Southeast Michigan Startup

Alternative Energy

There is a saying around here that if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change. It's that sort of thing that helps make Michigan, especially Metro Detroit, such as prime spot for the nation's budding alternative energy industry. The weather is dynamic enough to accommodate wind and solar energy. The abundance of water and agriculture make things like hydropower and bio-fuels logical choices. And where better to develop and build the new technologies that will harness these resources than at southeast Michigan's acclaimed research universities and vaunted manufacturing facilities?read on…

Angel Funding

Every time an angel investor invests in a start-up, an entrepreneur earns his wings. The region that invented modern day manufacturing is now putting more and more angel investors on the production line, building tomorrow's job-creating start-ups. Thanks to generous new tax incentives for investments and solid educational infrastructure for entrepreneurs, there are plenty of opportunities for the money men (and women) behind the new Henry Fords to reinvent the world. read on…

Boomers

With age comes wisdom. If that's true then southeast Michigan can teach the world a thing or two about business, innovation and adaptability. Populations in Midwestern states continue to age, and Metro Detroit is no different. That means more Baby Boomers looking to reinvent themselves one last time for one last adventure, adding even more foot soldiers to an army of entrepreneurs creating more opportunities in the Motor City.read on…

Creative Sector

People like to call Detroit a blank canvas ripe for the painting. That helps explain why countless numbers of creatively inclined people are leaving their mark here. Artists, musicians and entrepreneurs of all stripes are coming here for the chance to try something new, the freedom to make it happen and the cost-effectiveness to try, try again.read on…

Diversity

Metro Detroit strives to be a world-class city everyday, and it does it while attracting all kinds of classes, creeds and ethnicities of people from around the world. The Motor City has the largest Arab population in the world outside of the Middle East. We built the world's first Holocaust Museum. The African-American community, one of the largest in the U.S., has produced some of the world's biggest icons over the last century, ranging from Joe Louis to Berry Gordy. We might not always get along, but we know how to get the job done.read on…

Emerging Technology

Think southeast Michigan business don't spend its fair share of time ahead of the curve? You're not concentrating. Remember when the iPhone came out? Ann Arbor- based Mobiata adopted the idea of smartphone application creation so early Steve Jobs personally highlighted its FlightTrack app. Remember when the Internet went mainstream? The guys behind Southfield's Detroit Trading Company were one of the first to sell cars online in the mid 1990s. Remember when that guy, Larry Page, went to the University of Michigan... You get the idea.read on…

Entrepreneurship

One thing about Metro Detroiters: When they see a need for something in their city, they are likely to take action to fill the void. From clothing boutiques to acupuncture clinics, from bike shops to restaurants, from dance studios to book stores, locals are thinking small ... in a big way. read on…

Higher Education

Metro Detroit might be a blue collar place, but the region has been turning blue collars white through local higher education for generations. The silver lining to a term like brain drain is that southeast Michigan has some of the nation's best universities showering college graduates everywhere. They come from big-time research universities like the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, traditional 4-year colleges and a plethora of community colleges that provide dynamic-yet-affordable higher educational options for just about everyone.read on…

Life Sciences

What do higher education, agriculture and Metro Detroit all have in common? Combine those assets in this location and you understand why southeast Michigan is a leader in research, start-ups and innovation in the life sciences sector. Nevermind the region's pioneering in urban farming and abundance of natural resources.read on…

Marketing / Media

Say Detroit and its hard not think about bad press. Today's reality is that the words good press should come to mind. Model D, an innovative online publication focusing on what's next, got its start in Detroit in 2005. Today publications that tell a region's real story, owned by Detroit-based Issue Media Group (which also owns this publication), are all over North America helping reinvent the modern day media narrative. Combine that example with the latest smartphone apps from Mobiata and groundbreaking musicians like Jack White and it's easy to believe southeast Michigan's hype.read on…

Research / Tech Transfer

Michigan's universities aren't just for research, ivory towers and football games anymore. They have become experts in helping create the cutting-edge companies of tomorrow by helping local businesses and entrepreneurs commercialize the technologies discovered from university research. Mention the word commercialization at the University of Michigan or Wayne State University and you'll find yourself heading toward their offices of tech transfer, the local business accelerator and even the local boardroom sooner than you think.read on…

Venture Capital

Follow the money and you'll find that more and more paths are leading to southeast Michigan. No, it's not Silicon Valley or even Sand Hill Road, but the Motor City is asserting itself as a place for investments and the venture capital firms that make them to pay attention to with its growing pool of start-ups and commitment to enriching its entrepreneurial ecosystem.read on…

Woman Owned

Women have long played key roles on Metro Detroit's stage, ranging from big-time politicians like Gov. Granholm (a product of Metro Detroit) to small business owners like Cynthia Pasky, founder of downtown Detroit-based Strategic Staffing Solutions. They don't have Y chromosomes but you don't have to listen for long before you hear one of them roar in southeast Michigan, and know she's the boss.read on…

Sectors