Newsroom

Newsroom's Latest Articles

U-M student startup Seelio gets acquired after just 3 years

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

June 11, 2014

From kitchen table to acquisition, a U-M social media startup see bright days ahead. Excerpt: "When Seelio launched, Lee envisioned it as an alternative to LinkedIn for the Millennial set—a place where students could showcase their talent, experience, and hobbies. For example, users could create a page that detailed a fictional company created for a business course complete with photos, videos, and information about the company’s business model." Read the rest here.

Elegus Technologies develops advanced battery tech

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

A group of three Masters of Entrepreneurship students, one PhD student, and one professor from the University of Michigan believe they have come up with a better cell phone battery, or at least a piece of technology that will help these batteries last longer. Elegus Technologies is commercializing a battery separator membrane that keeps battery electrodes from touching and short circuiting. It's thinner, less expensive, and more heat resistant than current option on the market. It's applications range from helping prolong cell phone battery life to jets to electric vehicles. "We saw a lot of potential for growth not only with lithium-ion batteries but with other applications," says John Hennessy, co-founder of Elegus Technologies. The team at Elegus Technologies has raised $23,000 in seed capital from grants and business plan competition wins. They hope to raise $150,000 by the end of summer. That money will help validate the technology. It is working on testing it through the rest of this year. "Once we get that testing done we can get samples out to customers who are interested in it," Hennessy says. Hennessy is one of three masters of entrepreneurship students at U-M’s Ross School of Business and a U-M PhD student who decided to take on the technology and turn it into a startup. Elegus Technologies was recently named the Entrepreneurs of the Year by the U-M Center for Entrepreneurship. Hennessy and his team are currently working with the professor at U-M that originally developed the technology. "We thought it had the best potential out of all of them so we stuck with it," Hennessy says. Source: John Hennessy, co-founder of Elegus Technologies Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Aysling moves to former Borders HQ to accommodate growth

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

The digital publishing company currently known as Aysling has a brand new home in Ann Arbor. The firm has taken 12,500 square feet in the former Borders headquarters, giving it more room to grow. Aysling has added half a dozen people over the last year, and another two in the last week, rounding out its staff to 32 employees. The new location for its headquarters is expected to accommodate that easily. "We anticipate doubling in size over the next 12-24 months," says Patrick Becker, CEO of Aysling. "Possibly sooner than that." The 9-year-old firm, formerly known as Aysling Digital Media Solutions, provides Adobe and WoodWing digital publishing software solutions and digital media production services for publishers, retailers, and corporations. Rebranding as just Aysling made sense from a streamlining point of view. "We have grown well beyond digital media solutions," Becker says. "While rebranding we thought it made sense to drop it." Becker adds that the company's growth has previously been constrained by the smallness of its previous offices. Its last space was 6,000 square feet. The former Borders headquarters has several hundred thousand square feet, which should provide plenty of room for Aysling to grow and stay in Ann Arbor. "We feel like this is where we want to build our team," Becker says. Source: Patrick Becker, CEO of Aysling Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

SAMSA moves into bigger office in downtown Ypsilanti

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

A little more than a year ago, tech firm SAMSA opened an office in downtown Ypsilanti. This spring it’s moving to bigger office at 7 S Washington to accommodate its growth. The Saginaw-based software firm choose to open its southeast Michigan satellite office in Ypsilanti because of it offered a vibrant urban area at a low price point. It is also in a central location of the region’s tech hubs in Ann Arbor and downtown Detroit. "I like Ypsilanti because it's strategically between Ann Arbor and Detroit," says Mike Stackhouse, president of SAMSA. "It just feels good." The 25-year-old company employs 20 people, including two in Ypsilanti. It is currently looking to add two more software and computer technology professionals to its Ypsilanti office. SAMSA is also looking to do more marketing in southeast Michigan to drum up more business for its software services. It will be aimed at more mid-sized clients as the company takes a measured approach to its future growth. "We're already quite busy," Stackhouse says. "We're taking an approach where we’re not looking for fast growth at all costs." Source: Mike Stackhouse, president of SAMSA Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor singled out as a travel destination

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

A travel blogger sings praises to Ann Arbor's serene green spaces, U-Ms campus and, of course, our bustling downtown. Excerpt: To understand Ann Arbor is to understand that it is more than just a college town. It has a dense population of local producers, hippies, and craftsmen that love to share their skills and their wares off. Kerrytown is home to these kinds of people. With a weekly farmers market in the summer, a mixture of hard to find bars, and famous delis this part of town screams originality only found here. Even the roads have character as they are laid with brick instead of concrete.  Read the rest here.

Mobile startup Larky closes on $1.76M Series A round

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

Larky, a discount mobile app startup, has secured $1.76 million in a Series A round of seed capital. A mix of venture capitalists and angel investors have invested in the downtown Ann Arbor-based startup. Leading the round was North Coast Technology Investors. Also participating were the Michigan Angel Fund, the BlueWater Angels, and the Pure Michigan Venture Match. Larky raised an additional $650,000 in a seed round last year. Larky's mobile app helps user maximize the discounts and savings available to them. So it a member of an alumni association can get 10 percent off on their car insurance by using a certain carrier, Larky’s app will them. The 2-year-old startup has already roped in a number of large clients, including the Detroit Regional Chamber and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. "The value for end users is still there," says Gregg Hammerman, co-founder of Larky. "The average Larky's still have nine discounts stored into one space." Larky plans to use its new round of seed capital to continue to develop it’s technology and advance its marketing. It is also growing its team. The company employs eight people after hiring five staff in software development and sales over the last year. It is also looking to hire another two people. "We need to get out to more of our customers and continue to evolve our product," Hammerman says. Source: Gregg Hammerman, co-founder of Larky Writer: Jon Zemke

Amazon says Ann Arbor is a best-read city

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

Berkeley, California Cambridge, Massachusetts Alexandria, Virginia Ann Arbor, Michigan Notice a trend here? Apparently big college town make for big book sales. How Amazon knows whether we actually  read the books or just pile 'em on our nightstand has yet to be revealed. But if you now feel inspired to buy more books, might we recommend that you drop by Literati in downtown, Bookbound on Plymouth Ave or Nicolas Books on the west side of Ann Arbor?  Excerpt: "The online retailer announced Tuesday that Alexandria, where many government workers from nearby Washington reside, ranks No. 1 for sales of books, newspapers and magazines in cities of 100,000 people or more." Read the rest here.

PriceLocal aims to divert more Internet sales to local retailers

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

June 4, 2014

PriceLocal thinks has a way to help local retailers take back some of the sales they have lost to e-commerce over the last decade. The Ann Arbor-based web service givers local stores the opportunity to match the online price for a product when shoppers are searching Amazon. The idea is to harness the momentum of the shop-local movement and pair it with savings consumers traditionally have only gotten online. "Local stores have an advantage over Amazon no matter how many drones they say they are going to fly," says Matt Chosid, founder & CEO PriceLocal. "The local store can put a book in your hand today." Chosid knows a thing or two about that. He worked on the litigation team at Borders from the 1990s until it closed. He saw the good years and bad ones. He saw how consumers increasingly used Borders as a showroom for their online purchases. "They would take a book and say I can get this cheaper at Amazon," Chosid says. "They would walk out of the store and buy the book on Amazon. I am not saying that is the only reason for Borders' demise, but we didn’t have a response for that." PriceLocal is that response. Chosid and the tech team at Alfa Jango created a web-browser plug-in that consumers can download at getpricelocal.com. Once its installed, shoppers can click on the PriceLocal button and send a price request to local stores to see if they will match it. If a local store has the item and can match the online price, shoppers get a coupon for the item at the Amazon price. PriceLocal is launching with more than a dozen Ann Arbor retail partners. It has received requests from retailers ranging from Royal Oak to California. Source: Matt Chosid, founder & CEO PriceLocal Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Mayor of Rome says bikes and public transit are the future

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

June 4, 2014

Wouldn't it be great if more Michigan mayors were this enlightened about the need for more public transit and bike focused infrastructure? Excerpt: "It’s only been about a year since Marino’s ascent to office. (Random fact: He used to be a transplant surgeon in Pittsburgh before deciding to return to his native Italy to pursue politics.) In that short period, Marino has made some controversial transportation decisions: He rebooted the city’s bike-share initiative, which had been plagued by theft and vandalism. He wants to help commuters pay bus and subway fares with their smartphones. He decided to close the Via dei Fori Imperiali, a major thoroughfare with heavy traffic, to non-essential vehicles on weekdays, and created a pedestrian-only plaza on weekends. And he’s limiting traffic on Rome’s most noteworthy roundabout — the one at the Colosseum." Read the rest here.

TurtleCell launches iPhone case with retractable headphones

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

June 4, 2014

Every time I take my cell phone out of my pocket, I usually have to untangle a small web of earbuds. It’s the type of frustrating process that makes me wonder why I even want to use earbuds to begin with. The team at TurtleCell believes it has an answer to this problem. The Ann Arbor-based startup is launching a new product, a cell phone case with retractable earphones. It’s not the first time the fledgling startup has tried this. Last year is started floating the idea for the product, even launching an ill-fated crowd-funding campaign. Then it went back to the drawing board. The actual drawing board. The three-man team redesigned their product, upgraded the headphones, streamlined its business approach. They created a cell phone case (for iPhone 5 and above) they are excited to use every time they take it out of their pocket. "Every aspect has been improved," says Nick Turnbull, director of business development for TurtleCell. TurtleCell started taking pre-orders for its first run of products this week. Buyers can get the product for $39.95 (which includes $10 off the full retail price) and expect to have it delivered in October. The company expects to make tens of thousands of its cell phone case in time for the holiday shopping season. "It's somewhat up in the air but it will be more than 100,000," Turnbull says. Making all this possible is a successful seed capital round. The company has raised $250,000 from angel investors, allowing it to bypass another crowd funding campaign and just move forward with production. "We raised almost all of it over the last month," Turnbull says. Source: Nick Turnbull, director of business development for TurtleCell Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.