University of Michigan
The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, May 09, 2014
Three years ago Ann Arbor was gung-ho about being the opportunity to become one of Google's fiber-to-premises communities. Now we're not even on the list of 34 potential sites. What happened since and why is ultra high speed internet important for a community like ours?
Concentrate's Natalie Burg digs in.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, March 28, 2014
Can a cutting edge startup be both success-minded and fun? According to Duo Security's Dug Song, the answer is an unequivocal "yes." Achieving astounding growth over four years, this Ann Arbor Internet security firm has not only become the local company to watch, it has developed a family-like workplace that's creative, supportive and innovative.
read on…
Friday, February 28, 2014
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Dennis Archambault / Concentrate
Friday, February 07, 2014
Are you ready for your car to go driverless? While it's arguable as to whether Michigan will remain the international manufacturing center for auto bodies and interiors, the Ann Arbor area is likely to become the industry's brain center as research ramps up on wirelessly connected, self-driving car systems.
read on…
Friday, February 07, 2014
Friday, February 07, 2014
Patrick Dunn / Concentrate
Friday, January 17, 2014
Concentrate continues its interview with out-going Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje. Last time we chatted with the mayor about his time in office and the upcoming final year. In this installment we get his long-term outlook on the city and its challenges.
read on…
Friday, December 13, 2013
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Friday, November 15, 2013
Model D staff
Friday, November 15, 2013
We're excited to partner again with the Revitalization and Business Conference on Dec. 6. Presented by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, "IdeaLab" is a fast-paced, two-hour session with a stellar line-up of Detroit innovators.
read on…
Friday, November 15, 2013
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Friday, November 01, 2013
Dennis Archambault / Concentrate
Friday, October 11, 2013
Cultivating the entrepreneurial ecosystem requires talent, density, and quality of life. Or so says Thomas Zurbuchen. The founding director of the U-M Center for Entrepreneurship believes that Ann Arbor needs more size, collision and shots on goal if it truly wants to be a community that builds and sustains robust local entrepreneurship.
read on…
Kim North Shine / Metromode
Friday, October 11, 2013
If chess club, violin lessons and Little League haven't already taken over your kid's after-school schedule, the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce has the next must-attend extracurricular activity: the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. It's a weekly program that teaches teens and tweens how to launch their own start-up.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, June 28, 2013
Serial entrepreneur and U-M lecturer Jim Price is not your everyday homegrown entrepreneur. He's a transplant who came to Ann Arbor in 1988 for a business opportunity and stayed, facilitating the success of several local companies. In a candid Q&A, Price weighs in on the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
read on…
Friday, February 01, 2013
Matthew Lewis / Model D
Friday, February 01, 2013
Detroit social innovators and entrepreneurs were day tripping in Ann Arbor last Friday, preaching what they practice to students at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Matthew Lewis reports from the first row.
read on…
Friday, February 01, 2013
Friday, February 01, 2013
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Dennis Archambault / Concentrate
Friday, December 21, 2012
It's no surprise that folks in the Ann Arbor area are an inventive bunch. Having one of the top universities in the country in your backyard helps. So, what's in the works? How about a telescope that listens to outer space? Or cars that learn how to avoid crashes? Or, best of all, head phones that won't tangle in your pocket?
read on…
Friday, December 21, 2012
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Kim North Shine / Concentrate
Friday, October 12, 2012
Half a dozen Saturdays a year Ann Arbor's population practically doubles, as U-M football brings in Big Ten gridiron fans. Some see the game day influx as an inconvenience. Others see it as an economic opportunity.
read on…
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Denise McGeen / Concentrate
Friday, August 24, 2012
When Ann Arbor's most prolific Modern architect, Robert C. Metcalf, completed his first commission, it was on the forefront of energy efficient design. Now, sixty years later, our standards have evolved and the house is being lovingly revived in a way that improves the efficiency without compromising the design.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, August 10, 2012
What happens when you give 24 college students a few million dollars to invest in start-ups? They double their investment value within a few years. The Wolverine Fund is one of three venture capital programs created by the University of Michigan to give students an insider's view of investment and entrepreneurship.
read on…
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, July 13, 2012
The University of Michigan's TechArb and Center for Entrepreneurship are fostering a new class of student entrepreneurs, from a food truck operation to a note-taking app developer to a maker of unmanned aerial vehicles. As such, these young founders are deciding between business, books -- or both.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, May 04, 2012
In the conversation about mass transit and whether or not we develop a county-wide service one type of rider often gets overlooked - kids. What do limited transportation options mean for students without easy access to after-school activities and programs? What about the car-less volunteers who can't reach those who need help the most?
read on…
Jon Zemke / Metromode
Friday, March 09, 2012
Sean Simpson isn't just the co-founder of a lean, mean start-up, he lives his life like his start-up. As one of the brains behind Autobike, a company working to make a smarter, more intuitive gear shifter, Simpson chucked the 9-5 grind of corporate engineering to enter the burn-the-candle-from-both-ends world of entrepreneurship. He couldn't be happier.
read on…
Friday, February 24, 2012
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Walter Wasacz / Model D
Friday, January 27, 2012
The two-hour program was filled with lively, quotable conversation by a diverse group of presenters willing to step outside the box to talk about entrepreneurship in Detroit. It was a "wow" kind of afternoon at U-M's Ross School of Business. Walter Wasacz reports from the student section.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, January 27, 2012
When it comes to building a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, Kurt Riegger, COO of OcuSciences, argues that there's no lack of ideas or innovations in Ann Arbor. Talent with enough experience to execute on those ideas may be another question. Riegger has launched, funded, and advised 26 companies, and chats with
Concentrate about what our community needs to succeed.
read on…
Tom Hendrickson / Model D
Friday, January 27, 2012
Our cameras were rolling as the ideas continued flowing at last Friday's Idealab in Ann Arbor. Tom Hendrickson captured the presenters on stage and tracked them down backstage for this episode of Model D TV.
read on…
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, January 13, 2012
The student-run MPowered is U-M's startup for startups. Living up to its name, it has not only prodded the university into offering more classes in entrepreneurship, it has also attracted a community of business-minded students through its 1000 Pitches Summit and annual Career Fair. This year they debut "Startup Weekend," a 54-hour event which seeks to create a web or mobile applications business in a weekend.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, January 13, 2012
Ann Arbor-based ForeSee Results has seen growth every quarter of its existence. That's a pretty impressive track record for this U-M spin out. CEO and co-founder Larry Freed talks about his home grown approach to hiring, our area's startup climate, and what we need to keep and attract more young talent.
read on…
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, November 11, 2011
The mantra for many an entrepreneur is: Where there's a need, there's a dollar to be made. So, what do you get when twenty five thousand cars are looking for a parking space at the same time? A business opportunity.
Concentrate's Jon Zemke chats with Taylor Bond, co-founder of the game day parking finder ParknParty.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, October 14, 2011
Vaughan Taylor wants to establish Motown 2.0, an interface of music and social media that changes the business landscape for musicians. And he wants to do it in Ann Arbor. Jon Zemke talks promotion, hip-hop, and Michigan's start-up culture with the rapper/entrepreneur.
read on…
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, August 26, 2011
By some accounts Brian Cook is running the largest independent team-specific sports blog in the U.S. MGoBlog pulls in 200K readers per month, a passionate community of fans, and the kind of demographics that make advertiser's mouths water. So, how does the site's iconoclastic voice and style fit in today's media landscape, and what are its implications for the future?
read on…
Model D staff
Friday, August 26, 2011
Earlier this year Model D and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business presented IdeaLab, part of a two-day conference called "Revitalization & Business: Focus Detroit." Beginning today and continuing over the next few months, we bring you video evidence of what came out of this exciting collaboration.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, July 29, 2011
The founders of Ann Arbor logistics firm LLamasoft don't mince words when it comes to attracting professional talent, developing their business, or expressing their disdain for VC culture. Hire smart, be fiercely competitive, create a good product, don't be a jerk (only they didn't say jerk).
Concentrate's Jon Zemke puts the partners through the paces and even gets them to talk football.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, June 24, 2011
Every day more and more data is being stored in the cloud. But what does that mean for our local economy? Yan Ness, CEO of Online Tech, answers questions about what's next for his industry, what would bring more start-ups to Ann Arbor, and why he opposes policies that rely on economic incentives. Oh, and his advice for naming your next company? Stick to two syllables.
read on…
Kim North Shine / Metromode
Friday, June 24, 2011
Business incubators and accelerators are all the rage. Communities see them as a vital new tool in economic development. Southfield, in its attempt to capitalize on the region's growing reputation for medical excellence, is hoping to launch its first health care incubator.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, May 13, 2011
Paul Davis, Bobby Levine, Hunt Briggs, and Nolan Orfield are your everyday overachieving U-M grad students. And then some. They've founded ReGenerate, a company that is developing technology to convert food waste into energy. Sound pie-in-the-sky? Not to the half dozen business competitions they've won.
read on…
Dennis Archambault / Concentrate
Friday, May 06, 2011
"Game changing technologies". "Thinking outside the box". "Bucking the status quo". Business is big on innovative jargon, but what does it really take to remake the economic landscape? Whether it was the automobile a hundred years ago or last year's iPad, disruptive thinking is more than just risk-taking entrepreneurship, it's the business of course-altering creation. And the financial impacts are staggering.
read on…
Jeff Meyers / Concentrate
Friday, April 29, 2011
The computer gaming industry rakes in nearly $9 billion each year. Michigan has only a very small sliver of that pie, and part of that sliver is Quantum Signal in Saline.
Concentrate chats with Matt Toschlog, who heads up the company's simulation and gaming division. He weighs in on the state of the industry in Michigan, our film and video game incentive program, and the strategic advantage of having dreadlocks.
read on…
Constance Crump / Concentrate
Friday, April 22, 2011
With the successful exits of Esperion and Accuri, CEO's Roger Newton and Jen Baird could have taken the money and run. Instead, they're establishing new local ventures, reinvesting in Michigan's future, and helping to grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem.
read on…
Tanya Muzumdar / Concentrate
Friday, March 25, 2011
"Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get."-
Mark TwainAnn Arbor is home to the first (and second biggest) weather website in the country – Weather Underground. The brainchild of weather guru Jeff Masters, it's the culmination of a life-long love affair with that most temperamental of subjects.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, March 18, 2011
As Ann Arbor evolves its stable of start-ups, acquisition will be the inevitable fate for more than a few. Last month Accuri Cytometers joined the list of successful exits. But how did it happen and what does it mean for the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Concentrate's Jon Zemke surveys the landscape.
read on…
Jeff Meyers / Concentrate
Friday, March 18, 2011
Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb is an unabashed entrepreneur, a true believer that business is the ultimate engine for change. He also believes that corporations must have a deeper purpose than just profit.
Concentrate chats with Robb about the way those seemingly disconnected impulses come together and why the next generation of business leaders should embrace them.
read on…
Jon Zemke
Friday, March 11, 2011
From an engineering job with Ford to a serial entrepreneur in the process of launching his fourth company, Bhushan Kulkarni epitomizes the immigrant success story. A passionate booster for his community, family, and the state's economic future, Kulkarni chats with
Concentrate about the challenges of start-up culture and the need for more mentorship.
read on…
Friday, February 25, 2011
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, February 25, 2011
The small scale of Michigan's venture capital community means many ground-floor opportunities for investment. Bay Area boomerangs Michael Godwin and Jason Townsend of Resonant Venture Partners wax on the need for a new generation of VC investors and peek into the realm of "dirty tech".
read on…
Friday, February 25, 2011
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Dennis Archambault / Concentrate
Friday, February 11, 2011
It's not quite artificial intelligence but it sure comes close. Named one of the ten "World Changing Ideas" of 2010 by
Scientific American, swarm intelligence is a biology-inspired computer algorithm that's starting to see commercial application. And most of that development occurred here, in Ann Arbor area research labs.
read on…
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
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Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, February 04, 2011
If gung-ho could be bottled, Matt and Rene Greff would probably put it in a microbrew. Owners of ever-popular Ann Arbor Brewing and Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, the couple are practically poster children for the region's unique personality. Quirky, entrepreneurial, civic-minded, and opinionated,
Concentrate talks business, politics, downtown development and, oh yeah, beer with this dynamic duo.
read on…
Friday, February 04, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
Claire Nelson / Model D
Friday, January 28, 2011
Conference in Ann Arbor had a little bit of everything: Detroit entrepreneurial star power, great ideas and, best of all, a call to action. Model D most valuable player Claire Nelson delivers the news from the academy to the streets.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, January 21, 2011
Ben Kazez defines the new economy lifestyle. He's the founder of a successful mobile app start-up, lives near Kerrytown, and walks to his downtown office. With promises that success won't lure him away (Mobiata was acquired by Expedia last fall),
Concentrate chatted with Kazez about good food, apps, and launching a start-up.
read on…
Concentrate Staff
Friday, January 21, 2011
It used to be, if you wanted to be in the music industry you had to head to the coasts. Sam Valenti IV didn't like those rules so he followed in Berry Gordy's footsteps and made a few rules of his own. Today he runs Ghostly International, Ann Arbor's highly successful and hipper than hip music label. Sam kicks off
Concentrate's 2011 Speaker Series with a talk about the evolution of his company here in Ann Arbor. The event is
Thursday, January 27th. Sign up today!
read on…
Model D
Friday, January 14, 2011
Our monthly speaker series kicks off 2011 in impressive fashion with this collaborative effort with U-M's Ross School of Business. It's a one-day conference on the elusive what's next with star power from all over the region. Read all about it and register now.
read on…
Friday, December 17, 2010
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Jeff Meyers / Metromode
Friday, December 17, 2010
In the shadow of this past weekend's Big Chill hockey extravaganza, The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition --an
American Idol-style contest for start-ups-- was held in Ann Arbor. More important than the $1 million in cash and support handed out was the collaboration exhibited by regional business leaders. Is there a new age of cooperation dawning in SE Michigan?
read on…
Friday, December 17, 2010
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Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, December 10, 2010
While the U.S. is just starting to accept that wind power can help us move toward a more sustainable future, Ann Arbor-based Accio Energy is already reinventing the technology that harnesses it. Concentrate chats with Jen Baird, the company's CEO, about Wind Power 2.0, entrepreneurship, and what's next for Michigan's new economy.
read on…
Friday, December 10, 2010
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Dennis Archambault / Concentrate
Friday, December 03, 2010
Not only does stem cell research offer a lifeline to patients with life-threatening diseases, it may also provide an economic lifeline to Southeast Michigan by growing our life sciences industry.
read on…
Friday, December 03, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, November 19, 2010
With over 100 start-ups, Bill Wagner and Dianne Marsh of SRT Solutions see Ann Arbor as a worthy contender to Silicon Valley for talent and jobs.
Concentrate gets the duo's view of employee-friendly work spaces, active learning, and the TED talks.
read on…
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education
recently came out with its annual list of "Top Producers of U.S.
Fulbright Students," and the University of Michigan tops the bunch. The
university had the most applicants (144) and the most award winners
(40), easily outpacing the runner-up (Yale) by nine winners. Check out
the complete list here.read on…
Friday, November 12, 2010
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Friday, November 05, 2010
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Friday, October 29, 2010
Lots of cities and communities like to talk about how they're "open for
business" and ready to help companies wherever they can. Ann Arbor and
Chelsea now have the credibility to back up those claims. The two burgs
were listed as 5-Star Cities (top rankings) by the University of
Michigan-Dearborn iLabs program for their efforts with listening to
local businesses and acting upon their needs. See the whole list
here.
read on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
There is nothing small about NanoBio's
plan to expand in Ann Arbor, thanks to an expected investment of $1.4
million and the creation of 32 new jobs over the next five years.NanoBio
spun out of the University of Michigan in 2000 and now focuses on
developing and commercializing vaccines for infectious diseases. The
spin-off accomplishes this with a robust vaccine delivered through a
nasal spray, which NanoBio's leadership expects will be able to move
medicine to a more proactive stance, rather than being merely reactive."We
have quite an expansive platform technology with a lot of things we
want to take advantage of," says Dave Peralta, COO and CFO of NanoBio. "I think
we're right in the middle of it with our vaccine."NanoBio
plans to invest $1.4 million to expand its current facility over the
next five years, thanks to a $434,378 state tax credit from the Michigan Economic Development
Corp. That helped the firm choose Ann Arbor over a competing site in
Washington, D.C. Jobs, most of which will be research-based and
require either an MD or PhD, will be added steadily over the next five
years. The company started with two people and now employs 21 and a
couple of interns. This includes four hires over the last year.Source:
Dave Peralta, COO and CFO of NanoBioWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
Many people are scared of germs and bacteria. Even more fear the super bugs that are resistant if not downright hostile to antibiotics. Ann Arbor-based NanoBio has found a way kill at least some of these bacteria.Scientists at the University of Michigan spin-off have developed a topical nanoemulsion that kills the highly resistant strains of bacteria that cause chronic illness and death to people who suffer from cystic fibrosis. The hope is this new technique will help prevent pulmonary failure in patients and ultimately save lives.NanoBio employs about 20 people and three interns, including seven ex-Pfizer employees. It hopes to hire another dozen people or so in the near future.It has taken in tens of millions of dollars in venture capital to follow-through on the clinical trails for the drugs it is developing. It expects to start licensing these products this year.Source: John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBioWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
Ann Arbor makes yet another list: This
time Tree Town has been ranked as one of the Top 20 Most Innovative
Cities in the U.S. by Business Insider. It joins the ranks of Raleigh,
N.C., and Los Angeles.Excerpt:Are you having a mental block? Maybe it's not you, it's the city you're in.Innovation
analysts at 2thinknow released a list of the most innovative cities in
the world. They evaluated 289 cities based on three factors: cultural
assets, human infrastructure, and networked markets.Cities were
ranked on a one to ten scale in each category for a total possible index
score of 30. Once index numbers were determined, cities were given the
label of "node," "nexus," or "hub."Christopher Hire, executive director of 2thinknow, explains the process:"Cities
that have a high index score are nexus cities, followed by hub then
node cities. A node city is a globally "competitive" score, so all
cities should aim to be node cities. Node means they are hooked into
global networks and connected to the backbone of the global innovation
economy.Read the rest of the story here.read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, October 22, 2010
Lisa Kurek has the kind of can-do, grab life by the horns attitude that inspires (and fascinates) the people around her. She channels that same energy and outlook toward local entrepreneurs as the director of Biotechnology Business Consultants, helping them to achieve their full start-up potential.
Concentrate gets her views on entrepreneurship, scoring seed capital, and government grants.
read on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
It's a growth pattern rather than a
holding pattern for NanoBio, as evident by its handful of new hires and a
$1.5 million federal grant.The biopharmaceutical company has
made five hires in the last year, expanding its staff to 25 employees
and three interns. It expects to add five more staffers in the next 12
months. They will be kept busy with the 10-year-old company's new $1.5
million grant from the U.S. Dept of Defense.NanoBio will partner
with the University of Michigan Medical School to study the use of
nanoemulsion-based therapies in the form of topical treatments for
protection against burn and wound infections suffered by soldiers in
battle. NanoBio expects this grant will help lay the foundation for a
clinical trial and commercialization in about three years."This is another step in the process of developing this product," says John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBio. He adds that his company expects this product to attract the attention of a number of larger pharma-based firms.NanoBio
spun out of the University of Michigan and focuses on developing and
commercializing vaccines for infectious diseases. The spin-off
accomplishes this with a robust vaccine delivered through a nasal spray,
which company leadership expects will be able to move medicine to a
more proactive stance, rather than being merely reactive. The firm received a six-figure state tax credit
this summer for its planned $1.4 million investment in Ann Arbor and
the expectation of creating 32 new jobs over the next five years.Source: John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBioWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.read on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
NanoBio is attracting some big investment these days. The Ann Arbor-based firm just secured $12 million in new financing to help develop the company, bringing the total amount invested to $80 million.The 3-year-old firm, University of Michigan spin-off, employs about 20 people and a handful of interns. It has hired several ex-Pfizer people after the pharmaceutical giant closed the doors to its Ann Arbor campus in 2007. NanoBio is in the second phase of clinical trails for two of its drugs, which help treat herpes and nail fungus. The biopharmaceutical company expects to begin licensing them to major pharmaceutical companies in 2009. It's also developing products for vaccines that could be up for licensing as soon as late this year or next.Source: John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBioWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
NanoBio has some breathing room
research-wise now that that it has locked down millions of dollars in
new financing. The Ann Arbor-based firm is expected to use its latest
$22 million investment to fund the next two years of its clinical
trails."It will fund several activities," says John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBio.That
funding includes different phases of clinical trails of new drugs for
acne, herpes and influenza. Right now the company's staff of 20 people
(at the same level as when we checked in last fall) will handle that research. Coffey sees the company adding another 4-5 people within the next year or two.NanoBio,
a University of Michigan spin-off, has taken in $60 million in private
equity since 2006, including $30 million late last year. Source: John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBioWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 22, 2010
What does $30 million buy a start-up these days? If it's NanoBio it's a dozen new employees (including seven Pfizer refugees) and a couple of products very close to commercialization.The Ann Arbor-based firm received $30 million in private equity from Perseus
in 2006. That allowed the spin-off from the University of Michigan's
Center for Biological Nanotechnology to expand its staff to 20
employees and three interns. "We pretty much doubled in size right away," says John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBio.It's
also playing a major role in financing the second phase of clinical
trails for two of its drugs. Those drugs help treat herpes and nail
fungus. NanoBio expects to begin licensing them to major pharmaceutical
companies in 2009. It's also developing products for vaccines.
Those are also going through clinical trails and could be up for
licensing as soon as late next year or 2010. "There is some significant interest in the vaccines," Coffey says.That
type of success would allow NanoBio to do more hiring, but Coffey was a
little coy about how much. He said it would happen, but probably not at
the same speed as when the Perseus made it investment two years ago.Source: John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBioWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 15, 2010
Not all tech transfer comes from
Michigan's research universities. For example, take C Squared
Innovations, a startup founded from innovations created at University of
Michigan-Dearborn.Pravansu Mohanty, a mechanical engineering
professor at U-M Dearborn, developed a way to cut down the manufacturing
costs of lithium ion batteries. "We have an innovative process that
bypasses the manufacturing process the industry is developing right
now," Mohanty says.The technology, recently on display at U-M's Celebrate Innovation event,
is currently undergoing prototype development by the company's
three-person team, which includes an intern. Mohanty is looking for a
commercial partner to help develop its niche manufacturing. He expects
to land that partner within the next year, which should allow him to
hire a few engineers with advanced degrees. Think PhDs."We plan to expand to 10 people," Mohanty says.Source: Pravansu Mohanty, founder of C Squared InnovationsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.read on…
University Research Corridor / Metromode
Friday, October 15, 2010
Issue Media Group announces
Research Corridor - a monthly roundup
of the latest R&D, entrepreneurship, and collaborations stemming
from Michigan's research university leaders: Michigan State University,
the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.
read on…
Friday, October 15, 2010
Members of the University of Michigan are
known as the leaders and the best, and now also as the hacker kings of
the free world after taking down Washington, D.C.'s new online voting
system. Everyone who voted with that system knew who did it.Excerpt:Last
week, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics opened a new
Internet-based voting system for a weeklong test period, inviting
computer experts from all corners to prod its vulnerabilities in the
spirit of "give it your best shot." Well, the hackers gave it their best
shot -- and midday Friday, the trial period was suspended, with the
board citing "usability issues brought to our attention."
Here's one of those issues: After casting a vote, according to test
observers, the Web site played "Hail to The Victors" -- the University
of Michigan fight song.Read the rest of the story here.read on…
Friday, October 15, 2010
A quartet of
University of Michigan graduate students are looking to make their
fortune by licensing one of their inventions, specifically, a surgical
tool called Endocutter. The
engineering students (Taarif Jafferi, Rahula Rattan, Zach Weingarden,
and Raghunath Katragadda) came up with a device that helps break down
and suck up abdominal blood during surgery, allowing doctors to see
what's happening."You can see what you're sucking," says Rattan,
a PhD candidate at U-M. "Because the things we are sucking are too big,
this will cut them up (with a small tool at the tip of suction tube),
too."The students created the device during a year-long graduate
bio-medical design class and are now trying to patent it. They have
received $10,000 in seed funding from the U-M Medical Innovation Center and hope to find a business to partner with and license the technology out by the end of the year.Source: Rahula Rattan, co-inventor of EncocutterWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.read on…
Friday, October 08, 2010
Got an idea? The Next Big Idea? Want to
see those ideas that can play out into true business startups? Then pay
attention to the University of Michigan's 1,000 Pitches contest, where
hundreds of university students offer up business concepts in hopes of
winning prizes worth $1,000 and maybe even more.Excerpt:A
culture of entrepreneurial innovation might not be something one would
expect to find in a rust belt state like Michigan, but one student group
at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is trying to change that.MPowered
Entrepreneurship aims to cultivate and support student entrepreneurs in
hopes that they turn their ideas into successful startups, and ideally
keep those businesses—and the talent that comes with them—in the state.
The group is gearing up this week for its hallmark program, 1,000
Pitches, which asks students to pitch ideas for startup companies via
video, and awards $1,000 to the winning ideas.Two University of
Michigan students founded the group in 2007 after a trip to Silicon
Valley where they saw people "spinning off ideas and businesses left and
right," according to Ankit Mehta, a junior majoring in communications,
and the president of MPowered. They came back to Michigan with the goal
of creating a similar startup community in the state.Read the
rest of the story here.read on…
Friday, October 08, 2010
Business Insider calls this list of business schools "The 20 Most
Popular MBA Programs -- That Most People Have No Chance Of Getting
Into" because they are that good. Considering the University of
Michigan's Ross School of Business is on that list, it sure sounds
believable.
Excerpt:YOU
might not think an MBA is worth it, but judging by the number of
applications received this year, a lot of other people believe
otherwise. With the recession in full swing, MBA programs have never
been more popular.The nation's 476 MBA programs reportedly
received 200,000 completed applications as of late June. The weakest
schools received fewer than ten applications, but the strongest received
upwards of 10,000.Read the rest of the story
here.
Business Insider also ranked the U-M Ross School of Business as
the
No.
3 business school for entrepreneurship.
read on…
Friday, October 08, 2010
Fusion Coolant Systems is getting ready to
commercialize its technology, a move that should create a handful of
jobs in Ann Arbor.The University
of Michigan spinout has created an environmentally friendly fluid
that eliminates toxic cutting fluids in metal processing for industrial
sectors such as aerospace. The new technology also improves cutting
tools performance while reducing the wear.The Ann Arbor-based
company spent its first year developing this technology and expects to
commercialize it within the next year. That means qualifying for Phase
II Small Business
Innovation Research grants and landing a few customers in the
manufacturing arena."We expect to have a commercial relationship
with a couple of aerospace manufacturing companies by next year," says
James Giovanni, director of sales & marketing for Fusion Coolant
Systems.The startup began with two employees and has expanded to
a staff of six. It expects to bring on another 1-5 people over the next
year.Source: James Giovanni, director of sales &
marketing for Fusion Coolant SystemsWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 01, 2010
The Social Venture Fund, the newest seed
funding source from the University of Michigan, is looking for a double
bottom line.That's the buzz term that means an investment
provided both a financial and societal return. The Social Venture Fund
plans to invest in for-profit start-ups that make a positive impact on
society. The idea is to reflect the broader sentiment of a student body
receiving a liberal education.The new $200,000 fund will be run
by students at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "We are very
committed to action-based learning for our students," says Gautam Kaul, a
finance professor at U-M and managing director of the Social
Venture Fund.A student-led committee will run the fund,
doing everything from finding potential investees to determining which
ones are ultimately worthy of funding. The fund expects to make it first
investment before the end of the academic year.Source:
Gautam Kaul, managing director of the Social Venture FundWriter:
Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 01, 2010
Adaptive Materials has scored another
round of seed funding, this time taking down $750,000 in cash from the
federal government.The Ann Arbor-based firm is sharing the Small
Business Innovation Research grant with fellow Ann Arbor firms, SRT Solutions and The Whole Brain
Group. The three companies will use the funds, and potentially a
follow-up grant, to create software that makes renewable energy
suggestions."It allows our soldiers to pick the right energy
sources when they're in the field," says Michelle Crumm, chief business
officer of Adaptive
Materials. "For instance, when it's a nice sunny day, use a solar
panel."The grant will also allow Adaptive Materials to add to
its staff of 56 employees, three independent contractors, and one
intern. The company has hired six people over the last year and plans to
add at least one more.Source:
Michelle Crumm, chief
business officer of Adaptive MaterialsWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, October 01, 2010
"Venture capital" is becoming Ann Arbor's buzz words these days. Local start-ups are
raising VC funds and new VC firms setting up shop here in Tree Town. Add Huron River Ventures to that list.Two University of Michigan
graduates, Ryan Waddington and Tim Streit, are setting up the downtown
Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm. The two friends have worked in
seed capital jobs across the
country for years, ranging from DTE Energy
Ventures to HSBC New Business Development, giving them backgrounds
in both investment and clean technology."We both decided to come
back to Michigan to pursue venture opportunities," Waddington says. "We
see great opportunities in clean tech in an underserved market."Huron River Ventures
is in the process of establishing
itself and lining up financial
support from the state of Michigan. Waddington declines to elaborate
further because of SEC regulations."We're in the process of
putting together a marking-and-communications plan that will allow us to
be a little more open," Waddington says.Source: Ryan
Waddington, co-founder of Huron River VenturesWriter: Jon
Zemkeread on…
Friday, September 24, 2010
It's easy to say the road to economic
recovery starts with new innovation. University of Michigan tech
transfer guru Ken Nisbet tells us how in a recent Q&A with Xconomy.Excerpt:With
an annual research budget of more than $1 billion, the University of
Michigan is a leading hub of new technological inventions and
entrepreneurship. It's serving as a wellspring of new ideas and startups
that are helping to lead the economic recovery in the Great Lakes
State.Ken Nisbet plays a key role in advancing technologies
developed on campus in Ann Arbor to the marketplace. He's the executive
director of tech transfer at the university, and his office often serves
as a conduit between the academic inventors and the business community
(composed of corporations, venture investors, and entrepreneurs) that
can provide the financing and other resources to commercialize
technologies.Nisbet, 60, joined the tech transfer team at the
university in 1996 after a career in various engineering and marketing
positions at Ford Motor Company, Digital Equipment Corporation, and
Nortel. (He also bleeds maize and blue, having received both his
bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and his MBA from U-M.)Read
the rest of the story here.read on…
Friday, September 24, 2010
The University of Michigan has some big
expectations for the Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition, an
offshoot of the inaugural Accelerate Michigan Innovation
Competition."It's a great opportunity for our students and
the state of Michigan," says Doug Neal, managing director of the Center for
Entrepreneurship in U-M's College of Engineering. "I'd love to see
1,000 students participate in Accelerate Michigan."That would
put it on par with U-M's 1,000 Pitches competition, which attracted 2,065
participants in 2009; more are expected this year. Neal says the two
competitions are quite similar because they both require students to
primarily pitch business ideas.The Accelerate Michigan Student
Idea Competition offers three prizes totaling $50,000. Any college
student attending school in the state is eligible. Participants must
submit a one-page business plan, a three-minute video pitch, and
formulate a 15-minute live pitch. The deadline for applications
is October 22. For information, click here.The Accelerate
Michigan Innovation Competition is offering $1 million in prizes to
start-ups in Michigan or planning to move to Michigan. The idea is to
showcase the state's entrepreneurial ecosystem to a large audience of
investors in town for the Big Chill hockey game at Michigan Stadium on
Dec. 11. Source: Doug Neal, managing director of the Center
for Entrepreneurship at the University of MichiganWriter: Jon
Zemkeread on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, September 24, 2010
No suit, a skateboard, and an endless thirst for start-ups, Dug Song is one of Michigan's more successful entrepreneurs. Whether its starting companies or organizing social groups or running a tech incubator, Song is perpetually in motion.
Concentrate's Jon Zemke caught up with him to discuss both the upsides and downsides of doing business in Ann Arbor.
read on…
Friday, September 17, 2010
The city of Ann Arbor and the U-M need to
clear a little more room on the mantle for another piece of hardware.
You know what, maybe Tree Town should sacrifice one of its trees so it
can start building another mantle.Excerpt:The
College Destinations Index goes beyond standard college and university
rankings, which typically focus on the schools themselves, including
cost, academics and athletic programs. Instead, the CDI analyzes the
areas in which the schools are located, including the overall academic
environment, quality of life, such as cost of living and arts and
leisure activities, and professional opportunities. "Deciding
what school to attend should involve more than what the school itself
has to offer," says Keming Liang, AIER's lead researcher on the project.
"Where to attend college is just as important, because like the
colleges themselves, the towns and cities in which they are located vary
widely in the opportunities they offer students and recent graduates."Read
the rest of the story here.read on…
Friday, September 17, 2010
Where there are challenges there is
opportunity. This is an apt description for the University of Michigan's
approach to the former Pfizer campus on the northeast side of Ann
Arbor. Incubating numerous new life science companies there has the
potential to become a bigger economic engine than Pfizer ever was. Excerpt:More
than three years after Pfizer announced the closing of its massive
pharmaceutical research campus in Ann Arbor, the 174-acre property is
springing back to life, with grand ambitions for boosting southeast
Michigan's economy.The University of Michigan is in the midst of
transforming the land and its 28 buildings into a next-generation
research hub where scientists, engineers and others will work closely
with local businesses.Start-ups spun off from this kind of
collaborative research will be located at a new business accelerator
that is to help them grow.And in a first for the university,
established, for-profit companies will be allowed to move into the
facilities."The North Campus Research Complex represents an
opportunity to do something different," said David Canter, the campus'
executive director. "Just filling up space is not the mission."Read
the rest of the story here.read on…
Friday, September 17, 2010
The federal stimulus package has turned
out to be a good thing for the University of Michigan - $277 million
dollars' worth of good.The university has received about $140
million in each of the last two years in research grants from the feds.
This represents a 12-14 percent bump in research expenditures at U-M."We're
hoping these (federal stimulus-funded) projects will make us more
competitive for the existing research grants," says Lee Katterman,
project manager in the Office of the Vice President for
Research at the University of Michigan.The university still
hopes to maintain this new level of federal research funding, however,
that's still a big hole to fill. Katterman says it's not easy to predict
if there will be a drop-off. "That's the million-dollar question, you
might say," Katterman says.The funding has created at least 550
jobs at the university, ranging from researchers to professors. Source:
Lee Katterman, project manager in the Office of the Vice President for
Research at the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Friday, September 10, 2010
The University of Michigan's Frankel
Commercialization Fund is investing in Ambiq Micro, a U-M spin-off that
specializes in making tiny, energy-efficient microprocessors.The
student-led fund did not disclose the amount of the investment, but the
Ann Arbor-based start-up expects to use the money to hire 4-6 people
over the next year. More importantly, it will seek and attract customers
for its technology."It's a very important part of the sales
process," says Scott Hanson, CEO and founder of Ambiq Micro. "It establishes
credibility."The 9-month-old firm is developing energy-efficient
micro-processors that dramatically extend the battery life of wireless
devices. They can be utilized in several different applications, ranging
from smart credit cards to sensors that control temperature to medical
devices. Hanson expects to have the first engineering samples ready by
next year and to launch the product by 2012.Ambiq Micro started
with three founders and now has two employees and 3-4 independent
contractors. It recently made its second hire. The Frankel
Commercialization Fund, based at the U-M Ross School of Business, is the
country's first student-led pre-seed investment fund, not to be confused
with the school's venture capital fund: the Wolverine Venture Fund.Source:
Scott Hanson, CEO and founder of Ambiq MicroWriter: Jon
Zemkeread on…
Friday, September 10, 2010
Attracting and retaining young
professionals is one thing. Making it a great place for them to make
future young professionals is another. Luckily, Ann Arbor is doing well
at both.Excerpt:The Ann Arbor Public School
District is consistently ranked one of the best in the country, and its
students score far above average on state and national standardized
tests. Add that to the city's low crime rate and high family income, and
you have a stable, progressive place to raise a family, 40 minutes from
Detroit. Plus, it's the home of the top-ranked University of Michigan,
with three museums and great NCAA sports programs.Read the rest
of the story here.read on…
Friday, September 10, 2010
The new economy is rearing its head in
Metro Detroit, and it looks good. But then again, when don't new jobs,
investment, and innovation look good?Excerpt:If
you squint just the right way at new numbers from a quarterly
"innovation index" released by the University of Michigan-Dearborn, you
might just believe that Michigan could be headed toward an actual end to
the recession.The index, which measures things like loans, VC
funding, and new incorporations rose to 89 (out of 100) in the first
quarter of 2010, up from 83.3 in the fourth quarter of 2009. This is the
highest rise in the index since 2008.The jump is attributed to
an increase in trademark applications and incorporation filings, but new
university spinoffs and economic development efforts are also
contributing to the improving figures.Read the rest of the story
here.read on…
Thursday, September 09, 2010
We should be doing more, in fact anything possible, to help foster entrepreneurship with our students. That's the message from Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan, who is in favor of molding the most malleable section of the population into the job creators of tomorrow.Excerpt:Entrepreneurs on today's college campuses are no longer only huddled together at the business school. They are emerging from the hallways in our music schools and our engineering programs. They are coming forward with fresh ideas in architecture and medicine.The educational programs designed to draw out these innovative thinkers must be welcoming to all students willing to take a risk on what some might call their "crazy ideas."The late President Ronald Reagan got it right in 1988 when he told students at Moscow State University, "These entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all of the economic growth in the United States."If he were making that same point today, Reagan might have to address the students more directly. Instead of discussing "these" entrepreneurs he would need to say "you" entrepreneurs.Entrepreneurism is breaking out all over our college campuses. At the University of Michigan we've learned that many of our students are creating opportunities for themselves even before they get to campus. One survey found that as many as 15% of our incoming freshmen had already started businesses.Read the rest of the story here.read on…
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Just when you thought University of
Michigan students couldn't get any quirkier, meet the members of the
Michigan Squirrel Club, a new student-run organization focusing on the
rodents that rule the Diag. This kind of extracurricular may lead to
higher GPAs, so the theory goes.Excerpt:What they do:
The main purpose is to "spread a bit of squirrely cheer to everyone,"
says club president Peter Feng. To put it simply, members spend their
Sunday afternoons feeding peanuts to the hundreds of fat squirrels that
roam U of M's campus. "Salted peanuts are unhealthy, so we just give
them roasted or raw," Feng says. "I don't think the squirrels mind what
they get."Read the rest of the story here.read on…
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Ann Arbor-based Hamztec has received a $1
million grant from the National Institute of
Health. The company plans to use
the proceeds for development of a product that will help people stop
compulsively pulling their hair.The
Ann Arbor SPARK client will use the grant to hire six people plus a
handful of independent contractors. David Perlman, co-founder of Hamztec
and its only employee, expects his start-up to commercialize its
product within 2.5 years, a timeframe that could be as short as one year
if the company attracts more investment.Hamztec was co-founded in 2007 by David Perlman
and Joseph
Himle, a professor of
psychiatry and social work at the University of Michigan. The firm's
principal product tracks and helps correct Trichotillomania, a disorder in which people compulsively
pull out their own hair."Ninety
percent of this behavior happens out of consciousness," Perlman says.
"They would study or read a book, get up and there is a pile of hair
there and they don't know how it got there."The product will track hand movement and
set off an alarm when patients pull their hair. A specific code must
then be entered to turn the alarm off. This technology also tracks and
logs the behavior for analysis by mental health professionals.'This is the first method so a therapist
knows behavior outside of the office," Perlman says.Source: David Perlman,
co-founder of HamztecWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
The University of Michigan's Wolverine
Venture Fund is supposed to serve as a real-life proving ground for Ross School of Business
students aiming for a career in venture capital. It's now serving as
the launching pad for a local venture capital start-up - Resonant
Venture Partners.Two U-M MBA students, Michael Godwin and Jason
Townsend, are using their experience with the $5.5 million student-run
fund as a primary leg for their new Ann Arbor-based VC firm to stand on.
The other leg is the two Michigan natives' entrepreneurial experience
in Silicon
Valley before they decided to return home and set up their own
shop."We came back to get our MBAs and enter the venture capital
world," says Jason Townsend, partner of Resonant Venture Partners. "There is
opportunity to enter the venture capital industry here. On the coasts,
the venture funds are being culled."Resonant Venture Partners
recently made its first investment, teaming up with Silicon Valley-based
True Ventures
to invest $1 million in Ann Arbor-based Scio
Security. The VC firm has attracted two top names to its board in EDF
Ventures' Mary Campbell and Tom
Kinnear, managing director of the Wolverine Venture Fund and head of
U-M's Zell Lurie Institute.Godwin
and Townsend have a $10 million fundraising target over the next 18
months. They hope to stay planted in Ann Arbor and have $100 million
under management within the next decade. They see a steady pipeline of
high-quality start-ups coming from the University of Michigan and its
office of Tech
Transfer. "We're hitting the investment trail hard right
now," Townsend says.Source: Jason Townsend, partner, Resonant
Venture PartnersWriter: Jon Zemkeread on…
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Terry Parris Jr. / Concentrate
Saturday, August 28, 2010
It's less about world conquest and more about smart business. Ann Arbor firms are reaching out into the global marketplace and finding great success. Some even call the Mitten home but do little to no business here.
read on…
Constance Crump / Concentrate
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
With nearly 20% of Ann Arbor's population speaking a foreign first language, the city's diversity is clearly rooted in immigration, international students, and global business development. So, how do we engage these strangers in a strange land? Enter SPARK's Cultural Ambassador program, an effort by local business leaders to attract and retain foreign-born talent.
read on…