microloan Fund has made $2.8 million in microloans to 62 companies since its launch in July, 2009. This latest round of microloans disbursed $232,000 to seven company, of which five are based in Ann Arbor. Among the Ann Arbor-based start-ups to receive microloans are:

- AdAdapted, a software firm developing an advertising platform for games played on mobile devices.
- AMF-Nano, a bio-tech company developing innovative nano sensors.
- Child Care Daily App, a mobile app business creating software that simplifies the daily activities of child care providers by doing things like automating handwritten tasks.
- PicoSpray, a tech firm commercializing a low-cost electronic fuel injection system for small engines.
- Weinreich Labs, a tech business developing heirloom quality amplified violins.

Source: Jonathan Kumar, managing director of FoodCircles
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Nearly 30 student-led start-ups at the University of Michigan are splitting close to $30,000 in seed capital grants from the U-M's Ross School of Business Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.

The Dare to Dream and Venture Shaping grant programs give out seed capital grants that range in size from $500 to $10,000. The types of companies range from start-ups in the health-care, clean-tech and software sectors, among others. Some of the winners include:

- Park-n-Rent, an alternative car rental service using owner's cars for service while the owner is traveling
- Mutable Vaccines, which is developing technology for creating universal vaccines that develop broad protective immunity in individuals
- OraGen, which makes a simple test to detect any susceptibility or early existence of oral cancer
- Torch Hybrid, a software service provider for marine hybrid-electric powertrain development and energy management

"We're trying to get them from identifying a problem to operating their own businesses," says Sarika Gupta, a program manager at U-M's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. "We want them to leave school with a fully functional business if they want to do so."

Source: Sarika Gupta, a program manager at University of Michigan's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Life Technologies has acquired University of Michigan spin-out Compendia Bioscience.

Suzanne Clancy, a spokeswoman for Life Technologies, confirms the Ann Arbor-based start-up will remain in Ann Arbor for the foreseeable future and under its current leadership. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Clancy declined to speak about Compendia Bioscience's current employment levels.

Compendia Bioscience specializes in cancer bioinformatics, which is used by the pharmaceutical industry to identify novel gene targets for drug discovery and development. The California-based Life Technologies, a public company listed on the NASDAQ, plans to leverage Compendia BioScience's oncology expertise and proprietary assets to enhance its diagnostic development capabilities across multiple platforms, including next-generation sequencing, qPCR and proteome analysis.

Compendia Bioscience spun out of the University of Michigan in 2006 and has been led by Daniel Rhodes ever since. It received $1.75 million from the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund in 2008. It had as many as 30 employees as of 2011, according to the company's website.

Source: Suzanne Clancy, spokeswoman for Life Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Cayman Chemical's Ann Arbor office is becoming the happy hunting ground for those looking for a job or internship in southeast Michigan.

The bio-tech firm that specializes in providing researchers with bio-chemical tools has had a growing office in Ann Arbor since the 1980s. Today that office is the company's largest with 200 employees and a steady influx of interns. The firm has hired 30 people in the last year and expects to hire more, including from its intern program.

"We're hiring about 20 people a year right now," says Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical. "We also hire about 20-25 interns each year. We feel it's a very good way to find potential job candidates."

This growth has allowed the company to expand its physical office presence, taking on a third and fourth building on the south side of Ann Arbor. It now occupies three buildings on its campus on Ellsworth Street and a fourth off of State Street that used to be a University of Michigan building. The new buildings will both accommodate its current growth and future expansions.

"We know we're growing," Booher says.

Source: Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Perich Advertising & Design is beefing up its digital presence now that is has been hiring more web programers, software developers and other similar professionals.

The Ann Arbor-based advertising firm has hired seven people over the last year, expanding its staff to 31, along with a handful of interns at any given time. Those new hires will be handling both traditional and new media projects.

"It's a little bit of everything," says Ernie Perich, president & creative director of Perich Advertising & Design. "Staying on top of everything digital is very important to us." He adds that his company's growth is coming evenly from both traditional and digital revenue sources.

The 25-year-old company got its start handling more traditional work, such as TV and radio. It has moved more and more into the digital spectrum as the Internet has grown and taken a more prominent position in the advertising world. Making that transition to handling both ends of the advertising spectrum has allowed Perich Advertising & Design to continue to grow throughout the years.

"We're going to project a steady growth," says Ernie Perich, president & creative director of Perich Advertising & Design. "We're going to keep doing it the same way we have done it all this year."

Source: Ernie Perich, president & creative director of Perich Advertising & Design
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Casey Frushour first got a taste of being his own boss while going to college at the University of Michigan. There he worked on freelance graphic design projects while studying art and design at the university.

When he graduated he didn't have enough of that sort of work to support himself so he became the in-house graphic designer at a local bio-tech firm. He kept with the freelance gigs during his four years at his day job until it reached a point where he had to decide whether he wanted the job of being his own boss or continue under someone else.

"It got to the point where I was making more money with side jobs than I was working full-time," Frushour says. "I just couldn't do the 80-hour work weeks anymore so I went out on my own."

That was the beginning of Casey's Head. The Ann Arbor-based graphic design agency has served as Frushour's bread and butter ever since. It has reached a point now where he is starting to feel himself being stretched thin and expects to hire his first staffer within the next year.

"It's a matter of finding the right person," Frushour says.

Source: Casey Frushour, founder & creative director of Casey's Head
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Karl Tiedemann has always been a fan of heist movies (think Oceans 11) and board games (Trivial Pursuit) so the Ann Arbor resident decided to combine the two into his own heist-themed board game - The Perfect Heist.

"How fun would it be to play a board game about a heist where you build your own team and stuff like that," Tiedemann says, explaining his thought process behind creating the game. Tiedmann, a UIX designer for Barracuda Networks during the day, started working on it as a hobby about seven years ago but got serious about it within the last year.

He launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowd fund the creation of the game, setting a goal of raising $13,000. Today he has raised a little more than $50,000 after his wife started posting about it on the popular message board Reddit creating a significant buzz about it on the Internet.

"I'll probably hit $52,000 within the week," Tiedemann says.

For now he's staying with his day job while keeping The Perfect Heist as a hobby business. But the Ann Arborite and his wife wouldn't mind if it grew into something bigger.

"It's still an open question, 'Where do I go from here?'" Tiedemann says. "It's just a hobby job at the moment."

Source: Karl Tiedemann, creator of The Perfect Heist
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology is not only a green start-up, but one that helps detect explosive materials.

Stick with us for a few more paragraphs.

The 2-year-old company launched out of the lab of Theodore Goodson III, a University of Michigan chemistry professor. He first developed a organic material that could help make super capacitors more energy efficient, which led to the creation of the start-up Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology.

Now further exploration into the that technology has also led the start-up to realize it can used for the "creation of a remote and safe explosive detection device, which offers an integrated wide-area surveillance solution with relatively high sensitivity and low cost," according to the company's website.

The four-person company is still working toward developing the super capacitor and explosive detection angles of the technology. They hope to add on a few more employees next year as it pushes forward with the development of its technology.

"I would love to see our personnel triple, at least," says Stephanie Goodson, president of Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology, who is also the wife of Theodore Goodson III. "I would love to see us produce samples for a third party."

Source: Stephanie Goodson, president of Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Coherix is growing sales and staff, and is currently eyeing an even bigger payday in the near future.

The 8-year-old Ann Arbor-based tech start-up has hired 20 people over the last year and is looking to add another 10 employees in software programing and sales. Its staff currently stands at 43 employees and three interns after the firm doubled its sales over the last year.

"We're on a path to double our revenue growth over the next year," says Dwight Carlson, chairman & CEO of Coherix. "We're looking at an initial public offering in 2014."

Coherix creates high-speed, high-definition 3D visualization and inspection software designed to improve the management of manufacturing processes. Its high-tech optical-based measurement and inspection products help find efficiencies in the automotive and semiconductor industries.

The company originally set up shop in southeast Michigan because of the region's high concentration of manufacturing. Today with the global shift in manufacturing eastward, about 70 percent of Coherix's customers are in Asia, and that's with the boost in manufacturing in Michigan thanks to the rebounding automotive industry.

"Coherix China will be the biggest Coherix operation in five years," Carlson says.

Source: Dwight Carlson, chairman & CEO of Coherix
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.