Balancing heritage with innovation is always a tricky proposition but with the impending multi-million dollar renovation of EMU's Rackham Hall careful attention is being paid to both its art-deco past and educational future.
The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund has sent out $1.5 million more in investments in six Michigan-based start-ups, including three that call Ann Arbor home. AlertWatch, which is based in the University of Michigan's Venture Accelerator, received a $250,000 investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. That money is helping the 2-year-old firm hit a couple of its major milestones, hire engineers and developers, and push the development of new products forward. "This money is absolutely essential to our firm," says Justin Adams, CEO of AlertWatch. "We raised a good amount of money from angels but there is a gap between where we could get without angel money and where we need to be." AlertWatch is developing patient-monitoring software to help reduce medical errors. It currently employs four people after hiring two others in the last year. It is also looking to hire another software developer. The other two Ann Arbor-based start-ups to receive Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund investments are: - IROA Technologies, which develops metabolic profiling tools used to create unique chemical signatures in molecules for accurate biochemical analysis and quantitation in multiple applications including general research, bioprocess, toxicology and diagnostics. - Patient Provider Communications, which is creating a multilingual interactive bedside care system to improve provider response to and fulfillment of patient requests. Source: Justin Adams, CEO of AlertWatch Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Saagara, the meditation technology start-up based in Ann Arbor, is launching a new platform that will allow its users to meditate in unison. See & Do Together is a mobile app that allows users of Saagara's technology to meditate together, similar to the way people interact online in a chat room. The company is also launching an Indiegogo campaign to help fund the platform's launch. "We really wanted people to take part and experience parts of it," says Dr. Bobby Peddi, CEO of Saagara. "So we made it so people can do it together." The Kerrytown-based start-up provides a holistic approach to better health, centered around a breathing technique called Pranayama. Dr. Peddi started the company shortly after he left his surgical residency about four years ago. It currently employs a team of 11 employees and two interns after hiring four people in the last year, including a new CTO. Saagara is also looking to move its business to a full-on subscription model. The firm is also looking at launching a stress-reduction program for businesses to provide to their employees later this year. Source: Dr. Bobby Peddi, CEO of Saagara Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
The nation's best cure-alls for most every affliction can be found right in the Ann Arbor vicinity. Excerpt: "The University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers offer the best care in Michigan and are among the nation’s best in 12 specialty areas, according to a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report. This is the second year in a row that U-M has topped the statewide ranking, and the third that it has also topped the Metro Detroit ranking." More here.
ArborMetrix is preparing to move to a new home in downtown Ann Arbor, taking space next to Google's office on Liberty Street. The move is expected to help accelerate the start-up's growth, which is on track to be exponential. The health-care software firm has hired 17 people over the last year, mostly new employees in business development, clinical project management and sales. The company now has a staff of 28 employees and two interns and has its sights set on employing 60 people by the end of the year. "We're fighting for space here," says Brett Furst, CEO of ArborMetrix. "We want to create a destination that will attract talent." Helping fuel growth is a newly closed Series B round of funding worth $7 million. ArborMetrix closed on a $1.5 million Series A round two years ago. The money will go toward expanding the company's staff and expanding its sales and marketing operations so the firm can go national. The seed capital will also help ArborMetrix improve its software platform. The start-up offers real-time clinical performance analytics tools for hospitals. The platform helps healthcare providers and payers to improve the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of surgical and other specialty care. "We provide the clinical evidence so hospitals and surgeons can make better decisions," Furst says. Source: Brett Furst, CEO of ArborMetrix Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Had founder and managing partner of Balance Massage Therapy Josie Ann Lee and her co-owner and head therapist Chris Draybuck not needed to comply with a five-mile non-compete clause with a former employer of Draybuck's, they might never have considered Dixboro as a home for their business. As it turns out, Lee says, it was the best decision they ever made. "It's been the biggest blessing," says Lee. "I'm so happy we ended up in Dixboro. People don't mind driving out here, and it's so peaceful." Since opening in 2008 with a minimal staff, Balance Massage Therapy has done nothing but grow. To accommodate their staff of 20 therapists, six office employees and the 14,000 massages they're on course to complete this year, Lee and Draybuck recently completed an expansion of their Plymouth Rd. location. The expansion grew their 1,200 square-foot office into a 3,200 square-foot space with 11 massage rooms. All of which, Lee says, will help Balance Massage stick to their mission of great service to both their clients and employees. "Our focus is always on our clients, and the most important clients are our team," says Lee. "They have enjoyed working there to have a good impact on the business. We want to make sure it's a mutually beneficial relationship for them, and for the community." Work on the expansion began in 2012 and was unveiled in February. Lee immediately hired three new front desk employees afterward. After adding two to three new massage therapists last fall, she anticipates adding another two therapists this coming fall. Lee says Balance Massage's next focus is extending their investment in the community, including more charitable giving. Source: Josie Ann Lee, Balance Massage Therapy Writer: Natalie Burg
The nations' hospitals are trying to clean themselves of the consequences of poor hand washing by giving technology developed by Ann Arbor's Biovigil a dry run. Excerpt: "Health experts say poor hand cleanliness is a factor in hospital-borne infections that kill tens of thousands of Americans each year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimates that one of every 20 patients in U.S. hospitals gets a hospital-acquired infection each year... Since last year, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center in the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights, Mo., has been the test site for a system developed by Biovigil Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich. A flashing light on a badge turns green when hands are clean, red if they’re not. It also tracks each hand-cleaning opportunity — the successes and the failures." More here.
Finding new research ideas and creating new ways to fund them, that's the idea behind a new local start-up, WellSpringboard. The Ann Arbor-based company is creating a software platform that enables patients and other members of health-care community to come up with research ideas. It also provides a facility to support crowd-funding to get the projects underway. "The current model in the U.S. and around the world is for scientists to have the ideas and carry them out," says Matthew Davis, associate professor of pediatrics & internal medicine & public policy at the University of Michigan and co-founder of WellSpringboard. "We wanted to see if we could find a new way to bring research ideas forward." Davis is a member of the three-person team that has been developing the technology since January at the University of Michigan. That effort birthed WellSpringboard, which recently won the prototype category worth $40,000 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Challenge. Davis and his team are currently working on further developing the prototype and raising money for the launch of their technology. "Our timeline is to launch a Beta version in 2014 depending on further funding," Davis says. Source: Matthew Davis, associate professor of pediatrics & internal medicine & public policy at the University of Michigan and co-founder of WellSpringboard Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Patient Provider Communications has landed $1.7 million in seed capital thanks to large government grants and significant private investment. The Ann Arbor-based start-up's principal technology is called "Eloquence." It is a nurse-call system developed through an innovative healthcare communication technology. The company is currently in the final stages of developing its Beta version that is set to be deployed to a couple local hospitals by the fourth quarter of this year. "We will be developing a commercially viable product by the end of the year," says Lance Patak, co-founder & chairman of Patient Provider Communications. "Our goal is to have it installed in at least one Beta site by the second quarter of 2014 and our first purchase order by second quarter of 2014." The 4-year-old company has secured a $1.225 million Phase 2 federal Small Business Technology Transfer grant. It also has scored $250,000 from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, and is closing on $125,000 from private investors that will be matched with $125,000 from the Michigan Emerging Technologies Fund. Patient Provider Communications employs a team seven employees and four independent contractors. It has hired four people over the last year, including a new CEO this spring. Source: Lance Patak, co-founder & chairman of Patient Provider Communications Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
A big change is underway at Domino's Farms that will change the way a number of local physicians do business and patients receive care. IHA, a local not-for-profit multi-specialty group of physicians recently broke ground on a 41,000 square foot facility at Domino's Farms where a number of existing IHA physicians spread throughout the area will consolidate in one building. "Many of our practices are based in regional facility, which our patients tell us offer better access and more services," IHA President and CEO, Bill Fileti. "Our physicians and nurses tell us they like collaboration options that exist with other specialties under the same roof." The $12 million development will also make IHA offices more regionally accessible, says Fileti. The conveniently located Domino's Farms facility came to be through a longtime relationship between IHA and Domino's Farms' leadership. "We expressed what we were trying to accomplish, and they looked a us and said, 'I think we can help,'" says Fileti. "And they were right. We couldn't be more pleased with the location as we feel it will give us a long timer base to meet the needs of the community." The groundbreaking on the development took place in May, and IHA plans to have the building enclosed in late Nov., and to have practices moving into the building in May 2014. IHA currently employs more than 1,200 people. The new Domino's Farms Medical Center is expected to foster continued growth to the organization and their number of employees. The new facility will include offices specializing in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, neurology, after hours care, imagine services, as well as other services that will be added. Source: Bill Fileti, IHA Writer: Natalie Burg
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