Once upon a time Karl and Cara Rosaen were living the digital dream, working for Google in its Mountain View wonderland. Then the start-up bug bit and the couple moved to A2 to launch Real Time Farms - which just might become the IMDB of locally grown food.
Delphinus Medical Solutions continues its rapid march from research spin-off to high-powered start-up. Last we heard, it had collected $8 million in venture capital earlier this year. Within the last week, it scored six-figures' worth of state tax credits, enabling it to invest $6.4 million and create 107 jobs over the next five years."We plan on hiring between 10-20 people in the first year," says Bill Greenway, CEO of Delphinus Medical Solutions.The Michigan Economic Development Corp has agreed to grant the Karmanos Cancer Institute spin-off a five-year tax credit worth $779,118 to move to the Michigan Life Science & Innovation Center in Plymouth. That gave the Ann Arbor SPARK-run wet lab incubator the edge over competing sites in Boston and Chicago. Delphinus Medical Solutions' principal product is SoftVue, an alternative to mammography for breast cancer detection, risk evaluation, and treatment monitoring. SoftVue can effectively differentiate benign from malignant masses in breasts, helping eliminate false positives and reducing unnecessary biopsies. It can also accurately measure breast density, a known risk factor for developing breast cancer, as well as detect many early stages of cancer in women with dense breast tissue, which is often not picked up by mammography. SoftVue works by surrounding a breast submerged in warm water with an ultrasound ring that captures detailed, three-dimensional images with sound waves. The results are similar to an MRI, but the procedure takes only a few minutes and costs much less. The procedure was the inspiration for the company's name, which is Latin for dolphins."Because our system uses sound waves and happens in water we thought it was a neat name," Greenway says.Source: Bill Greenway, CEO of Delphinus Medical TechnologiesWriter: Jon Zemke
Jove shouldn't have anything to do with downtown Ann Arbor, but the Massachusetts-based firm does so because of the city's high quality of urban life.Jove stands for Journal of Visualized Experiments. The start-up creates and hosts video journals for biological research, meaning it shows how experiments are done in a peer-reviewed, YouTube-style Internet video. It draws top talent from across North America to its staff, one of whom landed in Michigan and choose downtown Ann Arbor.Mark Shalinsky, one of Jove's first employees, moved to Ann Arbor with his wife when she took a job at the University of Michigan. They choose to live in downtown Ann Arbor because it provided a quality urban experience where they could live practically car-free. As Mark puts it, "not having a vehicle is awesome.""That's why Ann Arbor," Shalinsky says. "We like being in the center of things."This also helps him telecommute for his job from various downtown hotspots. The close proximity to Metro Airport allows him to be anywhere in the world within a matter of hours, and also enables him to pitch Jove's products and attributes at a number of Ann Arbor's entrepreneurial meetings, such as those hosted by Ann Arbor SPARK. That helps the local entrepreneurial ecosystem make one more connection to one of the world's hottest economies, and all because the city created a dense, vibrant city center that new economy workers wanted to be a part of.Source: Mark Shalinsky, Science Editor for JoveWriter: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor-based Tech Brewery isn't just a place for local techies/entrepreneurs to congregate and create. It's now a place for techies/entrepreneurs from across Metro Detroit.One-year-old uwemp is a prime example of Tech Brewery's growing reach across southeast Michigan. The firm's CEO is out of Bloomfield Hills, but he choose to set up shop for his start-up in Ann Arbor because of infrastructure like the Tech Brewery."My view is that technology is what it's all about and I want to be near the people who know about technology," says Jordan Wolfe, CEO of uwemp. "Plus, Ann Arbor SPARK helped a lot, too."The main product from ewemp is Confidence-Based Learning, a web-based learning engine that uses a Google Analytics-style method that gives educators a better handle on how their students are and are not learning. The program can show when a student is beginning to catch on to a lesson, when the student masters it, and even when he or she wanders off. The idea is to provide educators with the pertinent information to best reach their students. The Michigan Microloan Fund program gave uwemp a five-figure loan earlier this summer. It plans to use that money to create the Beta version of its software and begin testing it with its first customers. The company hopes to hire 10-15 employees over the next year. It currently employs two people full-time and another three independent contractors.Source: Jordan Wolfe, CEO of uwempWriter: Jon Zemke
Accio Energy is raking in big checks from some recognizable names now that Automation Alley has invested $250,000 in the alternative energy start-up.The 3-year-old firm has made six hires in the last year, bringing its staff to 10 people. It hopes to continue expanding by using the $250,000 and other seed capital it has collected to continue developing its principal product and readying it for commercialization."We will continue to hire technologically strong individuals to help us develop the technology," says Jeff Basch, general manager for Accio Energy.The Ann Arbor-based company is building a wind turbine without the rotation. The new technology, aerovoltaic, harnesses the electrokinetic energy of the wind. The system doesn't have turbine blades and instead is silent and stationary. Source: Jeff Basch, general manager for Accio EnergyWriter: Jon Zemke
Accuri Cytometers, an A-list start-up from Ann Arbor, is pulling in seven figures' worth of seed capital this month.The company is bringing in $6 million in financing to be used to take its Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer into clinical trials and push it towards commercialization. That should allow it to continue growing at a rapid clip. The company has hired about 25 people over the last year, expanding its staff to 87 employees and a few independent contractors and interns. "Our revenue is growing rapidly," says Jeff Williams, CEO of Accuri Cytometers. "Our sales are growing rapidly."Accuri Cytometers, a University of Michigan spin-off, specializes in making the cytometer systems that measure T-cell counts (among other things), which is an instrumental tool in tracking and treating diseases like AIDS and cancer. It is a research field with lots of room to grow in both the near and long term.The firm has been on a tear in recent months, selling its products worldwide. It has attracted a number of new customers."We expects our growth rate to continue," Williams says.Source: Jeff Williams, CEO of Accuri CytometersWriter: Jon Zemke
Quantum Signal is sending all of the right messages these days - hiring half a dozen people, about to hire another 47, and making a $1.29 million investment in the Ann Arbor community.The 10-year-old firm recently added six people, rounding out its staff to 35 with another 2-3 interns. That's up from a headcount of just under 30 when we checked in with the company in January. The Ann Arbor-based firm plans to hire 9-10 people per year over the next five years so it can hit its target of 47 new employees in that same time period."We're very much in growth mode right now," says Mitch Rohde, COO of Quantum Signal. "We have a lot of projects in the pipeline so we have to expand our facilities. We're constantly understaffed."Quantum Signal uses high-end engineering mathematics and algorithms to extract information from visual data. Think the type of software used in face-recognition devices. It also develops military training simulations and commercial video games under its Reactor Zero subsidiary. It took a lot of these algorithms from the likes of the University of Michigan."We wanted to take something out of the ivory tower and apply it worldwide," Rohde says.The Michigan Economic Development Corp gave Quantum Signal a $206,083 tax credit over five years, helping it make the choice to expand in Michigan instead of Washington, D.C. The firm also plans to move to Saline as part of its expansion.Source: Mitch Rohde, COO of Quantum SignalWriter: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor's EDF Ventures just added another solid base hit to its scorecard, recording a profitable exit from the acquisition of Greenplum.The Silicon Valley-based firm provides disruptive data warehousing technology, a key enabler of "big data" clouds and self-service analytics. It is being acquired by EMC Corp so it can beef up its information infrastructure business.This is the first profitable exit for EDF Ventures since Becton-Dickinson acquired HandyLab last fall. The downtown-based firm, which employs seven people, has 15 active companies in its portfolio, including local star start-up Lycera. Of those 15 firms, five are based in Michigan. "We have several promising companies in our portfolio," says Mary Campbell, managing director of EDF Ventures.Source: Mary Campbell, managing director of EDF VenturesWriter: Jon Zemke
Ascenta Therapeutics has its roots in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, so it's no wonder the Philadelphia-area-based firm is returning to its roots to grow the business.The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company was founded by U-M graduates in 2003 before eventually moving to Pennsylvania. It now employs 20 people and has reached back to Ann Arbor to form a research partnership with the university that has the potential to grow."It's an ongoing, open-ended operation," says Mel Sorensen, president and CEO of Ascenta Therapeutics. That partnership is between Ascenta Therapeutics and the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, where a couple of university researchers are designing a small molecule that is highly effective at inhibiting the interaction between cancer cell proteins in cell cultures. The idea is to use the molecule for a drug that kills cancer cells while causing minimal damage to normal cells. Research on this is ongoing, but Ascenta Therapeutics is optimistic about its potential.Source: Mel Sorensen, president and CEO of Ascenta TherapeuticsWriter: Jon Zemke
Michigan's economic reinvention isn't solely dependent on entrepreneurs and financiers; traditional business people will also play a critical role, and it's one that Ann Arbor SPARK's Shifting Gears program is gearing up to fill.The small business accelerator plans to start the Shifting Gears program this fall. The intensive four-month program provides professional career coaching for executive talent seeking opportunities in entrepreneurial and emerging businesses. The idea is to help these business people transition from southeast Michigan's corporate boardrooms to start-ups' coffee shop meetings by retaining and redeploying the executive talent being shed by local big businesses."That (transition) doesn't happen automatically," says Amy Cell, vice president for talent enhancement and executive talent for Ann Arbor SPARK. "It's like learning a new language."Management talent often has a tough time making the transition because it is used to the risk-averse mega corporate culture that emphasizes company politics. Small businesses often need management talent that is nimble, can wear multiple hats, is more willing to take risks, and is ready to take responsibility for those decisions."There are so many different elements to it," Cell says. "It's a paradigm shift."Shifting Gears is broken up into three distinct phases that combine class work and real-world learning. The first helps participants transition into small businesses with in-class sessions and workshops on small business foundations. The second consists of a three-day intensive practice simulation, followed by an 80-hour pro-bono practicum project with a small business. The final provides a launch pad for joining a small business with special networking opportunities, practice interviews, and career advice from a mentor that has extensive contacts with innovative, growing companies.Ann Arbor SPARK will hold free information sessions on the program on Aug. 3, 11, 16, and 25, and Sept. 1 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the SPARK East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti. The deadline for applications is Sept. 3. For information, click here.Source: Amy Cell, vice president for talent enhancement and executive talent for Ann Arbor SPARKWriter: Jon Zemke
Our Partners
Common Ground Is Brewing
Support local stories and receive our signature roast straight to your door when you join at the Standard level (or above).
Drink Better, Read Local
