In the world of computer data hosting redundancy is a way of life. Ann Arbor's Online Tech has taken that philosophy to a new level, putting in place two CEOs. But far from duplicating each other's efforts, the dual company leaders have found that they complement and strengthen each other's talents.
Evigia grew its revenue by 80 percent and hired two new people in 2012, setting the stage for more of the same this year. The Ann Arbor-based company develops and creates wireless sensing products. Its EV3 platform delivers smaller-size, higher energy efficiency and lower-cost products which allow significant improvement in the performance and cost of wireless sensing networks. "We are projecting about 80-90 percent growth," says Navid Yazdi, CEO of Evigia. "We expect to hire another 5-6 people." Evigia's sales are being driven by industrial firms and companies looking to better manage workflow and inventory. Yazdi wants his company to become one of the larger players in these markets and more. Evigia is planning to expand its client base to more businesses in the chemical and energy industries. "That will increase our growth," Yazdi says. "We are also in the process of introducing new products in late 2013 and early 2014." Source: Navid Yazdi, CEO of Evigia Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Swift Biosciences has scored a $750,000 Series A investment from the Michigan Accelerator Fund I, money that will help the life sciences start-up accelerate the commercialization of its products. "The extra financing will help us with product development and launch," says David Olson, CEO of Swift Biosciences. The Ann Arbor-based 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. The 3-year-old company launched its first product (a consumable product for genetic analysis that helps detect mutations in things like cancer, with high sensitivity) last year and is set to launch more similar technologies this spring. Swift Biosciences has hired one person (a scientist) in 2012. It now employs 11 people and expects to add more people to its staff, but not in the next few months. "We do expect to expand but it will be later in the year and in 2014," Olson says. Source: David Olson, CEO of Swift Biosciences Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
To keep up with production and R&D demands, American Broach & Machine Co., a maker of broaches (metal cutting tools), broaching machines, and CNC and manual broach tool sharpening machines for the auto, aircraft, train, off-road vehicle, defense, and other industries, recently purchased a new 42,880 sq. ft. building at 535 S. Mansfield St. in Ypsilanti. Adjacent to its 23,200 sq. ft. current location at 575 S. Mansfield St., the acquisition means a near-tripling of the company's current total square footage. American Broach & Machine Co. has been in business since 1919, and once employed Rosie the Riveter (Geraldine Hoff Doyle) as a broaching machine operator in its former Ann Arbor factory. The company will keep its existing building and move about half of its employees and equipment to the new location, beginning in June. The move should be completed by September, says President Ken Nemec. "We're going to be making broach tools in that plant and working on R&D projects for the broach and metal-cutting business. We've got three or four irons in the fire of things we'd like to develop," Nemec says. The purchase price was just under $1 million, and the company will invest another $500,000 in upgrades prior to moving in, according to Nemec. Upgrades include more efficient heating, ventilation and cooling systems systems, and high-efficiency lights using one-third the electricity of the current fixtures. The company has 48 employees and has been consistently hiring, adding a new position every 1-2 months, Nemec says. The average salary is over $50,000 per year. There are 4-5 job openings right now. "We're looking for unskilled trainee workers that have an aptitude for becoming a toolmaker. Over the next five years I anticipate adding probably 30 positions like that, " Nemec says, adding, "Within five years, maximum ten, we'd like to have 100 employees." Source: Ken Nemec, president, American Broach & Machine Co. Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
Pinoccio is looking to raise some seed capital in a new way, crowd funding. The Ann Arbor-based start-up has launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $60,000 to produce its new microcontroller technology and the company is nearly halfway there. "We're in a state now where we feel good about reproducing them," says Sally Carson, co-founder of Pinoccio. "We just need the funding to do that." Pinoccio is developing a wireless, web-ready microcontroller with WiFi, LiPo battery and built-in radio. This technology allows users to send commands to the microcontroller, about the size of your thumb, from their laptop using the Internet. Carson and Eric Jennings began developing this technology about six months ago. They choose to base the company in Ann Arbor because Carson's husband is pursuing a PhD in biology at the University of Michigan. They hope to raise the $60,000 from the Indiegogo campaign by Valentines Day and have raised $25,000 as of Tuesday. "I'd like to see this become a sustainable business," Carson says. "I am excited to see what people build with Pinoccio. It's exciting to build a tool and see what clever and smart people build with it." Source: Sally Carson, co-founder of Pinoccio Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
The move toward digital projection has mostly taken hold in cineplexes around the country, but what about art houses and vintage historic theaters? There, the transition hasn't always beena smooth one. The Michgan Theater's Russ Collins weighs in in a recent article on the topic. Excerpt: "It's a paramount moment for the industry. The National Association of Theater Owners calls the transition to digital the most important change since the invention of talkies. That late-1920s revolution, coupled with the Great Depression, killed theaters for much the same reason that digital threatens -- cost. "Most people are going to figure out a way to do it," said Russ Collins, director of the Michigan-based Art House Convergence, an organization of independent community theaters. "And there are probably going to be some very tragic stories. Change causes those things."" Read the rest here.
Esperion Therapeutics is bringing on some familiar faces to its staff, including a new CEO that has an extensive history with the pharmaceutical firm. Tim Mayleben replaces Esperion Therapeutics' founder, Roger Newton, as president and CEO while Newton becomes the firm's executive chairman and chief scientific officer. Mayleben previously served as president and CEO of Ann Arbor-based Aastrom Biosciences before stepping down last summer. Mayleben also once served as Esperion Therapeutics' COO and CFO a decade ago, helping it raise more than $200 million in seed capital and negotiating its sale to Pfizer in 2004 for $1.3 billion. Newton bought back the company four years ago and relaunched it. "I am a business person by training. Roger is a scientist and a company builder," Mayleben says. "We complement each other really well." Esperion Therapeutic's most advanced product candidate, ETC-1002, is in Phase 2 clinical trials for patients with hypercholesterolemia and other cardiometabolic risk factors. ETC-1002 is a small-molecule metabolic regulator of imbalances in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and inflammation. It is being developed to address the underlying causes of metabolic diseases and reduce multiple risk factors associated with them. In preclinical and clinical studies to date, treatment with ETC-1002 has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated while producing statin-like reductions in LDL-C and inflammatory markers. Esperion Therapeutics plans to wrap up it's Phase 2 clinical trials later this year and begin Phase 2 D clinical trials in 2014. Phase 2 D clinical trials are one of the final steps before FDA approval and often take two years or more to complete. The company has historically called Ann Arbor home before moving to the Michigal Life Sciences Innovation Center, managed by Ann Arbor SPARK, in Plymouth. The company now employs 11 people after hiring three recently. Source: Tim Mayleben, president & CEO of Esperion Therapeutics and Roger Newton, founder of Esperion Therapeutics Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Integrated Sensing Systems, AKA ISSYS, is looking tot expand its product portfolio from micro sensors in the life sciences industry to micro sensors that can be used in the industrial space. Since 1995, the Ypsilanti-based business has designed and developed microelectromechanical systems for medical and scientific sensing applications. Its latest piece of technology is an implant that allows medical professionals to wirelessly monitor the heart. "We hope to begin clinical studies early next year," says Nader Najafi, president & CEO of Integrated Sensing Systems. He adds he hopes to begin sales in Europe in 2014 and in the U.S. the next year. The company is also looking at selling fluid sensors in industrial manufacturing, however, the company is still in the early stages of exploring that new market. "We're trying to bring in strategic partners," Najafi says. Integrated Sensing Systems employs 25 people and has made a handful of hires in 2012. It expects to add a couple more jobs in 2013. Source: Nader Najafi, president & CEO of Integrated Sensing Systems Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Blaze Medical Devices is gearing up to begin selling the first units of its blood transfusion product this year, and full commercialization in 2014. The Ann Arbor-based startup's principal product specializes in quality control and optimization for the blood banking and transfusion industry. The technology analyzes stored blood to allow clinicians to predict the effectiveness of transfusions by assessing the levels and rates of quality loss during storage for individual units. The 6-year-old start-up expects to finish initial development of the product early this year and begin sales of it to researchers by this summer. It expects to receive FDA approval sometime next year and begin commercial sales soon after. "The product is in the final phases of its design," says David Weaver, CEO of Blaze Medical Devices. Blaze Medical Devices, which employs three people and the occasional intern, is also in the later stages of fundraising for its angel-seed round. The company landed a $250,000 investment from the Great Lakes Angels Group and expects to close on $1.5 million worth of seed capital by this summer. "We're about halfway (to our goal) now," Weaver says. Source: David Weaver, CEO of Blaze Medical Devices Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Lyndsay Dusek was laid off in 2006. The Ann Arbor resident had a background in web development, graphic design, the fine arts and languages so she decided that adding all that up equaled the right mix for starting a business. Six years later, Meadow Fete Media is looking to hire its first employee. The downtown Ann Arbor-based Internet business specializes graphic design and web development. It has done a number of projects with local small businesses, including Vinology, The Produce Station and a community-garden initiative for Project Grow. "2012 was a huge growth year," Dusek says. "I am hoping to make this year an even bigger one." To help make that possible, Dusek is looking to hire a person who specializes in front-end web development and graphic design. "I am essentially looking for a second me," Dusek says. To make that happen, Dusek plans to increase work from a growing list of locally based clients headed by people she can relate to and identify with. "That's the major factor in the growth of the company," Dusek says. Source: Lyndsay Dusek, CEO of Meadow Fete Media Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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