Venture Capital

Pixel Velocity scores $10M in Series B round

Pixel Velocity has landed $10 million in seed capital thanks to a Series B round of investment in the image processing and data analytics startup. "They're really well-positioned in an area that combines data from sensors and data analytics," says Jonathan Murray, managing director of the Ann Arbor office of Draper Triangle Ventures, which also participated in Pixel Velocity’s Series B. The Ann Arbor-based company creates sensor technology that helps provide safety, security and operational continuity solutions to commercial and government facilities. Its imagery and data analytic tools help protect users from accidental or natural threats, such as leaks, spills or intrusion. The company is planning to expand into the oil and gas market this year. Money from the Series B will fund the Pixel Velocity’s revenue growth and expanding operations by adding more working capital to its bottom line. That money will help do everything from adding inventory to expanding its staff. The company has hired 10 people over the last year, including positions in executive management, software development, and hardware engineers. It currently employs 17 people and the occasional intern. "We will also be doing some work on our branding," Grisham says. Source: Heather Grisham, COO of Pixel Velocity, and Jonathan Murray, managing director of the Ann Arbor office of Draper Triangle Ventures Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Draper Triangle’s Ann Arbor office spreads the seed capital

Draper Triangle Ventures opened its Michigan office in Ann Arbor a year ago, and the venture capital firm is off to a fast start. The Pittsburgh-based firm has made investments in two Ann Arbor-based startups over the last year. The first was in Amplifinity, which makes referral software, in early 2014. Draper Triangle Ventures also recently sunk money into Pixel Velocity, a image processing and data analytics startup. "A person can make and manage two investments per year," says Jonathan Murray, managing director of Draper Triangle Ventures’ Ann Arbor office. "I'll make two investments this year, and Pixel Velocity is one of them." Draper Triangle Ventures has more than $200 million under management across three funds. Its latest investment fund was set to raise more than $100 million. The venture capital firm invests in early stage tech ventures, such as software and IT startups. Murray is Draper Triangle Ventures’ lone representative in Michigan. The firm has its main office in Ann Arbor and another satellite location in downtown Detroit. Murray expects to make one more investment in a local startup this year but that number could grow. "I have a long list (of potential startups to invest in)," Murray says. "There are a lot of very good prospects on it. It could change from two investments to three investments if the right opportunity comes along." Source: Jonathan Murray, managing director of Draper Triangle Ventures’ Ann Arbor office Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

How Ann Arbor’s Skyspecs got off the ground

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.

Armune Bioscience scores seed capital, grows Ann Arbor lab

Armune Bioscience recently landed $700,000 in seed capital and is looking to bring that number up to $2.5 million to complete its Series A round. That money is going to go toward the commercialization of the 7-year-old company's cancer blood test, Apifiny, and the addition of more staff member. The company currently employs six people, two of which (both executive positions) were hired over the last year. "We anticipate having several job openings in the second and third quarter of the year," says David Esposito, CEO of Armune Bioscience. "Four or so will be in our laboratory." Armune Bioscience is developing an innovative, non-PSA blood test to aid in the early detection of prostate cancer. The startup plans to launch that blood test commercially later this year. The Kalamazoo-based company developed the product at its Ann Arbor lab where half of its staff works. "We hope to have that on the market in the second quarter of this year," Esposito says. Source: David Esposito, CEO of Armune Bioscience Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Akadeum Life Sciences spins out of local entrepreneurial ecosystem

Akadeum Life Sciences just landed a six-figure seed capital round. The $150,000 raise was led by Ann Abror-based venture capital firm Michigan eLab. "They are wicked smart entrepreneurs doing something really hard that will have a big impact on the world," says Doug Neal, managing director of Michigan eLab. "Those three criteria are really important to us." Akadeum Life Sciences is developing a platform that helps researchers prepare samples faster and more efficiently. It uses buoyant beads to improve cell isolation, allowing the targeting of cells in complex solutions using surface antigens. The technology was spun out of the University of Michigan and the two-person startup leveraged a number of local entrepreneurial resources along the way, including U-M's I-Corps program and Invest Detroit. It is currently sharing space at Menlo Innovations office in downtown Ann Arbor, receiving mentorship from the company’s principals, like Richard Sheridan. "We like their approach to solving problems and making products, which is customer-oriented," says Brandon McNaughton, co-founder & CEO of Akadeum Life Sciences. The 9-month-old startup is rare in that already has customers. Eight researchers working on cancer research are paying for the technology and another half a dozen potential customers are in the pipeline. "We want this in as many hands as we can possible get," says John Younger, co-founder & CSO of Akadeum Life Sciences. Source: Brandon McNaughton, co-founder & CEO of Akadeum Life Sciences; John Younger, co-founder & CSO of Akadeum Life Sciences; Doug Neal, managing director of Michigan eLab Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Michigan eLab investments find different ways to impact Ann Arbor

Michigan eLab is an investment firm launched a little more than two years ago with the idea of  bridging the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Michigan and Silicon Valley. It’s well on its way to do that with its first two investments. The downtown Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm, founded by Silicon Valley investment veterans with Michigan roots, has invested in MobileForce (a Silicon Valley-based mobile app startup) and Akadeum Life Sciences (an Ann Arbor-based life sciences startup). Both investments are bringing jobs to Ann Arbor. The $150,000 investment in Akadeum Life Sciences is helping the University of Michigan spinout develop its tissue testing preparation platform. The startup and its team of three people (it plans to add more later this year) has leveraged a number of local entrepreneurial initiative, such as U-M's I-Corps program and seed capital from Invest Detroit. "Akadeum Life Sciences is a great example of a startup that has came out of the entrepreneurial ecosystem," says Doug Neal, managing director of Michigan eLab. MobileForce developing enterprise cloud and mobile software. It is working with VisionIT to build out it products and is looking to hire up to four people in Ann Arbor now. "The goal is to get to 20 people in Ann Arbor," Neal says. Michigan eLab currently employs five people. It has made two investments so far but plans to ramp up that pace in 2015 with three or four investments before the end of the year. "We are hopeful we will make another one in the next couple months," Neal says. Source: Doug Neal, managing director of Michigan eLab Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

FarmLogs scores $10M in Series B round from big-name investors

Accelerate Michigan farm system slow cooks startups

The annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition may sometimes seem like a line-up of the usual startup suspects, but in actuality it's seeding the ground for more and wider business interests and, more importantly, investment.

Ann Arbor has more VC per capita than Silicon Valley

Guy Turner of Hyde Park Ventures makes a startling discovery: that Ann Arbor is attracting an impressive amount of venture capital for its mid-stage companies. Possibly, the highest per capita in the nation. Excerpt: "Ann Arbor is one of the most concentrated pockets of talent, thought leadership and willingness to take risk in the country. This is what happens when a world renowned university draws talented students and their spouses/partners into its gravity… and then often retains graduates locally who love the smart but quaint college town life. Four of the five most active venture markets outside of the Bay Area are college towns" Read the rest here.