Innovation & Job News

Mobile-app start-up Larky has publicly launched its newest app and is growing its small staff to make it a success.

The downtown Ann Arbor-based company is creating an app that helps consumers maximize their membership perks and loyalty programs. The app alerts them when they are eligible for savings or discounts through things like alumni association memberships.

Many of these reward programs are highly underutilized because of consumer ignorance or forgetfulness of their existence. Larky's technology looks to remind consumers of these perks at the point of purchase. So far, 10 major organizations with access to 50 million consumers have signed on and Larky is looking to lock down a few thousand more in the next few months.

"We built this to be used on a very large scale," says Gregg Hammerman, co-founder of Larky. "We are proud to be based in Michigan and to have Michigan partners, but we want to scale to millions of members."

Larky landed $650,000 in seed capital earlier this year. It has a staff of three full-time employees and another three part-timers. The full-time employees include the company's two co-founders and one Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship Program fellow.

"He has been enormously helpful," Hammerman says. "He has helped us grow a lot."

Source: Gregg Hammerman, co-founder of Larky
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Ruth Ann Church launched Artisan Coffee Imports to help more than herself. The Ann Arbor-based decaffeinated coffee importer also helps create economic opportunity in third world countries around the world.

"There has been a long-time interest in developing countries and coffee has a unique ability to bring economic development to developing countries," says Church, president of Artisan Coffee Imports. "I was drawn to coffee to do some good in the world."

Church worked in sales and marketing in the higher education and automotive industries. She has turned Artisan Coffee Imports into her full-time job. Church decided to focus on decaffeinated coffee because it's what she likes to drink and she sees it as being underserved in the artisan coffee market.

The company has expanded its service offerings to include consulting and expects to triple its overall sales this year. "We are really finding out what products resonate with our customers," Church says. "I would love to see this become a three-to-four-person operation."

Source: Ruth Ann Church, president of Artisan Coffee Imports
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Chris Bogdan spent $5 or more a day at coffee shops for more of his college career than he likes to remember. The regular caffeine and sugar rush from his regular coffee and muffin came at a cost he thought could be lower, so he and a friend came up with a start-up to do that.

Get Up and Go makes caffeine-infused muffins that pack the same kick as Bogdan's coffee and pastry habit. The difference is they cost $3.50 and are a convenient grab-and-go item.

Bogdan and Zach Rose, both University of Michigan undergraduate students, launched Get Up and Go last summer not long after Rose and friends tasted some of Bogdan's first test treats. Bogdan, a neuroscience major, studied chemistry that helps show him how to make caffeinated food tasty.

"I have this background in science so I can find a way to mask the taste of the caffeine," Bogdan says.

The Ann Arbor-based company is focused on online sales and is working on a deal with ThinkGeek.com, according to Bogdan. The two are looking to ramp up sales and break into the retail markets this summer after Bogdan graduates from college and can focus on the business full-time.

"Our goal is to do $750,000 to $1 million in sales," Bogdan says.

Source: Chris Bogdan, CEO of Get Up and Go
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, one Ann Arbor-based company is capitalizing on the trend by staying ahead of the communication curve.

CareEvolution creates software that allows one hospital's data center to speak to another's, facilitating a sharing of electronic medical records and information that streamlines patient care.

"We help hospitals exchange information with one another or doctors with hospitals," Kheterpal says.

That process has become more complicated with new federal regulations in legislation like the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), prompting companies like CareEvolution to step into the breach.

"Much of what we do has come into sharper focus," says Vik Kheterpal, principal of CareEvolution. "That has fueled our growth."

That growth includes 15 new hires at CareEvolution, bringing the 10-year-old company's staff to 50 employees and a few interns. Kheterpal expects to hire another 15-17 people over the next year. That is being prompted by 60-percent-plus revenue growth.

"We expect to grow faster than that in 2013," Kheterpal says.

Source: Vik Kheterpal, principal of CareEvolution
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Backyard Brains insect neuroscience kits can not only be found across the U.S. this year, but also on the other side of the world. The Ann Arbor-base company is now exporting its products to a number of South American countries, thanks to an entrepreneurship program in Chile.

Chile is going through an economic boom thanks to exports of natural resources. The government is using these good times to help spur more entrepreneurship through things like its StartupChile program, which brings in entrepreneurs from around the world to help inspire more business creation. Backyard Brains won one of the start-up grants and used it as a bridge to help spread its product sales to Chile and several other South American countries.

"It's been great," says Tim Marzullo, co-founder of Backyard Brains. "We have actually received another round of funding from the Startup Chile program. We have been going back and forth from Chile for the last year."

Marzullo and his partner Greg Gage, both neuroscientists, started Backyard Brains three years ago as a way to provide a cost-effective product that teaches grade-school students the workings of neurons in the brain. Its Robo Roach allows them to control insects via antennas. Since then the company has expanded to a team of nine and the occasional intern after adding five new positions in the last year.

Backyard Brains initially received a National Institute of Health grant for start-up funding. It is now angling for a second round grant from the National Institute of Health and otherwise using sales of its products to fund its growth. Backyard Brains' products can now be found in all 50 states and on all seven continents after sales from its Chile distribution made it ways to Antarctica.

"We are pretty well-known as the go-to company in the neuroscience equipment field,"  Marzullo says.

Source: Tim Marzullo, co-founder of Backyard Brains
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

If you're looking for a success story in the wake of Pfizer closing its operations in Ann Arbor five years ago, look no farther than Velesco Pharma.

The Plymouth-based company, it calls the Ann Arbor SPARK-managed Michigan Life Science Innovation Center home, offers pharmaceutical consulting and laboratory services. It also operates a plant in Kalamazoo that makes dosage forms for clinical trials. Each year since its start, the company has experienced sustained growth.

"Velesco Pharma continues to have significant growth," says Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharma, former Velesco Pharmaceuticals. "We continue to work with ore than 75 different clients."

Velesco Pharma currently has 17 people and a few summer interns between its facilities in Plymouth and Kalamazoo. It has hired two people over the last year as it's clinical trial products and services continue to gain traction in the market. Cox expects to spend 2013 strengthening the firm's branding and business development resources to sustain its growth pattern.

"There has been significant demand," Cox says. "There has also been a lot of repeat business from existing clientele."

Source: Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharma
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Accent Reduction Institute could have moved wherever it wanted last year when Menlo Innovations, which it shared office space with, relocated from its Kerrytown headquarters closer to the University of Michigan's campus. Instead, the 7-year-old company found another office in downtown Ann Arbor.

"This is home to us even though north of 98 percent of our clients are outside of southeast Michigan," says Judy Ravin, president & founder of Accent Reduction Institute. She adds that she and her executive team "love Ann Arbor. We are three University of Michigan graduates. We feel really connected to the community. It's a wonderfully business community."

Accent Reduction Institute's close ties to U-M were a major reason for it staying nearby. The university serves a pipeline of talent for the company, mostly in the form of interns. Accent Reduction Institute has hired three of its former interns over the last year, expanding its staff to 20 people and 3-4 interns each year.

"Our interns provide a wonderful pipeline for other interns," Ravin says. We get fantastic people to work with."

The Accent Reduction Institute provides accent reduction training programs for non-native English speakers so they can carry on communication seamlessly. It also develops English pronunciation software to help people eliminate language barriers while maintaining their unique cultural identity. Menlo Associates, the holding company for Menlo Innovations, is still a major investor.

Ravin points out that the talent gap for major companies is driving the Accent Reduction Institute's recent growth. She explains that as more baby boomers retire the company's are scrambling to find their best talent to replace them in the workforce. That in turn is prompting Accent Reduction Institute to add to its staff. It is currently looking for up to two more linguistics professionals.

Source: Judy Ravin, president & founder of Accent Reduction Institutue
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

The Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge is taking on one of the toughest challenges of unemployment, the structurally unemployed.

The structurally unemployed are characterized as people who are low-income, have a criminal history, at risk youth, high school drop outs, functionally illiterate or have been unemployed for long periods of time.

"They're people who have difficulty finding a job even when jobs are plentiful," says Jim Durian, director of Community Ventures, which is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "They have barriers to finding employment."

To help solve this conundrum, Community Ventures is sponsoring a $25,000 prize at the Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge for socially entrepreneurial start-ups that help encourage the hiring of structurally unemployed individuals.

The Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge is a statewide competition designed to advance ideas and solutions that address social challenges. The competition is looking for start-ups with an emerging entrepreneurial idea or replicable model from an existing organization for sustainable social change in a wide range of areas including but not limited to urban revitalization, environment, health, and education. It is being organized by the Michigan Corps and Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest, two organizations that have roots in the Ann Arbor area.

The deadline to applying to the company is March 27. For information, click here.

Source: Jim Durian, director of Community Ventures
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group plans to move into the former headquarters for Borders in Ann Arbor this spring.

The Ann Arbor-based firm is more than doubling its space to 70,000 square feet, which should allow the company to continue its rapid expansion. Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group has hired 100 people in Ann Arbor over the last year, expanding its workforce to 300 people at its current headquarters. The company is growing so fast it projects to hire another 250 in 2013.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we add 300 people," says Rick Richter, executive vice president of Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group. He adds that his company is at least "adding about 30 people a month" and looks to leverage the region's deep talent pool of young people.

Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group is a full-service mortgage business that closes more than $1.5 billion in loans per year. It has focused on growing its presences in southeast Michigan and across the state to continue its organic growth. The 10-year-old company has doubled its growth over the last year thanks largely to expanding its local staff.

"We kept bringing on new people, run them through our training program and they have enjoyed a lot of success," Richter says.

Source: Rick Richter, executive vice president of Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Gema Diagnostics recently landed an investment from the Pure Michigan Venture Match Fund, which is part of a $2 million Series B round of venture capital the bio-tech start-up expects to close on later this month.

Gema Diagnostics raised $625,000 in a Series A round when it launched in 2006, licensing technology from Michigan State and Yale universities. Its most recent round of seed capital comes from North Coast Technology Investors (which led the round), the First Step Fund and the Blue Water Angels.

"It will be for a pivotal clinical trial to get the company's product to market," says Dave Repp, president & COO of Gema Diagnostics.

Gema Diagnostics is developing technology that will help improve the odds of a successful in vitro fertilization. "Our tool will help clinicians figure out which of a woman's eggs is the best to fertilize," Repp says. "No other non-invasive technology can do that."

Repp expects the final clinical trial to take six months and wrap up later this year, which should prompt the two-person start-up to expand its staff. Commercialization could begin by the end of the year.

Source: Dave Repp, president & COO of Gema Diagnostics
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Jim Vitek has a theory about smart phone users. He believes they will opt in for advertising if they receive high-end content for free.

He believe in it so much that he launched his own start-up, AppKey, out of Ann Arbor's Tech Brewery to take advantage of the market opportunity. The start-up has created a new advertising channel to fix return on investment for advertisers. One year into the experiment and AppKey boast 8,000 users.

"We have validated that the original concept works with paying customers," Vitek says. "We are evolving so we can shift into second gear."

AppKey runs on a team of three people and the occasional intern. That team is currently working to ramp up the number and size of its advertisers and user base. Vitek expects to hit more than 1  million users within a year. He also expects to grow his staff from the company's office in the Tech Brewery.

"I was always very impressed with the diversity of talent in the tech brewery," Vitek says. "It also has an entrepreneurial attitude that is consistent with my ambitions."

Source: Jim Vitek, founder & CEO of AppKey
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Therapy Charts recently received a microloan from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program and is using that cash to grow the fledgling firm and expand its staff.

The Michigan Microloan Fund Program, managed by Ann Arbor SPARK, makes five-figure loans to growing companies in the Great Lakes State. It has loaned more than $2.3 million to 55 companies since its founding in July, 2009. Therapy Charts used its microloan to grow the company by implementing an Internet marketing plan and hiring a chief operating officer.

"Our membership has almosty tripled in the last year," says Lisa Farmer, co-founder of Therapy Charts.

Therapy Charts sells a patient information management software platform for mental health professionals. The software helps these clinicians provide treatment plans to their patients. It is also preparing to launch another product later this month that will give treatment providers homework plans for their patients.

"Having the reaffirmation of what happens in the sessions helps them decrease the session count and decrease the chances of relapse," Farmer says.

The 5-year-old company currently has a staff of seven employees and two interns at its home base in downtown Ann Arbor. It has hired one person over the last year and expects to continue growing at an accelerated pace in 2013.

Source: Lisa Farmer, co-founder of Therapy Charts
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

A small group of University of Michigan students/recent grads believe they can take what breweries throw away and turn it into a valuable commodity.

Recraft is developing technology that takes the nutrient rich water discharge from breweries, cleans it, uses the byproduct for nutrient supplements. "We are a water reuse product company," says Eric Hsieh, co-founder & CEO of Recraft. We reuse the brewery water for other purposes.

Brewery waste water is biodegradable but so nutrient rich that it requires more energy to clean it. That means breweries have to pay higher municipal fees to facilitate the discharge of the nutrient-rich water into the a municipality's sewer system. Recraft takes that waste water, mixes it with specific strains of algae which, naturally pull out the problem nutrients and clean the water. The nutrient-rich algae is then used in things like bio-diesel. It used this technology to compete in the recent Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge.

Recraft is four months old and is working on setting up a wet lab this summer and begin testing the technology. "We're looking at a pilot run after the summer," Hsieh says.

Source: Eric Hsieh, co-founder & CEO of Recraft
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

The University of Michigan has worked for years to commercialize its research into growing businesses, employing a variety of programs that often look to pair university researchers with university business students and graduates. Michigan I-Corps is looking to broaden that scope.

The new entrepreneurial training program, part of the National Science Foundation's National I-Corps initiative, is looking to not only empower the entrepreneurial ambitions of university's research and business classes but also entrepreneurs and scientists from outside of Ann Arbor's ivory towers. Any Michigan-based technologist, regardless of academic affiliation or funding source, is eligible. The program is recruiting teams from Michigan's universities, tech companies and startups funded by venture capitalists.

"One of the best ways to enhance entrepreneurship is to get all sorts of folks to mix together," says Jonathan Fay, director of Michigan I-Corps.

The Michigan I-Corps will be comprised of approximately 25 teams, each with three members: a principal investigator (or senior executive), entrepreneurial lead (or product manager) and industry mentor. The statewide program will focus on customer discovery and business model generation, but will supplement it with modules on business basics, intellectual property, and entrepreneurship ownership and operations.

"What about your technology has value?" Fay says. "What about your technology do the customers want?"

Source: Jonathan Fay, director of Michigan I-Corps
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Ghostly International is making to moves to utilize technology more effectively to grow the electronic and ambient music label's business.

The Ann Arbor-based company, which calls the Tech Brewery home, has watched as subscription service Drip.fm take off in the last year, signing partners like Owsla (Skrillex's music label) and Stones Throw. Its publishing division just rebranded and relaunched its website, making its catalogue of music more easily searchable.

"We want to use technology to make it easier for people to use our content," says Jeremy Peters, director of creative licensing & business affairs for Ghostly International.

Those sorts of advances has allowed the 14-year-old business to continue its growth streak. It recently opened a new office in Los Angeles, giving it a presence now in LA, New York City and Ann Arbor. It has also hired two software developers over the last year, expanding its staff to 10 people and an intern.

Ghostly International is also about to renew its contract to provide music for Adult Swim www.adultswim.com. Peters adds that some new deals are also on the precipice of being done in 2013.

"There is some pretty cool stuff coming down the pipe," Peters says.

Source: Jeremy Peters, director of creative licensing & business affairs for Ghostly International
Writer: Jon Zemke

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