Innovation News

Estrakon hires 8 as it aims to close $750,000 seed round

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February 8, 2012

Estrakon is in the midst of two things these days: wrapping up a six-figure seed capital round and a job-creation spurt. The Ann Arbor-based LED sign manufacturer recently received a $250,000 investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. So far it has raised $600,000 in this seed capital round, and hopes to close out the round when it gets to $750,000 by the end of the month. The investment is coming on the heels of some rapid growth in the nine-year-old firm's revenues and staff. "Our revenues have tripled," says Philip Ochtman, president of Estrakon. "The number of staff has gone up substantially. Last year we had eight people full-time and today we have 15. We expect to have 30-35 next year." The company has a handful of interns today and is looking to bring on another 1-2 interns this summer, he says. The company is also looking to add independent sales people to its team. Estrakon develops, manufactures and sells LED edge-lit signs for businesses from its base on the south side of Ann Arbor. That energy-efficient technology uses 80-percent less energy than traditional light sources and contains no hazardous materials. It's also a technology that ages well. "The LED space is growing very quickly," Ochtman says. "People seem to love the products we're putting out." Source: Philip Ochtman, president of Estrakon Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

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Avicenna Medical Solutions expands client list, planning for growth

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Innovation News

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February 8, 2012

Avicenna Medical Solutions has signed its second big client to its AviTracks Chronic Disease Management System, bringing The Veterans Affairs (VA) Ann Arbor Healthcare System on board. "We see a big potential for growth," says Frank Pelosi, vice president & CMO of Avicenna Medical Solutions. "This VA contract is a big step forward for us. We see it as a big opportunity." AviTracks helps veterans manage treatment for chronic diseases from their home. This usually includes patients who take blood thinners or need to monitor cardiac rhythms. It is designed to lessen the information burden on health-care IT systems, allowing medical professionals to maximize time with patients and employ best practices for treatment. AviTracks is being used in seven different divisions in the University of Michigan Health System. Avicenna Medical Solutions was spun out of the University of Michigan in 2006. It has a team of four people, and hopes to add a couple more this year including software engineers and a business development manager. Source: Frank Pelosi, vice president & CMO of Avicenna Medical Solutions Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ypsilanti’s ISSYS lands $1.5M NIH grant for pre-clinical studies

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Community Development

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February 8, 2012

Integrated Sensing Systems has scored a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Health to help the company finish the pre-clinical work on its new technology, which wirelessly monitors the heart. "It's the last stage of a very long process before you get to human trials," says Nader Najafi, president & CEO of Integrated Sensing Systems. The Ypsilanti-based firm, commonly known as ISSYS, designs and develops microelectromechanical systems for medical and scientific sensing applications. Its latest piece of technology is an implant for the heart that allows medical professionals to wirelessly monitor the heart. "So you can monitor the heart on demand even with home monitoring," Najafi says. ISSYS, founded in 1995, has been working on this technology for 12 years. It has a staff of 30 and plans to add another 2-3 jobs this year. It will continue clinical trials of the technology for the next two years. After that, Najafi hopes to begin work on human trials, while also receiving FDA approval so it can begin sales. Source: Nader Najafi, president & CEO of Integrated Sensing Systems Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Plymouth Venture Partners seeks startup for executive in residence

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Economic Development

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February 8, 2012

Plymouth Venture Partners is looking for a few good startups to invest in, but the Ann Arbor venture capital firm needs one in particular to take advantage of its executive in residence program. Plymouth Venture Partners is specifically looking to lend Kevin Terrasi's talents to a Michigan-based company. Terrasi, a serial entrepreneur who has helped lead startups to profitable exits, is the executive for the Michigan Venture Capital Association's executive in residence program. The program is geared toward helping retain executive talent in the Great Lakes State. "We're looking for a Michigan-based company," Terrasi says. "One that is close to commercialization and has existing revenue." Terrasi was a senior executive and part owner at Pump Engineering, a water supply company. He helped guide it to an acquisition in 2009. He is now an investor in Plymouth Venture Partners' recently closed investment fund worth $41 million. Plymouth Venture Partners plans to insert Terrasi into the executive team of one of its portfolio companies later this year. The venture capital firm is evaluating potential startups and hopes to have a deal done and Terrasi in place by this spring at the earliest. "This is based on a 12-month cycle," Terrasi says. "We're hoping to have this done within the next 12 months." For information on participating Plymouth Venture Partners executive in residence program, click here. Source: Kevin Terrasi, executive in residence for Plymouth Venture Partners Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ix Innovations scores investment from Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund

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Economic Development

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February 1, 2012

Ix Innovations has landed an unspecified investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund as part of a larger seed round it raised over the last year. The new cash infusion has allowed the Tech Brewery-based startup to bolster its staff of three people.. "Prior to that we had one software engineer on a 1099 basis," says Ian Dailey, CEO of Ix Innovations. "After that we were able to hire that person and bring on two other people." Ix Innovations is commercializing the PocketPico, a portable, USB-powered picoammeter that can be used as a stand-alone instrument or connected to a PC. Dailey expects to get the PocketPico into user hands later this year, allowing it to ramp up production by the end of 2012. Ix Innovations is also working on a couple more products that would complement the PocketPico. Dailey hopes the further development of those products will grow its bottom line and the size of the company. "More hands on deck," Dailey says. "That is where we would like to be (by the end of the year)." Source: Ian Dailey, CEO of Ix Innovations Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

U-M launches Venture Shaping Program to turn ideas into startups

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Entrepreneurship

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February 1, 2012

Business ideas don't always make profitable businesses. A new program at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business hopes to make that transition more commonplace in Ann Arbor. U-M is launching the Mayleben Family Venture Shaping Program through the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. The new program is being funded by a gift from Aastrom Biosciences president & CEO Tim Mayleben (a U-M graduate) and his wife, Dawn Mayleben. The grant program will teach student teams from across the University how to transform identified opportunities into businesses. "It takes an idea and transforms it into a business structure," says Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "We see a lot of ideas." The U-M Venture Shaping Program will provide teams of student entrepreneurs with guidance from faculty while going through a three-part process. That process includes directed discovery, value system synthesis, and profiting from capabilities framework evaluation. The idea is to prove that the startup meets a validated market need and will provide a cash prize so they can take the business to the next level. Breaking through that key wall of building a business (taking it from an idea to a reality) is the major constraint that has been identified by U-M officials. The Venture Shaping Program hopes to help 25 student-led business each year. "We see it as the big bottleneck in the process," Faley says. "We're happy to have a program to handle that program." Source: Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Yo Mama Packed It! turns time crunches into fresh eats

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Arts and Culture

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February 1, 2012

The student-led start-ups that have the best chance of success are those that become fixtures in the local startup scene. The co-founders of the likes of Are You a Human and ReGenerate (both started by University of Michigan students and winners of multiple business plan competitions) became regulars in the local business plan scene. They are now landing big seed capital rounds and preparing for growth. The latest U-M start-up to make begin making that impression is Yo Mama Packed It!. The five-month-old start-up is the brainchild of Jessica Lai (a masters of public health student) and Emily Potter (a recent graduate with a masters degree in space systems engineering), which was inspired while the two were hustling to study at U-M. The start-up provides fresh, healthy and affordable meals for students who are too rushed to cook and keep up with class. "It's mostly from personal experience of rushing from class to class every day and not having the time to make food or the resources to go out for food," Lai says. Yo Mama Packed It! recently won the Michigan Business Model Competition, created by U-M's School of Information's SI-Create organization and held at a recent A2 New Tech Meetup. It also won an award at Entrepalooza Symposium and was a semi-finalist in the student portion of last fall's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. Yo Mama Packed It! is still developing its business model, using friends and fellow students as test subjects. It hopes to roll out its business later this year while partnering with other local craft-food businesses. "If someone makes really good cookies, I would love to have them in our lunch," Lai says. Source: Jessica Lai, co-founder of Yo Mama Packed It! Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A2Awesome makes first $1,000 grant to bike-powered veggie grow rack

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Community Development

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February 1, 2012

A2Awesome, the Ann Arbor chapter of the Boston-based Awesome Foundation, has awarded its first grant worth $1,000. A2Awesome gave the thousand dollars cash in a brown paper bag to Ann Arbor-resident Nathan Ayers. He will use the money to build two bike-powered vegetable grow racks that will be used in a science class he teaches in Ann Arbor and Detroit. The idea is to create a closed-loop system to demonstrate the principles of permaculture -- a design and engineering philosophy based on ecology, which has as its objective the creation of sustainable food, energy and community infrastructure systems. Ayers' proposal was the winner of 20 applications submitted for the first round of funding. A2Awesome aims to provide streamlined seed funding for creative projects that will bring surprise, delight and joy to the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti community. A2Awesome plans to make one $1,000 grant a month for the foreseeable future. "We anticipate the applications to go way up," says Mark Maynard, dean of awesome for A2Awesome. "With this award we have set the tone for what we want to do." While the Ayers bicycle-grow project is creative and helps push the envelope, A2Awesome isn't limiting itself to those types of projects. It is open to more traditional ideas as long as they result in the same thing, awesomeness. "We're open to everything," Maynard says. "The project just needs to be awesome." For more information, click here. (Full disclosure: Jeff Meyers, Concentrate's managing editor, is on the board of A2Awesome) Source: Mark Maynard, dean of awesome for A2Awesome Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor’s Real Time Farms triples staff, goes national

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Economic Development

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January 25, 2012

Real Time Farms got its start in Ann Arbor 18 months ago and is going national today as it continues to spread food transparency across the U.S. The Ann Arbor-based start-up is a combination social media tool for foodies and a nationwide online directory of farmers markets and what's available there. Users can share pictures of local markets and farm stands by posting them on the site, along with product information and handy tips for other patrons. "This isn't about sustainable or local," says Cara Rosaen, co-founder & director of vegetable outreach for Real Time Farms. "It's about transparency." Cara Rosaen co-founded Real Time Farms with her husband Karl, a former Google employee who moved back to Michigan to start the venture. They have tripled their team to six core members and another 20 interns. "Part of it is that this is the right time," Rosaen says. "The other part is we have a really solid tech team. That has really helped us grow." Real Time Farms has recently launched its software and has been gaining traction with users. More than 32,000 photos have been uploaded to its site. It just launched its software for restaurants so it can spread food awareness further into the food chain. "It's really just a matter of capturing people's enthusiasm that exists and creating systems to channel it," Rosaen says. Source: Cara Rosaen, co-founder & director of vegetable outreach for Real Time Farms Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Startup Michigan set to launch from ACE competition in Ann Arbor

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Economic Development

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January 25, 2012

Startup Michigan, the Great Lakes State's node for the Startup America entrepreneur network, is set to launch from the Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurs event next week. The Startup America Partnership is a national effort dedicated to helping startups grow by connecting entrepreneurs, investors and more than $1 billion in resources across the U.S. Regional affiliate Startup Michigan will launch with 10 other states next week. "It's the first time on a national level that there is a concerted effort on a national level to communication in the entrepreneurship community," says Diane Durance, executive director of the Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest, which oversees this year's Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurs, or ACE 12. She went on to compare Startup America's potential impact to the interstate highway system and how it connects businesses and people from states across the country. ACE 12, which will be held at Ann Arbor's Skyline High School on Tuesday, is an annual event that revolves around entrepreneurship in Michigan. The event features opportunities for entrepreneurial education, networking, funding and mentoring resources. This year's attendance is expected to exceed 1,000 participants. "We have a great entrepreneurial infrastructure," Durance says. "Other states don't have this kind of infrastructure." Source: Diane Durance, executive director of the Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.