Entrepreneurship

Coverage of those starting up businesses and community resources to help them thrive.

Ann Arbor-based Stratos develops one card to bind them all

By Newsroom

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October 15, 2014

We've covered Stratos big investment scores in a recent issue of Concentrate but it looks like TechCrunch just caught wind of the A2 company developing an all-in-one, inter-connected credit card. Excerpt: "The startup raised $5.8 million from Midwest and West Coast investors. San Francisco-based Toba Capital led the round with Western Technology Investment, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Michigan-based Resonant Venture Partners also participating. Stratos is one of the latest companies to come out of Ann Arbor. Olson was born in Michigan, and its CTO co-founded Detroit Labs. Stratos operates out of the same building that houses the hot security startup, Duo Security." Read the rest here.

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Reconsider launches pilot for local biz investing awareness

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 15, 2014

Reconsider is starting a big to help channel more local investment dollars into local small businesses. The Ypsilanti-based firm is teaming up with the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development to launch the venture LOCAL, an initiative to raise awareness that people can invest in local companies and see comparable returns to more traditional investment vehicles, like stocks and bonds. "It's a local investing awareness and education campaign," says Angela Barbash, founder of Reconsider. "The idea is to get some companies to do some fundraising online." The venture LOCAL campaign aims to accelerate investment in Washtenaw County-based businesses by highlighting more of those opportunities. For instance, the effort by the Tecumseh Brewing Co to raise $120,000 in seed capital. "What would Ann Arbor look like in five years if there was an infusion of local capital?" Barbash says. Reconsider specializes in research and education about community capital and social entrepreneurship. Barbash, a veteran financial advisor, works with a team of six independent contractors. She is currently interviewing two Shifting Gears program participants as potential interns. Barbash is optimistic that the venture LOCAL campaign will be successful in Washtenaw County over the next few months, opening the door for its expansion across Michigan. "It could be a turnkey solution for other communities to use," Barbash says. Source: Angela Barbash, founder of Reconsider Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

At Home celebrates new, 91,000 sq ft Ypsilanti location, 20 new jobs

By Natalie Burg

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Community Development

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October 8, 2014

Homes throughout the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area now have the opportunity to look more chic for less money. At Home, a Texas-based home decorating retail chain with 77 stores across the U.S. has opened its latest store on Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti. "At Home has a significant growth strategy in place and we saw a great opportunity to expand into Ypsilanti to continue to increase our share of the home decor market," says Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications for At Home, Stacey Sullivan. The Company also operates stores in Dearborn, Jenison, Kalamazoo and Utica, Michigan, which has enabled us to really get to know and understand the market." The 91,000 square foot former Kmart location has been renovated and At Home celebrated a grand opening on Oct. 3. According to Sullivan, the store is known as a place customers come to shop for home decor items, as well as be inspired with new ideas. She says the average customer spends two hours in At Home. "At Home also has an expansion selection of holiday and seasonal products," Sullivan says. "We believe we occupy a unique niche of the home decor industry providing unmatched breath of traditional and trend-driven merchandising options for every style at accessible price points." Along with low prices on home decor items, At Home brings 20 new jobs with it to Ypsilanti. Being the 77th new location still makes the Ypsilanti store an early addition to the growing company. At Home aims to grow into to 600 locations. Source: Stacey Sullivan,

Beezy’s Cafe to expand downtown Ypsilanti operations into dinnertime

By Natalie Burg

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Development News

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October 8, 2014

People just can't get enough of Beezy's Cafe in downtown Ypsilanti. The nearly six-year-old restaurant has both customers who want access to their meals a later hours, and employees looking for a new challenge. To accommodate both, owner Bee Roll has decided to expand her hours on Fridays and Saturdays and add a dinner menu. "The Beezy's focus of simple, honest food remains the cornerstone of the menu philosophy," says Roll. "Big bonus for a lot of folks will be the ability to get breakfast for dinner too. We currently only serve breakfast entrees until 2 pm daily. On Friday and Saturday, breakfast will be nonstop. Late risers, rejoice!" For those without a hankering for breakfast at dinnertime, the new hours will include such hearty dinner dishes as pot pies, tuna noodle casserole and lasagna. Despite new hours and new foods, however, the cafe will remain the same physically, retaining its cozy, eclectic seating arrangement and self-service areas. "It's intentionally designed for people to literally bump into each and promote interaction and conversation, community," Roll says. There are more growth opportunities for Beezy's on the horizon as well. Roll hopes to soon launch a "plate club," in which customers would have their own vintage plate that lives at the restaurant, and she also plans to expand both her catering services and retail offerings. Source: Bee Roll, Beezy's Cafe Writer: Natalie Burg

Blimpy Burger reopens with more seats, new jobs and same legendary burgers

By Natalie Burg

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Arts & Culture

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October 8, 2014

It's been about 13 months since the Ann Arbor landmark Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger closed it's doors, and burger lovers can once again breathe easy: Blimpy Burger is back. The business reopened last week in its new location on Ashely. "So far, I've seen a lot of familiar faces," says Emily Magner, whose family owns Blimpy Burger. And the customers weren't the only familiar part of the shop's reopening. "We were able to replicate the Blimpy experience and the ordering experience that makes us so unique." Though the burgers, diners and experience may be picking up right where they left off, one change in the new Blimpy Burger location is additional seating. With seats for more than 50 diners, they're up between 10 to 15 seats from the original location. As early as Monday of last week, financial supporters of the restaurant's new space were treated to sneak preview dining experience that Magner says was well deserved. "They were the key to us being here today," she says. "Not only did they support us in just helping with our morale, but they gave us incentive to make this happen." Though still hiring and training employees Magner estimates the new Blimpy Burger will employ about 20 workers. She says though getting up and running is their first goal — the restaurant is currently operating on limited hours — long term goals for the business could include adding a catering component. Source: Emily Magner, Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger Writer: Natalie Burg

Mota Thai Yoga transitions from private practice to public studio

By Natalie Burg

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Development News

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October 8, 2014

It used to be, the only way to benefit from Luiz Mota's Thai massage and yoga therapy was to either know him, or be referred by a current client. In fact, that's how he got his start, simply by working on fellow martial arts competitors in his early 20s. But the growth of his clientele and their demand for more access to his services has led to Mota Thai Yoga expanding into class offerings and opening to the public. "I've always been word of mouth," says Mota. "But the more clients I had the more it has been them demanding more." Mota Thai Yoga's transition has been gradual, beginning with Mota's move to an 1,100 square foot studio on W. Huron about a year and a half ago. After slowly adding more offerings, he has now hired an additional instructor and declaring his studio open to the public. Mota says Thai yoga therapy means something different to different practitioners. He offers it as as an assisted yoga practice that helps clients with injuries, illnesses or physical disabilities. Though he has long offered this and Thai massage, he now offers classes in aerial yoga therapy, other yoga types, small group yoga therapy and male ballet class. "I'm all about anatomy," says Mota, who is also a certified mortician. "I'm about the energy work too, but I take it to a whole different level. Even after my clients leave, I'm still researching their injury." With the recent hiring of a new instructor, he hopes to soon offer mediation classes as well. Mota's goals are to continue to work with more clients and help them work through their injuries. He plans to hire additional instructors in the future. Source: Luiz Mota, Mota Thai Yoga Writer: Natalie Burg

U-M student entrepreneur profiled

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 8, 2014

Three cool business innovations are profiled in Entrepreneur's "3 Student Startups That Are Going the Distance" and U-M chemical engineering major Carolyn Yarina made the list with her human-powered centrifuge built from bicycle parts. Excerpt: "Returning to India over the next two summers, she refined her concept and developed contacts. After graduating in 2013, she worked on her centrifuge full time, eventually developing a portable machine dubbed (r)Evolve that can alternate between manual power and electricity. She also lined up engineering and manufacturing support in India. But it dawned on Yarina that she needed to go further. "Once I created our student organization and started going to business classes, I had an epiphany," she says. "Open-source designs are not a viable option if you actually want to get your product out there. If it was just about creating a process to separate blood, we would have been done four years ago." Read the rest here.

Sava Lelcaj makes Crain’s “40 Under 40” list

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 8, 2014

It was inevitable. I mean, seriously, is there an entrepreneur more responsible for transforming downtown Ann Arbor than Sava Lelcaj? Excerpt: "In the meantime, Lelcaj and her team are preparing to launch a product line and open two new “grocerants,” a concept that she describes as a marriage between a traditional grocery store and a restaurant. The markets will sell ready-to-eat/heat food as well as products from the company’s new line. Both grocerants will be located in Ann Arbor, with one at 2835 Boardwalk and the other at 12 Nickels Aracade. " Read the rest here.

Tech Transfer reports a record year for U-M inventions

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 8, 2014

Go big or go home. Entrepreneurship is becoming a way of thinking at U-M and this year saw a big uptick in relationships with companies, new inventions and the formation of start-ups. Excerpt: "U-M Tech Transfer recorded number of advancements in fiscal year 2014, the university reported. Researchers reported 439 new inventions in fiscal year 2014, which is up from last year’s 421. Additionally, U-M Tech Transfer also recorded 148 option and license agreements compared to 108 agreements a year ago. There was also 14 start-ups launched, which brings the total number of businesses launched in the past five years to 55." Read the rest here.

Stratos ramps up staff for new Ann Arbor office

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 8, 2014

The startup formerly known as Protean Payment (freshly rebranded at Stratos) has a new name, a new pool of money to draw from, and is looking for a new home in Ann Arbor to accommodate its growth. Stratos announced last week that it raised $5.8 million in a Series A round. Silicon Valley-based Toba Capital Partners led the round with Ann Arbor-based Reasonant Venture Partners participating, along with two other venture capital firms. Stratos is working on disrupting the way people pay for everyday purchases, but not too much. It is making a new card that combines all of the cards in your wallet (credit, debit, loyalty) into a bluetooth enabled device. The idea is to simplify how a person pay for things without having to build a whole new payment infrastructure (and learning curve) around it. It is also the reason behind the larger-than-usual-by-local-startup-standards initial capital raise. "We're a software company and a hardware company, so we have an increased capital requirement," says Thiago Olson, co-founder & CEO of Stratos. Stratos is still working on developing its technology and Olson declined to give some details about it, such as when it's anticipated to launch and how many people work for the startup today. He did say the company is looking to hire 10 people right now and expects to keep hiring for the foreseeable future. "We're scaling on all fronts," Olson says. "It's going to be constant hiring on all fronts." Stratos currently works from an office building in Kerrytown that it shares with Duo Security and Reasonant Venture Partners. Duo Security, also in the midst of a hiring spree, is moving to a bigger office in downtown Ann Arbor this fall. Stratos is evaluating whether his firm will expand into the newly vacated space or elsewhere as it looks for a space that could house between 40-50 people. "We're expanding and we're going to be moving into a new office and that's one of the places we're looking at," Olson says. Source: Thiago Olson, co-founder & CEO of Stratos Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.