DeNovo Sciences has come a long way in its first five years, but especially after winning the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition in 2011. That win is why DeNovo Sciences is one of the Gazelle 100, a year-long exploration of the fastest-growing startups in metro Detroit as part of SEMichiganStartup's "Year of the Gazelle" series.
Columbus, Ohio-based T. Marzetti Co. bought the Saline-grown rolled sandwich franchise Flatout for a not-too-shabby $92 million. Excerpt: "Flatout reported $42 million in net sales in 2014. The company has about 150 employees at its factory in a Saline industrial park. The company, one of Washtenaw County's most successful food start-ups, was partially sold in 2010 to private equity firm North Castle Partners and Glencoe Capital." Read the rest here.
To establish a true startup culture, Ann Arbor needs more than just a SPARK. It needs incubator, research and co-working spaces that can accommodate a growing and wide variety of needs and disciplines. Mark Smith hopes to address that with his ambitious plan to build an entrepreneurial campus on the outskirts of the city.
Hoping to bring together Ann Arbor startups struggling to grow, a pair of execs at Nutshell Inc. have decided to develop a tech hub incubator. And they already have their first tenant before the doors have opened. Excerpt: "Using the Madison Building in downtown Detroit as the model, a group of former Barracuda Networks Inc. executives wants to create a large hub for tech startups in downtown Ann Arbor. They have signed a purchase agreement to buy two adjacent office buildings downtown and are negotiating to buy one or two more buildings. They hope to close on the first deal in about a month and have a build-out done in six months." Read the rest here.
Ann Arbor-based drone firm Skyspecs lays out the story of its path to investment and product development in Crains' interesting business series, "Startup diaries," analyzing how new metro Detroit businesses find their feet. Excerpt: "But these startups hardly have it easy. They slog through early years developing often-complicated technology and spending just as much time chasing money. It's a drawn-out, gambling lead-up to one day having sales that reward the effort. SkySpecs launched on paper in 2012, but that was just one small first step. The company's first few years were spent honing its product and chasing money, whether at business plan competitions or from investors. " Read the rest here.
Think about light. Consider how it impacts the way you live in your home or do your work. Think about how it makes you feel warm and welcomed… or uncomfortable and creeped out. That's what the designers at Illuminart in Ypsilanti evaluate with every project they tackle. It's an under-appreciated aspect of architectural design - something Michigan businesses are only beginning to recognize.
Ann Arbor's Advanced Photonixis about to become part of a merger that will turn it into a $50 million company. That's pretty darn impressive for a firm we've been watch grow year after year. In fact, since Concentrate launched in 2008. Excerpt: "The board of Ann Arbor-based Advanced Photonix Inc., a supplier of optoelectronic sensors, devices and measurement instrumentation for the telecommunications, defense, industrial and medical markets, has agreed to merge with Luna Innovations Inc., which makes fiber-optic sensing and test and measurement products for the same industries." Read the rest here.
No, not because there are big plans to turn the Huron River into a water trade route. Those days are long gone. It's our proximity to influential universities that makes us a contender. Excerpt: "Think of this as a collection of helpful tips. We think you should consider these cities when looking, for instance, for a great business environment, a well-educated or skilled workforce, a globally minded city or assistance with your site-selection process." Read the lists here.
Imagine: treat your workers like real, valuable human beings and seek to inspire them and your business will not only succeed, you'll be heralded as a workplace genius. Question #4 is probably the best of the lot. Excerpt: "One yellow sign in his office reads, “Caution: Babies and Dog Crossing.” That’s because Menlo allows workers to bring their dogs and newborns to the office. Dogs are allowed because, “Quite frankly, we think it adds to the joy,” Sheridan says. “There’s something about those 4-legged, furry creates that brings out a smile in everybody.” Babies are allowed because 7 years ago, one worker named Traci didn’t have day care options or family nearby to help watch her daughter after the typical 3-month maternity leave. Sheridan told her, “Just bring her in to work.” So Traci brought Maggie in to the office all day, every day for four months. “It was such a wonderful experience,” Sheridan says. So eight other babies have joined the firm in the last 7 years and the office awaits two new babies right now, who will be joining “Menlo dads” in the office soon." Read the rest here.
Here's a convincing argument for why Michigan's varied and silted business communities should find more -eek, we're going to say it - synergy… or common ground. Excerpt: "The story in Ann Arbor is completely different. Despite its proximity to Detroit, Ann Arbor does not depend on the same massive companies. With the University of Michigan as an intellectual, cultural, and financial hub, the industry is knowledge and the spirit is an entrepreneurial one: people don’t depend on pre-existing companies—they start new ones. Consider the fact that the founders of Google and Groupon, and dozens of other successful new economy entrepreneurs, got their start in Ann Arbor. The thing about Ann Arbor, though, is that all this start-up energy and growth is unsustainable. The people who start new companies don’t stay in Ann Arbor. They move elsewhere, to places where they can get the capital they need to quickly grow." Read the rest here.
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