A few years ago, when Nick Birch and Scott Jones co-founded Indianapolis’s Eleven Fifty Academy, a nonprofit coding school, they realized their goal of harnessing Eleven Fifty to “close the nation’s growing technology skills gap” wasn’t going to be realized through classroom instruction alone. Sure, they were teaching people the programming skills needed to compete … Continue reading “Propel Aims to Close Tech Talent Gap by Offering On-Demand IT Gurus”
Author: Sarah Schmid Stevenson
Sarah is a former Xconomy editor. Prior to joining Xconomy in 2011, she did communications work for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan House of Representatives. She has also worked as a reporter and copy editor at the Missoula Independent and the Lansing State Journal. She holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Native American Studies from the University of Montana and proudly calls Detroit "the most fascinating city I've ever lived in."
Accelerate Michigan 2016: One Day, One Location, 36 Semi-Finalists
The 36 semi-finalists competing in the annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the state’s largest business plan competition targeting mid-to-late-stage startups, have been announced. Although this year’s edition, overseen by Invest Detroit for the first time, has been helpfully streamlined to one day and one location, still at stake is more than $1 million in cash … Continue reading “Accelerate Michigan 2016: One Day, One Location, 36 Semi-Finalists”
Green Sense Farms Aims to Change How Produce is Grown, Distributed
Green Sense Farms is on a mission to build the country’s largest network of tech-enabled, indoor vertical farms. To help it get there, the Portage, IN-based company has turned to a new mechanism for raising capital—equity crowdfunding, which allows companies to sell small stakes in their businesses to the general public. With four days left … Continue reading “Green Sense Farms Aims to Change How Produce is Grown, Distributed”
Wipro Splashes Out $500M to Acquire Appirio in Cloud Services
Wipro, a Bangalore-based IT services firm, announced today that it has signed an agreement to fork over $500 million to acquire Appirio, an Indianapolis-based cloud services company. Established in 2006, Appirio has more than 1,200 employees spread across five global offices and counts Coca-Cola, Facebook, and Home Depot among its customers. According to an article … Continue reading “Wipro Splashes Out $500M to Acquire Appirio in Cloud Services”
Notion Emerges From Stealth with Smart E-Mail App, $9.5M in VC Bucks
After more than a year spent quietly beta-testing its intelligent e-mail app, Ann Arbor, MI-based startup Notion publicly launched this week with the goal of nothing less than solving our modern communications overload, co-founder Guy Suter says. “We’ve been very intentionally under the radar building our team and technology,” Suter says. Notion is coming out … Continue reading “Notion Emerges From Stealth with Smart E-Mail App, $9.5M in VC Bucks”
Urban Entrepreneurship Event Looks at How Startups Can Revitalize Flint
The Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative’s (UEI) annual symposium kicks off today and brings together startup founders, academia, community organizers, government officials, and other interested parties to discuss how entrepreneurial solutions can improve economic opportunities and quality of life for city dwellers. Now in its third year, the event is being held in Flint for the first … Continue reading “Urban Entrepreneurship Event Looks at How Startups Can Revitalize Flint”
Chinese Firm Invests $27M in U-M’s Autonomous Tech Research
The Chinese investment firm Frontt Capital Management has invested $27 million to advance autonomous vehicle and robotics research at the University of Michigan, the school said in a press release. Mark Schlissel and S. Jack Hu, the university’s president and vice president for research, respectively, signed a memorandum of understanding with Shenzhen-based Frontt. The firm concentrates on developing China’s intelligent vehicle industry, … Continue reading “Chinese Firm Invests $27M in U-M’s Autonomous Tech Research”
$4M Grant Aims to Boost Minority Representation in Informatics
A new $4 million grant National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Ivy Tech Community College seeks to introduce the state’s economically disadvantaged and underrepresented minority students to informatics, a computer science field that involves information processing and the engineering of information systems. … Continue reading “$4M Grant Aims to Boost Minority Representation in Informatics”
NEI Reports Find Detroit’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is Growing
Last month, the New Economy Initiative (NEI), one of the nation’s largest philanthropic partnerships focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, unveiled the results of two reports it commissioned to measure the organization’s impact, and the data confirms that Detroit’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is growing. According to research done by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment … Continue reading “NEI Reports Find Detroit’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is Growing”
Silicon Valley VCs, Software Experts Contribute $3.3M to Zylo
Zylo, an Indianapolis-based startup working on cloud optimization software, today announced that it has raised a $3.3 million seed round. Both institutional and individual investors contributed to the round. They include High Alpha Capital, GGV Capital, SV Angel, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry leaders such as Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO Don Brown, ExactTarget co-founder Peter … Continue reading “Silicon Valley VCs, Software Experts Contribute $3.3M to Zylo”
Automation Alley Drives Toward Autonomous Future with New Director
As Automation Alley prepares to host its annual awards gala this week, it’s a good time to look at what the organization is up to and what progress it has made since its founding nearly 20 years ago—and how the recent boom in autonomous technology has affected the organization’s long-term strategy. Automation Alley—a technology trade … Continue reading “Automation Alley Drives Toward Autonomous Future with New Director”
Roundup: Purdue Patents, Knight Challenge, Remy International, More
Here’s a look at innovation news from around Indiana: —Last week, the Purdue Research Foundation announced that in 2016, the number of startups spun out of university-owned intellectual property had grown to a record-breaking 27. This year’s class was bigger than any of the previous years, “contributing to Purdue’s third straight year of record-breaking startup … Continue reading “Roundup: Purdue Patents, Knight Challenge, Remy International, More”
Indiana Biosciences Research Institute Hires Chief Scientific Officer
In 2013, the state’s government teamed up with Indiana-based biotech companies and university officials to unveil the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI), what organizers call the first industry-led collaborative life sciences research institute of its kind in the country. Since then, the IBRI has been busy raising funds and hiring a management team to get … Continue reading “Indiana Biosciences Research Institute Hires Chief Scientific Officer”
Indiana VC Activity Down for Third Quarter, Up for the Year
According to a new quarterly report put together by Seattle-based PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association, Indiana’s VC and angel investment activity was down in the third quarter of 2016. A total of 19 funding deals worth $22.7 million were logged by Indiana companies during Q3 of 2016, according to PitchBook data. That’s a … Continue reading “Indiana VC Activity Down for Third Quarter, Up for the Year”
Healthtech Startup Curo Opens First U.S. Office in Ann Arbor
Curo Technologies, a Melbourne, Australia-based healthtech startup, announced this week that it is opening its first U.S. office in Ann Arbor, MI. Steve Hopkins, who will run the Ann Arbor office, said Curo’s decision to expand to Southeast Michigan makes good business sense, as it allows the company to tap into the area’s technical talent … Continue reading “Healthtech Startup Curo Opens First U.S. Office in Ann Arbor”
Roundup: WSU’s ITT Outreach, LIFT Prize, VNN & More
Here’s a look at tech and innovation news from around Michigan this month: —Wayne State University is offering free academic counseling to displaced ITT students. According to a press release, affected ITT students can schedule appointments with WSU counselors to discuss financial aid and credit transfers. The counselors will help the students determine if WSU … Continue reading “Roundup: WSU’s ITT Outreach, LIFT Prize, VNN & More”
Kenji App Looks to Match Small Businesses and Attorneys for Hire
Ken Minturn, the founder of Indianapolis-based Kenji, says one of the biggest challenges facing attorneys is finding new business that matches their expertise, and then getting paid on time for the work they do. Complicating matters is the legal industry’s resistance to digital innovation. Minturn says lawyers lag behind other professions when it comes to … Continue reading “Kenji App Looks to Match Small Businesses and Attorneys for Hire”
Catching Up with 2016 Techstars Mobility Class: What Did They Learn?
Detroit’s Techstars Mobility startup accelerator has wrapped another summer of innovating and iterating, and the 12 participating companies are now headed out into the marketplace to hustle. I caught up with managing director Ted Serbinski and the rest of the Techstars crew earlier this month—the day after they pitched investors and sang the praises of … Continue reading “Catching Up with 2016 Techstars Mobility Class: What Did They Learn?”
Indiana Roundup: IU Patents, eText, Conexus Interns
Here’s a look at innovation news from around Indiana: —Conexus Indiana, the state’s advanced manufacturing and logistics initiative, said in a press release that its internship program experienced major growth last year. Now in its second year, the Conexus Interns Program reached 230 Indiana high school students interning at 79 Indiana companies, a 170 percent increase … Continue reading “Indiana Roundup: IU Patents, eText, Conexus Interns”
Doxly Raises $2.25 Million Seed Round and Plans Public Launch
Doxly, the Indianapolis-based legal tech startup, announced Monday that it has raised a $2.25 million seed round. Investors include Nextlaw Labs, the business accelerator associated with Dentons, the world’s largest law firm; High Alpha Capital, and Hyde Park Ventures. Doxly founder Haley Altman says the company did a soft launch last month with pilot customers, … Continue reading “Doxly Raises $2.25 Million Seed Round and Plans Public Launch”
FourPlay Football Offers Fantasy Pick ‘Em Leagues with a Twist
I first started playing fantasy football in 1998, before Yahoo leagues, or channels wholly dedicated to jumping from game to game to show potential scoring drives from the end zone, or multiple talking heads earnestly spouting off about a made-up game each week. Back then, when one still needed a dial-up modem to access the … Continue reading “FourPlay Football Offers Fantasy Pick ‘Em Leagues with a Twist”
Report: Indianapolis Tech Office Growth Among Highest in Nation
Indianapolis made the top 10 in a new report that looked at 45 U.S. cities and measured an area’s attractiveness to tech companies based on how much space those companies are leasing. The report, commissioned by commercial real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and titled “U.S. Technology Office Outlook,” found that tech companies signed … Continue reading “Report: Indianapolis Tech Office Growth Among Highest in Nation”
Roundup: Lansing Proto, MCWT, BizGrid, GM Wayfinder App & More
Here’s a look at tech and innovation news from around Michigan: —Plymouth Ventures has sold its position in 365 Retail Markets, the Troy-based developer of point-of-sale hardware, software, and mobile technologies for the workplace, to Omaha, NE-based McCarthy Capital Fund VI. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. “It is an impressive achievement for … Continue reading “Roundup: Lansing Proto, MCWT, BizGrid, GM Wayfinder App & More”
Fund Worth Up To $100M Seeks to Increase Diversity in Tech Workforce
A first-of-its-kind fund has launched with the mission to increase diversity in the tech industry by removing financial barriers and increasing access to tech education for anyone interested in pursuing it. The Tech Opportunity Fund is a partnership between the Iron Yard and Code Fellows, which offer tech training, and the financial literacy organization Operation … Continue reading “Fund Worth Up To $100M Seeks to Increase Diversity in Tech Workforce”
Millendo Launches Phase 2b Study of PCOS Drug After Year of Growth
Millendo Therapeutics, the Ann Arbor, MI-based biotech company developing drugs to treat endocrine diseases, last month began Phase 2b clinical trials for MLE4901, a non-hormonal therapy for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). There currently aren’t any approved therapies for PCOS, which is the most common endocrine disease in women. Julia Owens, president and … Continue reading “Millendo Launches Phase 2b Study of PCOS Drug After Year of Growth”
Octiv Snags Backing from GE Ventures, Plans to Continue Expansion
Octiv, the Indianapolis-based startup working on productivity tools for sales teams, announced last week that it has secured investment capital from GE Ventures, which has offices in Boston, San Francisco, and other cities across the country. The amount contributed by GE Ventures, the venture capital arm of General Electric (NYSE: [[ticker:GE]]), was undisclosed. The funding … Continue reading “Octiv Snags Backing from GE Ventures, Plans to Continue Expansion”
Start Garden Spins Off Venture Fund Focused on Early-Stage Startups
Start Garden, the Grand Rapids, MI-based accelerator working to boost West Michigan’s startup ecosystem, has spun out its investing arm into a private, independent entity called Wakestream Ventures. Wakestream will be led by Amway scion Rick DeVos, Start Garden’s founder, and will make venture investments primarily in technologies with high growth potential, including “hardware-software convergence … Continue reading “Start Garden Spins Off Venture Fund Focused on Early-Stage Startups”
Enterprise Software Startup DroneDeploy Closes $20M Series B Round
San Francisco’s DroneDeploy, a cloud-based software startup serving the commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market, closed on a $20 million Series B round late last month. Scale Venture Partners led the round, with participation from High Alpha Capital and a host of previous investors. As part of the deal, Rory O’Driscoll, Scale Venture Partners co-founder … Continue reading “Enterprise Software Startup DroneDeploy Closes $20M Series B Round”
Detroit in Tech Aims to Boost Diversity, Connect Startups to Resources
A new project to support minority entrepreneurs by highlighting their work and connecting them with the resources they need to grow their companies has launched in the Motor City. Detroit in Tech, a collaboration between Grand Circus, Google for Entrepreneurs, and Code2040, seeks to even the playing field in a growing ecosystem. According to Detroit … Continue reading “Detroit in Tech Aims to Boost Diversity, Connect Startups to Resources”
IN Roundup: The Oscars of Invention, State’s Top Companies & More
Here’s a look at recent innovation news from around Indiana: —Purdue University researcher Vilas Pol leads a team that has been named a finalist for the 2016 R&D 100 award, which a press release described as “the Oscars of invention.” Pol, who is a chemical engineering professor, helped developed a process to convert used packing … Continue reading “IN Roundup: The Oscars of Invention, State’s Top Companies & More”
MiSci STEMinista Project Gets a $50K Boost from Google Michigan
Google, like most other big tech companies, has struggled with a lack of diversity in its workforce. However, Google was reportedly the first industry giant to institute a diversity training program, even though the results seem to indicate that the issue lingers. According to InformationWeek, a year after the program began, the demographic makeup of … Continue reading “MiSci STEMinista Project Gets a $50K Boost from Google Michigan”
The Speak Easy Wants to Help Startups Engage with Wider Ecosystem
As startup fever continues to make inroads to Middle America, a number of entities have popped up to help nurture Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, including accelerators, angel investors, and co-working spaces. The nonprofit Speak Easy in Indianapolis has elements of all of those things, but it mostly wants to be the place where startup founders can … Continue reading “The Speak Easy Wants to Help Startups Engage with Wider Ecosystem”
SPLT Tackles Non-Emergency Patient Rides, Opens Mexico Office
Detroit-based enterprise ridesharing and carpooling startup SPLT has been on a take-no-prisoners growth trajectory since CEO Anya Babbitt first set foot in the Motor City last year as part of Techstars Mobility’s inaugural cohort. So far in 2016, the two-year-old company has won a number of pitch competitions across the country, participated in Google Demo … Continue reading “SPLT Tackles Non-Emergency Patient Rides, Opens Mexico Office”
Denise Pierce on Growth in Indiana’s Life Sciences Industry
Denise K. Pierce is an anomaly. We’ve heard a lot of platitudes lately from the tech industry about increasing diversity in STEM-related fields, but, to Pierce, inclusion is more than just an abstract idea. She runs an Indiana-based firm called DK Pierce (DKP) that helps biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies across the country find their … Continue reading “Denise Pierce on Growth in Indiana’s Life Sciences Industry”
U-M Spinout Fusion Coolant Systems Scores $1.25M Series B
Fusion Coolant Systems, the University of Michigan cleantech spinout with offices in Canton, MI, and Ireland, announced this week that it has raised $1.25 million in a Series B round. Investors participating in the round include U-M’s Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS) fund and Ann Arbor’s Amherst Fund. Fusion Coolant’s technology is an … Continue reading “U-M Spinout Fusion Coolant Systems Scores $1.25M Series B”
Roundup: Zoetis, Agtech Incubator, Knight Cities Challenge & More
Here’s a look at innovation news from around Michigan: —On Tuesday, Ann Arbor’s Plymouth Venture Partners announced it had sold its stake in 365 Retail Markets to Boston-based McCarthy Capital Fund VI; the terms of the deal were not disclosed. As we reported in 2013, 365 Retail Markets is a Troy-based startup that designs and … Continue reading “Roundup: Zoetis, Agtech Incubator, Knight Cities Challenge & More”
IU Health Service Center Expected to Improve Patient Care Statewide
Indiana University Health, the largest healthcare system in the state, broke ground earlier this month on an integrated service center that will make it the first hospital system in the U.S. to oversee its own supply chain, complete with a robotic “picker” to gather the medical and surgical supplies requested by doctors around the network. … Continue reading “IU Health Service Center Expected to Improve Patient Care Statewide”
This One Simple Trick Might Help ContentOro Banish Stale Clickbait
In today’s world, where we’re never far from a screen—smartphone, laptop, television—content is king. Companies and brands need engaging material to draw the eyeballs of online customers, but younger consumers, millennials in particular, have shown a distaste for ads. Essentially, they are far more susceptible to the recommendations of friends and other influencers than they … Continue reading “This One Simple Trick Might Help ContentOro Banish Stale Clickbait”
Indy Idea Hub’s Three-Month Hackathon Will Help Modernize Government
It’s no secret that government entities and municipalities generate reams of data but often struggle when it comes to sharing all that information with the public in an easily digestible fashion. Matthew Kirby said that’s sometimes an even bigger problem for post-industrial cities like Indianapolis that are trying to rebrand as exciting, tech-enabled communities for … Continue reading “Indy Idea Hub’s Three-Month Hackathon Will Help Modernize Government”
Ford Says It Will Have Self-Driving Cars Within Five Years
Ask five auto executives to predict when we can expect to see self-driving cars make their commercial debut, and you’ll likely hear five different answers. Even though it’s an exciting technology that has captivated car manufacturers across the world, the industry seemed to agree that there is still a fair amount of work to do … Continue reading “Ford Says It Will Have Self-Driving Cars Within Five Years”
Endeavor Detroit Aims to Help Companies Connect to Mentors and Grow
There’s a new nonprofit organization in town that seeks to connect Michigan’s entrepreneurs with a global network of mentors, service providers, and investors in order to help them grow. Endeavor Detroit set up shop in the Motor City 18 months ago with the goal of finding mid-stage startups with annual revenues between $2 million and … Continue reading “Endeavor Detroit Aims to Help Companies Connect to Mentors and Grow”
Doxly Aims to Help Lawyers Manage Transactions Via the Cloud
In 2012, Haley Altman was a rising star at Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller and one of its youngest partners when a frustrating session at the office awakened her inner entrepreneur. It was late one night, when she was working feverishly in her office surrounded by unending stacks of paper, that the idea for her … Continue reading “Doxly Aims to Help Lawyers Manage Transactions Via the Cloud”
Study Supports MEDC, Says “Time Is Now” for Michigan Entrepreneurship
Last year, when we covered the legislative fight over the state’s budget and how much funding would be allocated to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the organization had commissioned an independent report from TEConomy Partners (a division spun out of Battelle) that would study the impact of its programs supporting entrepreneurs, startups, and the … Continue reading “Study Supports MEDC, Says “Time Is Now” for Michigan Entrepreneurship”
Gemphire’s Delayed $30M IPO Will Pay for Trials of Cholesterol Drug
After a series of delays partly caused by Brexit-inspired stock market volatility, Northville, MI-based biotech startup Gemphire Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GEMP]]) has successfully completed its initial public offering. The good news is the IPO gave Gemphire, which ended the first quarter with just $1.6 million in cash, some needed financial breathing room. The bad news is … Continue reading “Gemphire’s Delayed $30M IPO Will Pay for Trials of Cholesterol Drug”
Analysis: With a Tight Smile, Trump Details Economic Plan in Detroit
I wasn’t sure what to expect when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running-mate, Indiana governor Mike Pence, were the featured speakers at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon today. Trump has spent most of the summer lurching from one controversy to another, but in Detroit, he appeared to be well-coached and almost singularly focused … Continue reading “Analysis: With a Tight Smile, Trump Details Economic Plan in Detroit”
Untethered Summit to Look at Managing the BYOD Landscape
A few years ago, the hottest trend in workplace innovation was Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), which called for large corporations to allow employees to use their personal smartphones, computers, and other devices at work as a way to open up innovation and collaboration. Companies are unable to prevent employees from bringing their devices to … Continue reading “Untethered Summit to Look at Managing the BYOD Landscape”
U-M Startup Clinc is on a Mission to Democratize A.I. Technologies
After building Lucida, an open-source intelligent personal assistant, University of Michigan spinout Clinc has a new $225,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to help get its artificial intelligence technologies to market. That’s on top of closing a $1.2 million seed round disclosed in March. The equity funding round was led by Ann Arbor’s eLab … Continue reading “U-M Startup Clinc is on a Mission to Democratize A.I. Technologies”
Delphi’s Autonomous Vehicle Pilot to Test Mobility On-Demand in Singapore
Delphi Automotive is leading a new driverless car pilot project with the Singapore Land Transport Authority; the goal of the project is to advance autonomous vehicle technology and open new markets to the tier-one auto supplier. According to a Delphi press release, the U.K.-based supplier with operations across the United States will provide a fleet … Continue reading “Delphi’s Autonomous Vehicle Pilot to Test Mobility On-Demand in Singapore”
Ford, MIT Partner on Mobility Project to Predict Pedestrian Traffic
A new research collaboration between Ford and MIT studies how pedestrians move in densely populated areas in order to improve transportation such as point-to-point shuttle services—and the data will also help Ford beef up its autonomous and driver-assist technologies. The MIT project is designed to enhance models that predict demand for mobility-on-demand services, such as … Continue reading “Ford, MIT Partner on Mobility Project to Predict Pedestrian Traffic”
Lawn Guru Closes $1M Round, Plans National Expansion
Lawn Guru, an app that allows users to connect with lawn care professionals and order services on demand, announced this week that it has closed a $1 million seed round. The round was led by Sierra Wasach Capital with participation from Canyon Creek Capital, Briggs and Stratton, and Sequoia Capital’s scout program. According to a … Continue reading “Lawn Guru Closes $1M Round, Plans National Expansion”