Innovation News

Accio Energy lands one of first Venture for America fellows

Accio Energy is taking on one of the first Venture for America fellows this month, hiring an electrical engineering graduate from Brown University. Venture for America is launching its inaugural class of fellows this summer, pairing 40 fresh college graduates with start-ups in economically challenged regions. The New York City-based non-profit is modeled after Teach for America where it pairs top talent from U.S. universities with innovative start-ups growing in urban areas, such as New Orleans, Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Providence, Rhode Island. The idea is to give college grads an open door into entrepreneurship in the hopes they will launch their own start-ups in their host cities one day. Metro Detroit companies are receiving 11 of these fellows, and Accio Energy is the only firm from Ann Arbor to receive one. The alternative energy start-up is reinventing the wind energy generation with new technology that creates clean energy from static electricity generated from the wind. "The novelty of it combined with the size of the company were two huge draws," says Tim Dingman, the Venture for America fellow hired by Accio Energy. Dingman recently graduated from Brown University with a degree in electrical engineering. He also founded his own start-up, which makes a showerhead efficiency upgrade for dorm rooms. He has been interested in developing clean tech for most if his college career, but wanted to get his professional start working for a young company creating disruptive technology. "There is a lot of energy there," Dingman says. "There is a lot of room for innovation which is what I was looking for in my placement." Source: Tim Dingman, fellow with Venture for America Writer: Jon Zemke

Lakeside Software grows Ann Arbor office to 12

Lakeside Software has been steadily building out its new Ann Arbor office, hiring a dozen new workers there since last winter. "Ann Arbor has been great for us," says Mike Schumacher, president of the Bloomfield Hills-based IT/software firm. "One of the challenges in Bloomfield Hills is finding high-end software developers. One of the things we found is Ann Arbor has a huge talent pool that we have really been able to tap into." Lakeside Software plans to hire 195 people in Ann Arbor over five years, starting last fall. The 12-year-old firm decided to open a research-and-development facility here instead of other tech hotspots, such a Silicon Valley. The company received a $731,000 incentive from the state of Michigan to open the facility in Michigan. The Ann Arbor office will specializes in product design and development of the company's management software solutions for the Windows operating system. Its SysTrack software combines comprehensive system monitoring capabilities with sophisticated analysis for applications and users to create a total management solution. Source: Mike Schumacher, president of Lakeside Software Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Branding firm Lingo takes off with team of 4 in Ann Arbor

A couple of former corporate executives who specialize in branding are launching their own boutique marketing agency in Ann Arbor called Lingo Definition + Design. Scott Hauman and Kyle Feliks, who have worked for the likes of Coca-Cola and Ben & Jerry's, have grown the downtown Ann Arbor-based company's team to four full-time and three part-time employees, along with an intern. That team specializes in brand development and deployment for innovative start-ups. "There really wasn't a true branding firm in this area that was serving innovative companies," Hauman says. The company now has a dozen consistent clients and is looking to hire a brand strategist, brand design and a couple of project managers. Hauman says the early success of his company has told him taking the leap into entrepreneurship "was the best decision we ever made," adding he and Feliks "should have made it years ago." "In terms of our growth, we have exceeded our expectations," Hauman says. "We are very happy with that. We didn't intend to have an office yet, but we have one now." He adds that he would like to have a staff of 10-15 people within the next year. The company is also looking at opening offices in both Detroit and Grand Rapids. Source: Scott Hauman, co-founder & chief brand strategist for Lingo Definition + Design Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Meritful aims to help make student online presence presentable

Azarias Reda decided to combine two key aspects of his adult life when creating his new start-up, Meritful. The PhD candidate in computer science at the University of Michigan once worked at LinkedIn and has spent a fair amount of his time in Ann Arbor teaching at local high schools. While teaching he noticed every one of his students produced some sort of online content, usually through social media outlets. So last spring he began building a start-up that helped students in high school and college create a professional online presence that would make potential employers happy and their parents smile. "We want to help high school students present themselves better on the web," Reda says. "That's our underlying goal." The Ypsilanti-based start-up plans to conduct a private launch in mid August at a U-M summer camp and fully open up the site in the fall. Reda and his team of four people plan to focus on students in Michigan in the first year and then move onto a national presence in year two. "We want Meritful to become the de facto location if you want to learn the merit of high school students," Reda says. Source: Azarias Reda, founder of Meritful Writer: Jon Zemke

Merit Network continues fiber-optic expansion in Ann Arbor

Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor biz pros promote entrepreneurship in Detroit

More and more business professionals from the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area are staking a claim in Detroit by working with programs that are helping spread entrepreneurship and technology across the Motor City. The Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center (which is run by Eastern Michigan University Business Prof Richard King) is launching its new statewide New Venture program from Detroit. New Venture aims to help aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs establish their business through a 10-week course, which teaches the basics about opening a business, how to make sure the venture is viable and consulting with the entrepreneurs after they are up and running. It has already graduated its first two entrepreneurs. "It's going to be offered in a number of locations," says Wendy Thomas, associate regional director for the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center. Dave Koziol, founder of the downtown Ann Arbor-based mobile app firm Arbormoon Software, is the co-founder of Develop Detroit. The new initiative looks to help expand the mobile app workforce in the Motor City through a 12-week course that teaches the participants how to build their own mobile app. Develop Detroit is modeled after a similar program in Chicago called Code Academy. Bruce McCully, CEO of Dynamic Edge, has been growing a technology club in the Detroit Institute of Technology. The institute is one of four schools from Detroit Public School's inside the former Cody High School on the city's west side. The Ann Arbor-based tech start-up's employees teach the students how to use cutting edge technology and how to make it work for them, such as applying for job or colleges. Source: Wendy Thomas, associate regional director for the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Swift Biosciences launches new technology out of Ann Arbor

It's been a busy year for Swift Biosciences. The Ann Arbor-based life sciences firm has launched its first product, readied a handful of new products to hit the market within the next 12 months and nearly doubled its staff. Swift Biosciences now employs 11 people after adding five in the last year, and plans to hire another four more soon. Most of those jobs are in research & development with a sprinkling of sales and marketing. Of the five most recently hired, Swift Biosciences was able to recruit three from out of state. "The quality of life here in Ann Arbor is a significant feature for us," says David Olson, CEO of Swift Biosciences. The 2-year-old start-up is developing molecular biology reagents for research and diagnostic applications that provide new ways to examine disease-related genes. This technology is expected to help researchers analyze samples faster, at a higher volume, and at a lower price-per-sample. It's first piece of technology, launched early this year, is a consumable product for genetic analysis that helps detect mutations in things like cancer with high sensitivity. The venture-backed start-up, Houston-based DFJ Mercury has led its latest round of fundraising, is also working to release 2-3 more products over the next 12 months. Those include some variations of its current platform and new technology. "It's focused on genetic sequencing," Olson says. "It's in the same general space as our first product." Source: David Olson, CEO of Swift Biosciences Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

IT staffing firm Imetris hires 33 people in Saline

Imetris has watched its revenue increase by roughly a third in each of the last four years, allowing the Saline-based company to grow from a staff of 25 to 100. The IT staffing-firm has hired 33 people over the last year to accomodate its success, including eight people since January. Most of its growth is coming from the software and IT sectors, industries in need of new talent. "It's all organic growth," says Chandru Acharya, president of Imetris. "We haven't done anything special besides focus on our business and do the right thing." The 12-year-old firm recently moved from Ann Arbor to Saline while maintaining its head of steam, providing tech firms staffing services in North America, Europe and Asia. Acharya expects that to continue as the company sticks to its knitting and plans for another year of 30-35 percent growth. "We are very much focused on growth right now," Acharya says. Source: Chandru Acharya, president of Imetris Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

U-M lands I-Corps designation to help researchers become entrepreneurial

The University of Michigan continues to establish itself as a major hub for researchers with entrepreneurial ambitions across the country now that it has been selected to become one of a handful of nodes for the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps. The Innovation Corps, I-Corps for short, is designed to fast-track more research from the lab to the real world. The 1-year-old program trains National Science Foundation-funded scientists and engineers on how to extend their focus beyond basic research and toward practical applications that have value in the marketplace. I-Corps got its start at Stanford in Silicon Valley. "This is the first time it has been taught outside of Stanford," says Doug Neal, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan. "U-M is one of three nodes that will be open across the country." U-M joins Stanford and Georgia Tech in offering the I-Corps workshops for research scientists and professors at top universities across North America. U-M will receive a $1.5 million federal grant to get the program off the ground over the next two years. Those two years have the potential to attract top entrepreneurial innovators at research universities across the country to Ann Arbor to take advantage of this program and the area's other entrepreneurial resources. "We're not just teaching U-M researchers about entrepreneurship," Neal says. "We're teaching researchers from across the country." Source: Doug Neal, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.