For months, we watched the renovations and wondered what the heck they were turning that building a few doors down from the Bronx bar into. A Whole Foods, someone said. A bike shop, the construction worker lounging outside the building two summers ago told me confidently. Finally, we divined a name from the sign posted … Continue reading “The Green Garage Hopes To Incubate Urban Sustainability in Detroit”
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."
ArdentCause: Women on the Verge
One day, Rosemary Bayer came to her friend Kathleen Norton-Schock with an idea sparked by her experience as a volunteer for the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT): How could a nonprofit better manage volunteers and resources while improving communication with grantees? Though they didn’t realize it at that moment, Bayer’s idea became the … Continue reading “ArdentCause: Women on the Verge”
DeNovo Sciences Wins Accelerate Michigan’s $500K Grand Prize
Fifty-three companies and 42 angel and investment groups participated in this year’s Accelerate Michigan business plan competition, which just wrapped up Thursday evening with the announcement of contest winners. At stake, according to event organizers, was more than $1 million in cash and prizes. Participants competed for prizes ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 over three … Continue reading “DeNovo Sciences Wins Accelerate Michigan’s $500K Grand Prize”
Wayne State Med Students To Get Access to Latest Surgical Simulation Tools
The Health and Wellness Foundation of Greater Detroit announced last week that it has awarded $250,000 to finance the construction of nine web-enabled laparoscopic training simulators for residents and medical students on the Detroit Medical Center campus of Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. This grant is intendede to give students access to the latest simulation technologies in developing … Continue reading “Wayne State Med Students To Get Access to Latest Surgical Simulation Tools”
Aastrom Reports Positive Phase 2 Trial Results
Aastrom Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASTM), a developer of experimental therapies for severe, chronic cardiovascular diseases, announced yesterday that it had achieved positive 12-month final results from a Phase 2 clinical trial testing ixmyelocel-T as a treatment for critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients with no revascularization options. CLI is a severe form of cardiovascular disease in the legs, … Continue reading “Aastrom Reports Positive Phase 2 Trial Results”
‘TechTown 2.0’ Expands Focus
TechTown has undergone some changes recently as Leslie Smith transitions into her new role as executive director. Nothing drastic, she says, but rather an expansion of its incubator business model to include targeted outreach to a few Detroit neighborhoods in order to make its entrepreneurial mission more accessible, an increased focus on microenterprise and procurement … Continue reading “‘TechTown 2.0’ Expands Focus”
Menlo Park Software Company Cataphora Expands to New Office in Ann Arbor
Cataphora, a Menlo Park, CA-based software company that specializes in applying its technology to the modeling of individual and organizational behavior, has just opened an office in Ann Arbor, MI. Cataphora said it made to move to take advantage of local talent, most notably from the University of Michigan. “The decision was made to expand … Continue reading “Menlo Park Software Company Cataphora Expands to New Office in Ann Arbor”
Next Week Packed With Entrepreneurial Events, Deadlines
Though November may mean shorter days and chillier nights, the entrepreneurial-events calendar is heating up. Take advantage of the action before things quiet down for the holidays by attending one of these events, which are open to the public. On November 14, head to the Cobo Center in Detroit for Michigan Emerging, a Global Entrepreneurship … Continue reading “Next Week Packed With Entrepreneurial Events, Deadlines”
MEDC Announces New ‘Economic Gardening’ Pilot Program
A new program announced by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation yesterday will connect 54 Michigan small businesses with a team of national experts, who will provide each company with 35 hours of guidance in the areas of strategy and management; market research and competitive intelligence; Internet and social media strategy; and help with identifying potential customers in other … Continue reading “MEDC Announces New ‘Economic Gardening’ Pilot Program”
Could Detroit Become the Silicon Valley of Social Entrepreneurship?
The first rule of starting any entrepreneurial venture is: Find a problem that needs solving. Detroit, as we all know, has some big social problems: poverty; crime; homelessness; abysmal literacy rates; rampant unemployment. It should hardly be a surprise, then, that a motivated young class of social entrepreneurs has sprung up in the city, and … Continue reading “Could Detroit Become the Silicon Valley of Social Entrepreneurship?”
TechTown’s Charlton Wins $100K Purpose Prize
Randal Charlton, who recently announced he’s stepping down as TechTown’s executive director to lead a program aimed at assisting baby boomers who want to become entrepreneurs, has just been awarded the 2011 Purpose Prize. This annual $100,000 award honors social entrepreneurs over 60 who use their experience and passion to effectively address societal challenges. Charlton … Continue reading “TechTown’s Charlton Wins $100K Purpose Prize”
RetroSense Therapeutics Licenses Vision Restoration Technology From Wayne State
Ann Arbor, MI-based RetroSense Therapeutics recently inked a deal with Wayne State University to license a novel gene-therapy approach to treating blindness that was originally studied in the university’s School of Medicine. The treatment offers promise to people suffering with incurable blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). AMD is the … Continue reading “RetroSense Therapeutics Licenses Vision Restoration Technology From Wayne State”
Bizdom U: Transforming Detroit’s Brain Economy
Bizdom U, the Detroit incubator backed by Dan Gilbert, will now be nurturing even more local entrepreneurs thanks to a change in its business model. Starting with the fall session, which began on October 17, Bizdom switched to a model similar to that of TechStars or Y Combinator: After undergoing a rigorous screening, 30 startups … Continue reading “Bizdom U: Transforming Detroit’s Brain Economy”
Hatch Detroit Business Contest Down to Four Finalists; Voting Ends Nov. 2
The ideas have been pitched, the public cast their votes online and through social media for the semi-finalists, and now the Hatch Detroit retail business contest is in its final stage. This is the hard part, where we choose the winner. Will it be the wine bar or the tea room? The pop-up furniture store … Continue reading “Hatch Detroit Business Contest Down to Four Finalists; Voting Ends Nov. 2”
Ann Arbor’s Mobiata Opens New Offices in San Francisco, Twin Cities
Ann Arbor, MI-based startup Mobiata is growing, both in size and location. The Expedia-owned company, which develops mobile apps designed to make travel go more smoothly, just opened offices in San Francisco and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area—which is where the company started out in 2008 before relocating to Ann Arbor. Founder and General Manager Ben … Continue reading “Ann Arbor’s Mobiata Opens New Offices in San Francisco, Twin Cities”
On Nurturing a Startup in Detroit, Labyrinthine Bureaucracies, and RoboCop: A Conversation with Jerry Paffendorf
Jerry Paffendorf is one of those people who is always up to something cool, whether it’s spearheading a hugely successful crowdfunding project to get a RoboCop statue erected in Detroit, or selling vacant city properties by the square inch on the Web through his social entrepreneurship startup Loveland.com. I met him for coffee recently after making … Continue reading “On Nurturing a Startup in Detroit, Labyrinthine Bureaucracies, and RoboCop: A Conversation with Jerry Paffendorf”
MoneyTree Report: VC Investment in MI Down From Last Year, Up From Last Quarter
The third-quarter 2011 data is in from the MoneyTree Report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and it shows that while Michigan’s VC investment decreased by about 20 percent compared to the third quarter of 2010 ($43.2 million invested in 2010, compared to $34.8 million in 2011), it more than doubled compared to the second quarter of 2011, … Continue reading “MoneyTree Report: VC Investment in MI Down From Last Year, Up From Last Quarter”
Randal Charlton Leaves TechTown to Run New Program for Older Entrepreneurs
Wayne State University’s business incubator TechTown announced today that current executive director Randal Charlton has stepped down to transition into a leadership position with BOOM! The New Economy, a new program supporting the Baby Boom generation’s reinvention as entrepreneurs. Leslie Smith, TechTown’s current general manager, will take over his position starting Nov. 1. TechTown was … Continue reading “Randal Charlton Leaves TechTown to Run New Program for Older Entrepreneurs”
Attention National Media: It’s Time to Change The Way You Cover Detroit
When the Economist‘s piece on Detroit (“The Parable of Detroit: So Cheap, There’s Hope“) landed in my inbox this morning, I dug in, curious. This is the Economist, after all, which typically puts its jaundiced British eye on American subjects and reports without bias or mercy. Ah, yes, I thought—here comes a super legit international … Continue reading “Attention National Media: It’s Time to Change The Way You Cover Detroit”
Wayne State Uses Social Media to Mentor Girls in Science, Tech
Wayne State University announced last week that it has received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health to increase the interest of metro Detroit girls in health-related “STEM” disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Sally K. Roberts, faculty adviser for WSU’s Gaining Options-Girls … Continue reading “Wayne State Uses Social Media to Mentor Girls in Science, Tech”
How to Make It in (The New) America
[Corrected on 10/19/11 at 4:45 pm. See below.] Miguel Yeoman—known as the artist BeloZro and, now, as cofounder of the startup company BeloZro Visual Energy—was born and raised on Detroit’s hardscrabble east side. As he tried to stay out of trouble in 1980s Detroit—an extraordinarily violent period in the city’s history—he found his way to … Continue reading “How to Make It in (The New) America”
Consumers Still Reluctant to Plug In to Electric Vehicles, Expert Says
Last week, the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) hosted its third annual conference on electric plug-in vehicles, titled “The Business of Plugging In.” The event drew global leaders from the realms of automotives, technology, finance, government, and policy. This year’s conference was different, says Brett Smith, Co-Director of Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology for CAR, in … Continue reading “Consumers Still Reluctant to Plug In to Electric Vehicles, Expert Says”
University of Michigan Awards $34K in Grants, Business Accelerator Space
The Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business today announced the recipients of the Fall 2011 Dare to Dream grant program and TechArb tenancy. Based on business plans submitted to a panel of judges, Dare to Dream awarded funding totaling $34,500 to the … Continue reading “University of Michigan Awards $34K in Grants, Business Accelerator Space”
Detroit Startup iRule Wants to Control Your Universe
About three years ago, two buddies who worked together at an automotive company were fed up with paying thousands of dollars for the universal remote controls required to manage their home theaters. Itai Ben-Gal, an engineer, lamented to Victor Nemirovsky, a computer programmer, that he wished he could just use his iPhone to control his … Continue reading “Detroit Startup iRule Wants to Control Your Universe”
Ann Arbor Startup Aims to be ‘Stub Hub of Event Parking’
The success of the Detroit Lions and Tigers has dominated the headlines recently, but perhaps you’ve heard there’s another big game coming up this weekend: The intense in-state rivalry between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan on Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, MI. I’m not planning on going to the game, … Continue reading “Ann Arbor Startup Aims to be ‘Stub Hub of Event Parking’”
Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge Now Underway
The revamped Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge (MCEVC) is now accepting applications, the University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship announced this week. The MCEVC is a business competition designed to help Michigan students turn cleantech ideas into thriving businesses. New this year is the contest’s six-month format, which includes skill-building and acceleration phases in addition … Continue reading “Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge Now Underway”
Lycera Hires New CEO, Plans Move to U-M Research Center
Plymouth, MI-based biopharmaceutical company Lycera announced yesterday it has hired a new CEO: Kathleen Metters, former senior vice president and head of worldwide basic research at Merck. The company is also in the process of moving from Plymouth to a spot at the University of Michigan’s North Campus Research Center. Metters will continue to be based … Continue reading “Lycera Hires New CEO, Plans Move to U-M Research Center”
Welcome to Detroit: Future Home of RobotTown?
Detroit already has a Greektown, a Corktown, a Poletown, and even Hockeytown. Soon, if Mark Salamango has his way, it will also have RobotTown, a nonprofit “living laboratory” dedicated to robotics innovation, testing, education, incubation, and events. Salamango compares RobotTown, which he hopes will have a campus in the middle of the city, to a … Continue reading “Welcome to Detroit: Future Home of RobotTown?”
Emergent BioSolutions Snags $1.25B Contract to Provide Anthrax Vaccine to Feds
Rockville, MD-based Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE: EBS) today announced it has landed a contract worth $1.25 billion over five years to provide the federal government with 44.75 million doses of BioThrax, the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to protect against anthrax infection. The company will manufacture the vaccine at its facility in … Continue reading “Emergent BioSolutions Snags $1.25B Contract to Provide Anthrax Vaccine to Feds”
Notes from TEDxDetroit: Time for Action
Thinkers, doers, artists, hipsters, nerds, movers, and shakers gathered at the Max M. Fisher Music Theatre yesterday for TEDxDetroit, a beautifully organized confab of metro residents who have planted their flags firmly in the Motor City’s terra firma. These are the folks who are dedicated to pushing the city forward, whether through a “living” robot-tech … Continue reading “Notes from TEDxDetroit: Time for Action”
Accelerate Michigan Announces 53 Semi-Finalists
The 53 semi-finalists in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition have been announced. The global business-plan competition targets mid-to-late-stage business startups with the potential to generate an immediate impact on Michigan’s economy, as well as student concepts with longer-term business viability. (Students can still register up until the September 30 deadline.) At stake is more than … Continue reading “Accelerate Michigan Announces 53 Semi-Finalists”
MI Venture Capital Association Announces Two New Programs
Thanks to a $3.1 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the nonprofit Michigan Venture Capital Association announced it is accepting applications for two new programs designed to retain young talent and expand the state’s angel network. The Michigan Venture Fellows Program gives budding VCs the opportunity to spend 18 to 24 months in … Continue reading “MI Venture Capital Association Announces Two New Programs”
NIH Awards $2.1M grant for Parkinson’s Research at Wayne State University
Wayne State University announced last week that one of its professors, Dr. Aloke Dutta, has received a $2.1 million grant for his work researching drugs that ease symptoms caused by Parkinson’s Disease. Dutta and his team aim to develop drugs with multiple ways of working to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and also to modify … Continue reading “NIH Awards $2.1M grant for Parkinson’s Research at Wayne State University”
U-M’s Faley on Entrepreneurial Programs’ Explosive Growth, and Ending the Midwestern Shame Game
“Entrepreneurialism is a virus that must be spread.” So said Samuel Zell 12 years ago as he and Anne Lurie (on behalf of her deceased husband Robert) gave the University of Michigan Ross School of Business $10 million to establish the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. Since then, the Institute has extended its reach beyond U-M, playing … Continue reading “U-M’s Faley on Entrepreneurial Programs’ Explosive Growth, and Ending the Midwestern Shame Game”
U-M Prof Snags MacArthur Fellowship For Stem Cell Research
When Dr. Yukiko Yamashita’s cell phone rang with the news that she’d been named a MacArthur Fellow, she ignored the call. “Nobody important calls me on that phone, only my family,” Yamashita says. “I held the phone for 10 full seconds wondering if I should answer or not.” Deciding that it was a wrong number, … Continue reading “U-M Prof Snags MacArthur Fellowship For Stem Cell Research”
It’s True: We’re Happy in Detroit
A few years ago, it dawned on me that I was driving to Detroit—80 miles each way–nearly every weekend. Why? Because there was nothing to freaking do in the city I lived in and Detroit seemed to have it all: concerts of every size and genre, live professional sporting events, awesome bars and restaurants. I … Continue reading “It’s True: We’re Happy in Detroit”
Will Detroit’s Hantz Farms be the World’s First Urban Farm?
In a few weeks, Detroit-based Hantz Farms will present the Detroit City Council with its plan to build the largest urban farm the nation has ever seen. The plan has been years and millions of dollars in the making, and there’s no doubt that it has the potential to reinvent the city’s economy, creating jobs … Continue reading “Will Detroit’s Hantz Farms be the World’s First Urban Farm?”
Altair ProductDesign Unveils World’s First Hydraulic Hybrid Bus
Last week, Troy-based Altair ProductDesign unveiled the world’s first series hydraulic hybrid transit bus, the LCO-140H (Low-Cost of Ownership-1st 40-foot Hybrid). The LCO-140H achieved an industry high fuel economy of 6.9 mpg when tested using “stop-and-go” cycles and test protocols established by the Federal Transit Administration —110 percent better fuel economy than conventional diesel buses … Continue reading “Altair ProductDesign Unveils World’s First Hydraulic Hybrid Bus”
NextCAT Awarded $500K Small Business Grant
Detroit-based alternative energy startup NextCAT last week announced it has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the amount of $498,830, bringing NextCAT’s total grant funding to $1.3 million. The company is working to commercialize a class of biofuel catalysts developed at Wayne State University. The … Continue reading “NextCAT Awarded $500K Small Business Grant”
Ford, Bug Labs Team Up To Develop Open-Source Car Connectivity Tools
Cars have come a long way since the Model T. Technology now allows your car to play music off your iPhone, to tell you how to parallel park, and to alert you when you’re about to bump into a shopping cart as you’re backing out. If Ford and New York City-based Bug Labs have anything … Continue reading “Ford, Bug Labs Team Up To Develop Open-Source Car Connectivity Tools”
WSU Program Nurtures Budding Research Scientists
At Wayne State University, labs aren’t just a sterile space for solemn experiments. For students in the school’s Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), it’s a chance to work directly with their instructors, get a taste of the scientific life, and gather some up-close career advice in the process. “The laboratory setting is almost like … Continue reading “WSU Program Nurtures Budding Research Scientists”
Arboretum Closes Third Fund with $140 Million
Ann Arbor, MI-based Arboretum Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage healthcare investments, today announced the final closing of its third investment fund with capital commitments totaling $140 million, well above the $125 million target for the fund. The firm said in a press release that it now has $235 million in capital under management, and has invested … Continue reading “Arboretum Closes Third Fund with $140 Million”
Johnson Controls, Saft to End Battery Partnership
Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) and Saft (Euronext: SAFT) announced Friday that they have reached an agreement to end their joint venture to manufacture advanced batteries for the autmotive industry. JCI will take control of all operations at a plant currently under construction in Holland, MI—a project that was awarded nearly $450 million in state and … Continue reading “Johnson Controls, Saft to End Battery Partnership”
Arctaris Capital Partners Ventures Into Detroit
Why would Waltham, MA-based Arctaris Capital Partners, a venture capital firm seeking new approaches to investment in a post-recession market, choose to open an office in the city that, in the media at least, often serves as the poster child for the carnage wrought by the shrinking American economy? “We started in Detroit 18 months … Continue reading “Arctaris Capital Partners Ventures Into Detroit”
MABEL: U-M Robot to the Rescue
Dateline: 2030, give or take. We’re at war. Bullets are flying, ordnance is exploding, and conditions are beyond dangerous. Soldiers are scattered across the landscape, bleeding and waiting for help. A commander gives the order, and suddenly a fleet of robots storms the battlefield to pull the wounded to the safety of waiting rescue helicopters. … Continue reading “MABEL: U-M Robot to the Rescue”
Mascoma Gets New Financing, Plans 2011 Biorefinery Groundbreaking
Lebanon, NH-based biofuels company Mascoma Corporation has tapped a new $50 million convertible debt financing for $6.9 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 18. Thirty investors participated in the financing, including Hemant Taneja from General Catalyst Partners and Jim Matheson from Flagship Ventures. Mascoma announced in January that it … Continue reading “Mascoma Gets New Financing, Plans 2011 Biorefinery Groundbreaking”
Danotek Raises $15M in Series B Round
Canton, MI-based Danotek Motion Technologies, a startup company that develops and manufactures permanent magnet generators and related converter systems for the wind-energy industry, today announced that it has secured $15 million in funding. Led by four of the world’s leading renewable energy venture capital firms—Khosla Ventures, CMEA Capital, GE Energy Financial Services, and Statoil Technology Invest, along with … Continue reading “Danotek Raises $15M in Series B Round”
A123 Systems, ALTe Sign Long-term Supplier Agreement
Auburn Hills, MI-based ALTe last week announced a long-term supply agreement with Waltham, MA-based A123 Systems for complete lithium ion battery packs to be integrated into ALTe‘s range-extended hybrid electric powertrain systems. The battery packs are designed to deliver higher power, longer life, and increased safety. This announcement comes just weeks after ALTe’s agreement with Pacific … Continue reading “A123 Systems, ALTe Sign Long-term Supplier Agreement”
New Social Networking Site in Detroit Aims to Cultivate Community Leadership
Wade Solomon is an Information Technology project manager for General Electric, an adjunct faculty member for the University of Phoenix in Information Systems and Technology, and an instructor at Kaplan University. In his spare time, he speaks at conferences teaching teens the fundamentals of video game development and animation using an application called Scratch. He … Continue reading “New Social Networking Site in Detroit Aims to Cultivate Community Leadership”
Xconomist of the Week: Sakti3’s Sastry on How to Succeed in Cleantech
Xconomy readers are no doubt familiar with Ann Marie Sastry. She’s the co-founder of Sakti3, a next-generation lithium-ion battery development company, and a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. Sakti3’s battery has already attracted deep-pocketed investors such as Khosla, General Motors, and Beringea. In April, the company’s solid-state batteries made the MIT Technology Review’s … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Sakti3’s Sastry on How to Succeed in Cleantech”