Ann Arbor SPARK
Ann Arbor SPARK will be the driving force in establishing the Ann Arbor Region as a desired place for business expansion and location by identifying and meeting the needs of business at every stage, from those that are established to those working to successfully commercialize innovations.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Talk about patience. Visual Compass started as 17-year long side project, emerged from Ann Arbor SPARK's East Incubator, and has now taken up residence in Ypsilanti's Depot Town.
read on…
Friday, January 15, 2016
Simple Continuity, which calls
Ann Arbor SPARK’s incubator home, is developing a software-as-a-service platform that helps businesses perform a better risk analysis. Its being branded as RADAR and is focused on providing more cost-effective and time-efficient compliance with federal regulations.
read on…
Friday, September 25, 2015
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, June 26, 2015
It has been forecasted that demand for downtown office space in Ann Arbor will reach an additional 90,000 - 100,000 sq. ft. Where do those companies go if our city can't or won't supply it? What are the economic implications? And how does transportation fit into the equation?
Concentrate digs in.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, March 13, 2015
To establish a true startup culture, Ann Arbor needs more than just a SPARK. It needs incubator, research and co-working spaces that can accommodate a growing and wide variety of needs and disciplines. Mark Smith hopes to address that with his ambitious plan to build an entrepreneurial campus on the outskirts of the city.
read on…
Friday, December 05, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Friday, December 20, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
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Friday, December 06, 2013
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Friday, November 15, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Patrick Dunn / Concentrate
Friday, March 01, 2013
Ann Arbor's entrepreneurial ecosystem is experiencing a "brain gain," as startups relocate here.
Concentrate's Patrick Dunn chats with a trio of companies about why they decided to make the move.
read on…
Friday, February 01, 2013
Friday, February 01, 2013
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Friday, February 01, 2013
Friday, December 21, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, June 08, 2012
Executives need jobs too. In today's fractured economy it may be hard to muster sympathy for displaced bosses but the truth is building a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem requires plenty of top talent management. So, how do you retain and recruit the execs you need?
read on…
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, June 08, 2012
It's who you know. Or rather, who knows you. Ann Arbor companies have a wide variety of tools for finding the talent they need. And while social media and professional networks play a part in filling their professional ranks, for senior level positions it's a word-of-mouth world.
read on…
Natalie Burg / Concentrate
Friday, February 24, 2012
When Pfizer left Ann Arbor it was hard not to view the glass as half empty. Five years and 16 start-ups later, that perspective has started to reverse. And in many ways, the transition from one large company to many more entrepreneurial efforts is exactly what our community and state needs to establish a healthier long term economy.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, February 10, 2012
It's been said that the candle that burns at both ends shines twice as brightly. There's little doubt that entrepreneur Vince Chmielewski embodies the spirit of that saying. Working a full time job at U-M and running a successful web design firm on the side (not to mention growing family duties), you can't help but wonder when he sleeps.
read on…
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Friday, December 02, 2011
One excels at style. The other, substance. But when it comes to nurturing an entrepreneurial ecosystem, both matter. Jon Zemke attends Silicon Valley's quarterly Founder Showcase and our own annual business plan competition, Accelerate Michigan, and finds a clash of both cultures and community.
read on…
Friday, November 11, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
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Friday, September 30, 2011
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Friday, September 16, 2011
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…
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…
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…
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 18, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
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
Friday, February 04, 2011
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…
Dennis Archambault / Metromode
Friday, January 21, 2011
What's the view at the bottom of Metro Detroit's entrepreneurial food chain? More diversity, less money. Case in point, Denovo Sciences. Its young partners are full of vim, vigor and a desire to "make change in human lives". What they could use is a little seed capital for their life science innovations.
read on…
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
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Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
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
Friday, December 17, 2010
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Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
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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Friday, December 03, 2010
Friday, December 03, 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 19, 2010
Friday, November 05, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Let's all give a warm welcome to InTouch
Health, the latest new economy-based startup to set up shop in Ann
Arbor. The California-based robotics firm is setting up its research and
development operations (after being recruited by Ann Arbor SPARK) in the Valley Ranch Business Park, which will be home to 3-4 people to start."It will begin with a software engineering team," says Dave Adornetto, CFO and executive vice president of operations at InTouch Health. "It will grow as the business grows."InTouch
Health develops, manufactures, and markets robotics technology for the
medical field. The 8-year-old firm has more than 50 patents pending. Its
principal product is Remote Presence Technology, which provides
physicians with a single interface for provide care into ICUs, patient
wards, operating and procedure rooms, all on one network. InTouch Health employs 100 people and has recently received an investment from Farmington Hills-based venture capital firm Beringea.
The company chose to set up its R&D operations in Ann Arbor because
of its close proximity to the University of Michigan and its deep pool
of engineering and robotics talent. It is also looking at setting up a
large-scale manufacturing presence in Michigan.Source: Dave Adornetto, CFO and executive vice president of operations at InTouch HealthWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
read 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 15, 2010
Six is an important number for Velesco
Pharmaceutical Services these days in regard to its growth. The Ann
Arbor-based firm has added six employees to its existing staff of six
people over the last year. It also plans to hire six more within the
next year.The 3-year-old startup began when Pfizer pulled up
stakes from Ann Arbor, leaving the co-founders to pursue their own
entrepreneurial ambitions. It now offers pharmaceutical consulting and
laboratory services and just opened a plant in Kalamazoo that makes
dosage forms for clinical trials. The company hopes to continue its
revenue growth pace of 30-40 percent."It really depends on how the business goes and whether the economy cuts us a break," says Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharmaceutical Services. "We're a small business that is working hard on growing."The company also recently moved to the Michigan Life Science Innovation Center in Plymouth. Ann Arbor SPARK manages the former Pfizer wet lab as a place to help get Washtenaw County startups going and growing.Source: Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharmaceutical ServicesWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
read on…
Friday, October 15, 2010
In the bowels of Ann Arbor SPARK's
wetlab incubator on Huron Parkway is a company composed of a happy
little band of Pfizer refugees who are not only trying to make
it, they're beginning to make it big. Say hello to Velesco Pharmaceutical Services,
a firm started by ex-Pfizerites Gerry Cox and David Barnes. The two
worked at Pfizer's Ann Arbor campus until the pharma giant decided not
to work there anymore. The move prompted Cox and Barnes to
round up a few of their co-workers and begin Velesco earlier this year.
Today their company stands six people strong. "We saw a real
opportunity to provide high-quality pharmaceutical consulting and
laboratory services to companies," says Cox, who is now Velesco's Chief
Operating Officer.The firm has taken on a number of clients in
Michigan, and is now aiming for out of state contracts. Recognizing
that most of the big pharmaceutical companies are located on the
coasts, Velesco has aimed its focus east and west but remains committed
to the Midwest. If all goes as planned, it expects to double the number
of employees by the end of year. Source: Gerry Cox, chief operating officer for Velesco Pharmaceutical ServicesWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Friday, October 15, 2010
Inc. magazine comes through with a
thorough piece on starting a business in Detroit and all of the
opportunities that come with it. The story highlights newer
entrepreneurs and taps the wisdom of those that have been here a while.Excerpt:There's
no hiding the fact that the past decade hasn't been easy on the Motor
City. Once a paragon of stability and the nation's fourth largest city,
Detroit has seemed to fade alongside the auto industry on which it so
vitally depends – now sitting at 11th place on that very same list.In
spite of the decline, those who stay refuse to see this as an anything
other than an opportunity. With tons of open space, inexpensive rent,
and legions of talented workers, the city was – and is – ripe for the
kind of fresh and innovative thinking that drives new business. "Detroit
needed to decrease its reliance on manufacturing," says Ross Sanders,
CEO of Bizdom U, a local business accelerator formed in 2007. It needed
to transform into a "brain economy," he adds, rooted in innovation and
entrepreneurship.Read the rest of the story here.
read on…
Friday, October 15, 2010
Velesco Pharmaceutical Services is making
another big investment in two of Michigan's smartest college towns, Ann
Arbor and Kalamazoo.The Ann Arbor-based firm will utilize a
$431,536 state tax credit over seven years to expand its laboratory
space in the Ann Arbor area and open a new production facility in
Kalamazoo. The $2 million investment is expected to create up to 35
jobs by 2014."This is a tremendous help for us to position us for success," says Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharmaceutical Services.The
four-person firm was formed by ex-Pfizerites Gerry Cox and David Barnes
shortly after the pharmaceutical giant closed its Ann Arbor campus in
2007. It provides drug formulation, analytical chemistry and early
stage clinical GMP supplies to emerging biotech and pharmaceutical
companies. It works out of Ann Arbor SPARK's wet lab incubator
in Plymouth. It plans to expand its presence in the Michigan Life
Science and Innovation Center where it will perform analytical and drug
formulation work. Velesco
also planning to open a 10,000-square-foot production facility in the
Kalamazoo Commerce Center. It will manufacture GMP clinical trial
supplies for pharmaceutical companies that are developing new
medicines. Source: Gerry Cox, chief operating officer for Velesco Pharmaceutical ServicesWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Friday, October 08, 2010
RealKidz is changing up its game and
getting some points on the board with its new business plan.The
3-year-old firm, based in Ypsilanti's Depot Town, makes clothing that fits
larger children, mainly girls. It started out selling these garments
with direct sales, a la Mary Kay.
It has since moved to a primary e-commerce platform after upgrading its
website with a proven Internet retailing platform in August."We're
starting to see some growth from that," says Merrill Guerra, founder
and CEO of RealKidz.
"We have doubled our website traffic and conversion rate over the last
couple of months. It's moving exactly in the direction we were hoping."The
two-person startup, also a former Ann
Arbor SPARK East Incubator tenant, is now looking to raise a round
of seed capital so it can flesh out its staff and business
infrastructure. RealKidz hopes to hires a COO and webmaster, among other
positions over the next year, with this capital.Source:
Merrill Guerra, founder and CEO of RealKidzWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Friday, October 08, 2010
Ann Arbor-based Tech Brewery isn't just a
place for local techies/entrepreneurs to congregate and create. It's now
a place for techies/entrepreneurs from across Metro Detroit.One-year-old
uwemp is a prime example of Tech Brewery's growing reach across
southeast Michigan. The firm's CEO is out of Bloomfield Hills, but he
choose to set up shop for his start-up in Ann Arbor because of
infrastructure like the Tech
Brewery."My view is that technology is what it's all about
and I want to be near the people who know about technology," says Jordan
Wolfe, CEO of uwemp.
"Plus, Ann Arbor SPARK helped
a lot, too."The main product from ewemp is Confidence-Based
Learning, a web-based learning engine that uses a Google Analytics-style
method that gives educators a better handle on how their students are
and are not learning. The program can show when a student is beginning
to catch on to a lesson, when the student masters it, and even when he
or she wanders off. The idea is to provide educators with the pertinent
information to best reach their students. The Michigan Microloan
Fund program gave
uwemp a five-figure loan earlier this summer. It plans to use that
money to create the Beta version of its software and begin testing it
with its first customers. The company hopes to hire 10-15 employees over
the next year. It currently employs two people full-time and another
three independent contractors.Source: Jordan Wolfe, CEO of
uwempWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Model D
Friday, October 08, 2010
Join us Oct. 13 at the Max M. Fisher Center to learn about innovative new initiatives fueling start-ups in Detroit. Mahendra Ramsinghani will talk about the First Step Fund, a unique partnership between Invest Detroit, TechTown and Ann Arbor SPARK to provide financing to emerging small businesses in southeast Michigan. We'll also hear from Brendan Calder, an innovation expert and venture capitalist from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
read on…
Friday, October 01, 2010
MyBandStock plans to spread its reach
to both coasts via a micro loan
from the Ann Arbor SPARK-administered Michigan
Microloan Fund Program.The 2-year-old start-up focuses on
connecting bands to their fans by selling shares in a band's album or
giving fans a chance to get closer to the artists. The 6-person firm
plans to use the micro loan, which is usually for about $50,000, to help
pay for travel costs between Ann Arbor and the entertainment hubs on
both coasts. "We're back and forth from Michigan and Los Angeles
and New York," says Drew Leahy, co-founder of MyBandStock. "That money is going to
help us meet more potential clients."The Ann Arbor-based firm
recently opened an LA office and is signing clients in both New York and
LA. The company plans to keep its headquarters and technology
operations in Ann Arbor and make 2-3 hires over the next year.Source:
Drew Leahy, co-founder of MyBandStockWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Friday, October 01, 2010
The University of Michigan continues to
serve as a pipeline for new economy research, start-ups, and the
innovations they need to be successful. U-M has recently been
declared No. 1 for R&D spending among the nation's public
universities. That sort of investment has helped the university launch
10 start-ups, license 97 technologies, and record 290 new inventions
over the last fiscal year. "The record (for new start-ups) is
13, but we average nine," says Ken Nisbet, executive director of office
of Tech
Transfer at the University of Michigan. "Ten isn't a record, but
with the economy this year we are really proud of that number."The
number of new technology licenses ties a record at U-M, which was set
four years ago. And the 10 start-ups this year brings the university's
total to 93 over the last decade. The university estimates those
start-ups have created more than 2,000 jobs over the last 15 years. The
start-ups include Histosonics,
which was spun out of the university last year. The Ann Arbor-based
company employs about a dozen people and has locked
down $11 million in seed capital. HistoSonics (histo meaning tissue
and sonics meaning sound waves) is developing a medical device that
uses tightly focused ultrasound pulses to treat prostate disease. The
idea is to create a non-invasive, image-guided system that can destroy
tissue with robotic precision."It just has tremendous
potential," Nisbet says.U-M plans to display some of its new
start-ups and inventions at its annual Celebrate Invention reception
between 3-6 p.m. today in the Michigan
League Ballroom. For information, click here
or reach Diane Brown at (734) 936-1572 or [email protected]Source:
Ken Nisbet, executive director of office of Tech Transfer at the
University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Friday, September 24, 2010
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
Zemke
read on…
Friday, September 24, 2010
More than $1 million in seed capital is
heading toward three Ann Arbor-based start-ups, all Ann Arbor SPARK clients, thanks to
federal grants.Akervall Technologies took in $120,000 from the
U.S. Dept. of Defense Small Business Innovation
Research program to develop the second generation of the Protech Dent
mouth guard. Arbor
Photonics received a $44,000 Small Business Innovation Research
grant for its development of high power, single-emitter fiber laser
modules with exceptional beam quality and narrow line width. However,
the biggest winner is OG Technologies, which received nearly $1 million
from the U.S. Dept of Energy. The 12-year-old company will use
the $933,000 for the development of an optical caliper, a measurement
tool for hot objects. Put simply, it's creating a camera that can take
comprehensive pictures of extremely hot objects, such as newly made
steel slabs. The new technology is expected to have primarily industrial
uses. However, OG
Technologies President Terry Liddy believes it has the potential
for broader applications."We should have beta sites in steel
mills within two years," Liddy says.He expects the grant, which
should fund the rest of the technology's development, will allow the
company to add to its staff of 11 employees and a couple of summer
interns. The hope is the company will hire a handful of new staff,
including engineers, assemblers, and salespersons.Source: Ann
Arbor SPARK and Terry Liddy, president of OG Technologies Writer:
Jon Zemke
read on…
Friday, September 10, 2010
The number of loans from the First Step Fund has now hit double digits and is expected to go higher soon.The TechTown-based microloan fund has made small loans to 10 companies across southeast Michigan. Those companies range from the Jimmy Kicks custom shoe operation in Detroit to Ann Arbor-based grant writing software firm InfoReady. "We
have been thrilled with the quality and quantity of applications," says
Matthew Neagle, an associate with the First Step Fund.Among the other companies to receive loans so far are Clean Emission Fluids (Detroit), Current Motor Company (Ann Arbor), Launch Learning Group (Detroit), Livio Radio (Ferndale), NextCat (Detroit), Air Movement Systems (Detroit), Coliant Corporation, and Bandals (Rochester Hills). More than half a million dollars in loans have gone to these companies over the summer.Invest Detroit, TechTown and Ann Arbor SPARK, which runs the Michigan Micro Loan Fund,
created the First Step Fund earlier this year. The idea is to create a
funding source for local start-ups starving for seed capital. The
current credit crisis has resulted in traditional lending institutions
cutting back on investment capital.Each loan averages about
$50,000 and is either short-term or in the form of a convertible note.
Proceeds are usually used to push forward product development or expand
inventory. Loan recipients are picked by a board independent of
TechTown. Source: Matthew Neagle, an associate with the First Step FundWriter: Jon Zemke
read on…
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Ann Arbor-based TCH Pharmaceuticals will
use a $200,000 loan from the state of Michigan to hire four people, all
ex-Pfizer employees."These four will be the first employees of
the company," says Thomas A Collet, president and CEO of TCH
Pharmaceuticals.The 4-year-old company, currently staffed by its
three co-founders, commercializes non-toxic proteasome inhibitors to be
used in therapies that treat inflammatory diseases. It is using
technology licensed from Michigan
State University. "We have a family of compounds we want to
take into clinical development," Collet says. "They would help us do
that."TCH Pharmaceuticals (TCH is an acronym for the founders'
last names) is one of five Michigan companies to share the most recent
$530,000 in loans from the state's Company Formation and Growth Fund.
That initiative began in 2007, shortly after Pfizer announced the
closing of its Ann Arbor campus. It's aimed at keeping Pfizer's talent
in-state by accelerating start-up formation and growth. The fund has
made $8 million in loans to a total of 41 life-science companies in Ann
Arbor, Chelsea, Jackson, Livonia, and Saline.Source: Thomas A
Collet, president and CEO of TCH PharmaceuticalsWriter: Jon
Zemke
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 Zemke
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
John Harding and Erik Kauppi turned their tech co-op prototype into a microloan investment and now Current Motor Company is poised to achieve electric scooter world dominance. Okay, we're probably getting ahead of ourselves on that
last part, but the duo's transition from Ford engineers into innovative entrepreneurs is a good indication that southeast Michigan has begun its economic evolution.
read on…
Jon Zemke / Concentrate
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Offering a Word for the web solution for the
pains of website maintenance are Mike Monan and Stephen Colson, the founders of Switchback, an internet business based on Drupal technology. This week they dish with Concentrate's Jon Zemke on downtown workspaces and the wilds of entrepreneurship.
read on…
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
The future of the automobile got a little boost earlier this week when Detroit Electric received financing from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program.The
Brighton-based start-up joined Ypsilanti's Ergun Technology and Ann
Arbor-based Local Orbit in splitting $140,000 in microloans. The
microloans help new economy-based start-ups push forward product
development and commercialization.Detroit Electric
is the oldest electric car brand in the U.S., getting its start in the
early 20th Century. It went dormant until a few years ago, when it was
revived by a Chinese firm to make electric cars. This microloan will
help Detroit Electric's efforts to establish and grow its current
two-man office into a world headquarters and technical center that
employs hundreds of people.
"We're trying to get started here in the U.S.," says Don Graunstadt, CEO
of Detroit Electric's North American operations. "Cash is really
important, but more important is the endorsement. The government did
three months worth of due diligence on us."
Own is the principal product for Ergun Technology.
Own connects cash registers to the Internet, providing store owners
real-time remote access to their transactions. The 4-person firm plans
to use its loans to complete Beta testing of its product and begin
marketing it to coffee shops across the state.Local Orbit
is creating a web platform that simplifies the process of buying food
directly from local farmers for restaurants, institutions, and
consumers.The state-created Michigan Microloan Fund Program
provides seed capital to growing new economy start-ups. The $1.4 million
program, which is run by Ann Arbor SPARK, became instantly popular because of the lack of financing available in the wake of the financial crisis.Source: Ann Arbor SPARK and Don Graunstadt, CEO of Detroit Electric's North American OperationsWriter: Jon Zemke
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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.
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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.
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