Technology and Innovation

Life Technologies acquires U-M spin-out Compendia Bioscience

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October 17, 2012

Life Technologies has acquired University of Michigan spin-out Compendia Bioscience. Suzanne Clancy, a spokeswoman for Life Technologies, confirms the Ann Arbor-based start-up will remain in Ann Arbor for the foreseeable future and under its current leadership. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Clancy declined to speak about Compendia Bioscience's current employment levels. Compendia Bioscience specializes in cancer bioinformatics, which is used by the pharmaceutical industry to identify novel gene targets for drug discovery and development. The California-based Life Technologies, a public company listed on the NASDAQ, plans to leverage Compendia BioScience's oncology expertise and proprietary assets to enhance its diagnostic development capabilities across multiple platforms, including next-generation sequencing, qPCR and proteome analysis. Compendia Bioscience spun out of the University of Michigan in 2006 and has been led by Daniel Rhodes ever since. It received $1.75 million from the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund in 2008. It had as many as 30 employees as of 2011, according to the company's website. Source: Suzanne Clancy, spokeswoman for Life Technologies Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

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Cayman Chemical hires 30 for Ann Arbor office

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Innovation News

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October 17, 2012

Cayman Chemical's Ann Arbor office is becoming the happy hunting ground for those looking for a job or internship in southeast Michigan. The bio-tech firm that specializes in providing researchers with bio-chemical tools has had a growing office in Ann Arbor since the 1980s. Today that office is the company's largest with 200 employees and a steady influx of interns. The firm has hired 30 people in the last year and expects to hire more, including from its intern program. "We're hiring about 20 people a year right now," says Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical. "We also hire about 20-25 interns each year. We feel it's a very good way to find potential job candidates." This growth has allowed the company to expand its physical office presence, taking on a third and fourth building on the south side of Ann Arbor. It now occupies three buildings on its campus on Ellsworth Street and a fourth off of State Street that used to be a University of Michigan building. The new buildings will both accommodate its current growth and future expansions. "We know we're growing," Booher says. Source: Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Coherix expands staff by 20, looks to hire another 10

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Economic Development

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October 10, 2012

Coherix is growing sales and staff, and is currently eyeing an even bigger payday in the near future. The 8-year-old Ann Arbor-based tech start-up has hired 20 people over the last year and is looking to add another 10 employees in software programing and sales. Its staff currently stands at 43 employees and three interns after the firm doubled its sales over the last year. "We're on a path to double our revenue growth over the next year," says Dwight Carlson, chairman & CEO of Coherix. "We're looking at an initial public offering in 2014." Coherix creates high-speed, high-definition 3D visualization and inspection software designed to improve the management of manufacturing processes. Its high-tech optical-based measurement and inspection products help find efficiencies in the automotive and semiconductor industries. The company originally set up shop in southeast Michigan because of the region's high concentration of manufacturing. Today with the global shift in manufacturing eastward, about 70 percent of Coherix's customers are in Asia, and that's with the boost in manufacturing in Michigan thanks to the rebounding automotive industry. "Coherix China will be the biggest Coherix operation in five years," Carlson says. Source: Dwight Carlson, chairman & CEO of Coherix Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Saagara moves to Kerrytown to accommodate growth

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Healthy Communities

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October 10, 2012

Saagara has moved to a new home in Kerrytown and is preparing to launch a worldwide platform for its meditative technology from the office overlooking Ann Arbor's Broadway Bridge. Saagara, which is Sanskrit for ocean of ideas, provides a holistic approach to better health, centered around a breathing technique called Pranayama. The company's CEO, Dr. Bobby Peddi, started the company shortly after he left his surgical residency about three years ago. Today the company has 2 million users and is looking to launch its worldwide platform when it hits the 3 million user mark later this year. "We want to be the platform for people around the world to use these things," Dr. Peddi says. "We're prepared to launch that very shortly." Saagara's new office is in Kerrytown are 3.5 times larger than its previous office in the Tech Brewery. The new space is in a building its sharing with Duo Security and Resonant Venture Partners. Saagara now employs 10 people after hiring five people (some of them replacement hires) in the last year. Source: Dr. Bobby Peddi, CEO of Saagara Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

MGoBlog hires 4 team members as it expands U-M coverage

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Arts and Culture

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October 10, 2012

MGoBlog was riding high last year, clocking big gains in readership as the University of Michigan went through the turmoil of a coaching change, a surprise run in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and a largely unexpected 10-win season in football. Growth was spiking nicely for the leading U-M athletics fan site until things flattened this year. Brian Cook knows what happened and who caused this dip. He epically double points at U-M Head Football Coach Brady Hoke. "We had a pretty bad summer (readershipwise). I blame Brady Hoke," says Cook, founder of MGoBlog, with his tongue planted in his cheek. "He had the entire (football) recruiting class signed up by March." As a diehard U-M football fan, Cook knows that landing most of a top-tier recruiting class before spring officially arrives is good for the team's long-term prospects and therefore good for MGoBlog and his own sanity on football Saturdays. But recruiting news is what keeps sites like his going in the college sports offseason between the NCAA Basketball Tournament and the first game of football season. Success can be painful sometimes. That dip hasn't been fatal for the growing media empire based in Ann Arbor that is MGoBlog. The 7-year-old website had expanded to a three-person team when we check in with Cook in 2011. Since then it has grown its team to five people, bringing on a photographer and sales manager. It has also had to replace two of its writers after more established competitors with deeper pockets (Rivals and ESPN) cherry picked its two writers. "It was kind of upsetting and validating at the same time," Cook says. MGoBlog has also expanded into the football season preview magazine market with its initial offering of "Hail To The Victors" this fall. The glossy magazine done in MGoBlog's distinctive voice became a reality thanks to a $26,000 Kickstarter campaign that largely came from the site's legions of fanboys. Cook sees working out the kinks in the magazine and solidifying its readership as one of MGoBlog's top goals in the next year. "The most important thing for us to do is to solidify the magazine," Cook says. "I really want year two of the magazine to be solid and turn into a product that can be sold year after year." Source: Brian Cook, founder of MGoBlog Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor gets smartest cars of all

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Economic Development

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October 10, 2012

Are crash-proof cars on our horizon? The Ann Arbor area is ground zero for the testing of autos that communicate with one another in order to avoid colission. No word yet on whether the system will be called Skynet. Excerpt: "If you want to find the smartest drivers in the world, you need to head for the home of the US car industry. Just outside Detroit, lies the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The drivers there are not any more intelligent than other parts of the world, despite it being a famed college town. However, their cars are. That’s because the roads of Ann Arbor are now home to a fleet of several thousand cars that constantly “talk” to one another. The scheme, known as the Safety Pilot Model Deployment project, offers a potential blueprint for the future of road transport. Like many projects it aims to cut congestion and make the road network more efficient. But this vision of the future is missing one thing: crashes." Read the rest here.

OcuSciences grows team as it pushes toward commercialization

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Economic Development

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October 3, 2012

OcuSciences is growing its product portfolio and its staff in Ann Arbor, leveraging its ocular test for diabetes technology. The Ann Arbor-based start-up, a University of Michigan spin-out, is developing an ocular diagnostic technology for metabolomic diseases that allows doctors to diagnose patients with diseases like diabetes by scanning their eyes. The process has the potential to be more accurate and catch a diabetes diagnosis much earlier than traditional methods. The 4-year-old company is already selling the high-end version of its product (retails for $115,000) and is preparing to sell the lower-cost version of it ($30,000-$35,000) before the end of this year. "That will be a high-volume device," says Kurt Riegger, CEO of OcuSciences. The company has hired two people over the last year, expanding its staff to eight people. That could grow again as it continues to spin-out more versions of its principal technology. OcuSciences conducted a clinical trial for a new version of its technology that can work with therapy for Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration, which can cause blindness in older people. The firm is currently conducting two, two-year clinical trials on the technology with an international partner that Riegger declined to name. If the therapy proves effective, Riegger hopes it will prove to be a viagra for the eye by helping it improve delivery of nutrients to the eyes and removal of waste products from it. "We hope we can slow and reverse this disease if we can catch it early enough," Riegger says. Source: Kurt Riegger, CEO of OcuSciences Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor AutoBike seen as a “promising disruptive technology”

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Economic Development

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October 3, 2012

What is the Disruptive Investor? Well, according to their site they are "dedicated to uncovering the most commercially promising disruptive technologies. Our mission is to connect the most disruptive technologies to the investment, licensing and acquisition communities." Get it? Ann Arbor's AutoBike gets singled out for notice. Excerpt: "For most people, the purpose of a bicycle is to take leisurely rides and have fun. Some riders, however, do not shift gears at the right time. They therefore exhaust themselves faster or may have to walk their bicycles up otherwise manageable hills. These situations tarnish the entire cycling experience and make people less likely to ride. The AutoBike solves this problem by automatically shifting gears for the cyclist." Read the rest here.

DeNovo Sciences raises $1.75M, aims for $6M Series A next year

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Economic Development

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September 26, 2012

DeNovo Sciences continues to hit its milestones again and again, raising seven figures worth of seed capital, growing its team, and pushing forward the development of its cancer warning system. The Michigan Life Sciences and Innovation Center-based start-up has raised in excess of $1 million since winning the $500,000 first place prize at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition last year. "I was looking for $1 million," says Kalyan Handique, CEO of DeNovo Sciences. "I was happy to get $1.75 million from a network of angel investors and the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and some grants." DeNovo Sciences is developing a platform for early detection of cancer from blood as an alternative to painful biopsies. It got its start in Ypsilanti and has since moved to the Ann Arbor SPARK managed Michigan Life Sciences and Innovation Center in Plymouth. There it has grown to four full-time employees and eight part-time consultants. It is in the process of hiring a researcher now. The company is also hitting some of its development milestones, successfully using its technology to capture cancer cells in the blood. Handique expects to begin commercializing the product next year and have the full product platform available by 2014. His team is also gearing up to raise $6 million in a Series A round next year and land some corporate partnerships. "We're beginning to speak to corporate partners who would benefit from our technology," Handique says. Source: Kalyan Handique, CEO of DeNovo Sciences Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

KnowledgeWatch continues growth spurt in Ann Arbor

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Economic Development

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September 26, 2012

KnowledgeWatch continues to touch more and more information consumers from its base in downtown Ann Arbor. Last year the 6-year-old company teamed up with MichBio to create MichBio NewsWatch, a news and information gathering channel for Michigan-based biosciences companies. The news channel aggregates concentrations of bioscience news with content that focuses on their market segment. KnowledgeWatch has now struck a similar deal with the Automotive Industry Action Group. That new customer base raises the number of businesses that KnowledgeWatch touches from 500 bio-science firms in Michigan to another 900 automotive suppliers across the country. Those companies include Tier 1, Tier 2 and OEM suppliers. "It provides us with a way to sell a corporate-level product to companies across that sector," says Donald Hogan, CEO of KnowledgeWatch. This spike in growth has also helped the company expand its staff. The firm now employs five people after hiring two new employees over the last year. Those new staffers include an engineering focused on sales and a director of marketing. Source: Donald Hogan, CEO of KnowledgeWatch Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.