This Detroit event bills itself as the flagship international event uniting the stem cell community by bringing together scientists, patients, advocates, business people, investors, educators, ethicists, policy makers, government representatives, and others to network and learn from each other. Organizers say the summit will attract more than 1,200 attendees from 30 nations, 60 exhibitors and … Continue reading “World Stem Cell Summit”
Category: Detroit
Kleiner-Backed V-Vehicle’s Headquarters Remains in San Diego—For Now
San Diego has learned from years of painful experience that being the hometown of a corporate headquarters is an insecure relationship that depends entirely on the fidelity of the company’s CEO. So it seemed inevitable that San Diego-based V-Vehicle would move its headquarters to the San Francisco Bay Area after the wheels came off the … Continue reading “Kleiner-Backed V-Vehicle’s Headquarters Remains in San Diego—For Now”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode V: Minneapolis, MN
When I hatched this kooky plan to drive across the country to San Francisco, shooting, editing, and publishing videos along the way, I had no idea it would be quite so exhausting. So when we reached the home of Graham’s friend Oliver Zhou in Minneapolis Wednesday night, we were grateful to have a place to … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode V: Minneapolis, MN”
Michigan Team Scores DFJ, Cisco Award
Ambiq Micro, a startup involving business school students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has won $250,000 from venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson and communications technology company Cisco Systems, according to a news release. Ambiq Micro, which is working on energy-efficient microcontrollers, beat out 15 other finalists in the competition, which required … Continue reading “Michigan Team Scores DFJ, Cisco Award”
Ambiq Micro Secures $250,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6526e77d-3fa7-4669-8535-d8e7e9f15edb&Preview=1 Date 7/2/2010 Company Name Ambiq Micro Mailing Address Undisclosed Undisclosed, MI 48710 Company Description The company is developing next-generation energy-efficient microcontrollers. Website http://www.AmbiqMicro.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $250,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Investor Cisco Systems, … Continue reading “Ambiq Micro Secures $250,000 New Round”
OnStar-Google eNav Goes Live
Drivers of GM vehicles can now click on an eNav button on Google Maps results that will allow users to send turn-by-turn directions to the OnStar units in their cars. Xconomy reported the OnStar Google partnership a few weeks ago and now the system is live. In case you don’t get it, GM has a … Continue reading “OnStar-Google eNav Goes Live”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode IV: Torch Lake, MI
Sharon Branson, a retired nurse, and her husband Dean Branson, a retired industrial chemist and toxicologist, are busy enough for any three non-retired couples. I met this fascinating couple through my parents, who serve with Dean in the Three Lakes Association, a conservation group working to preserve the natural environment around Michigan’s Torch Lake and … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode IV: Torch Lake, MI”
Rising from the Ashes of Pfizer: The Michigan Contract Research Organization Cluster
[Updated and corrected: 11:30 am, 7/7/10] Michigan suffered one heck of a body blow in January 2007. That’s when Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, said it was shutting down its Ann Arbor, MI, research and development center, and eliminating 2,400 jobs. That’s usually the end of the story, as hardly anybody keep tracks of what … Continue reading “Rising from the Ashes of Pfizer: The Michigan Contract Research Organization Cluster”
Airport Wind Turbine, Educational Software, Customized News Get Michigan Microloan Funds
Three Michigan companies have received a combined $104,000 through the Michigan Microloan Fund Program, managed by the Ann Arbor SPARK business incubator. This latest round means the program has invested a total of more than $1.3 million in 36 companies since it was started last July. Microloans range from $10,000 to $50,000 and are reserved … Continue reading “Airport Wind Turbine, Educational Software, Customized News Get Michigan Microloan Funds”
Should It Be Called “Startbucks?”
Today Starbucks begins providing free Internet in their stores. To me, this means that Howard Schultz has just provided 11,000 free offices for startups. To an entrepreneur, having tables, chairs, free Internet, and access to food and coffee is a golden opportunity. To a professional who provides support services to startups (e.g. marketing, design, business … Continue reading “Should It Be Called “Startbucks?””
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode III, Who’s Wade?
Mile 971—northern Michigan. We definitely aren’t taking the direct route from Boston to San Francisco. We’ve veered north in order to take in Torch Lake—where we’ve spent the last two nights with my parents—and Minneapolis, our next destination. We were at Torch Lake long enough to record two videos. The second, coming tomorrow, is a … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode III, Who’s Wade?”
Toyota Delivers Three Prius Plug-In Hybrids for Year-Long Demo
San Diego Gas & Electric and the nonprofit California Center for Sustainable Energy rolled out three Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) today in what’s expected to be at least a year-long program intended to assess the vehicles’ performance in real-world driving conditions throughout the United States. The three cars unveiled today in San Diego … Continue reading “Toyota Delivers Three Prius Plug-In Hybrids for Year-Long Demo”
Tesla Rocks the Nasdaq, But Analysts Skeptical Electric Car Company Can Go The Distance
Tesla, the Palo Alto, CA electric car company, wowed the markets today when it went public, raising $229 million in the IPO and trading at $17 apiece, a buck more than the company’s estimated upper range of $16 a share. Despite the strong start in an otherwise weak IPO market, some analysts are cautious about … Continue reading “Tesla Rocks the Nasdaq, But Analysts Skeptical Electric Car Company Can Go The Distance”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode II: Rochester, NY
A confession: Graham and I recorded the first episode in this week’s video travelogue series, the interview with Mark Nelson at C.B. Fisk in Gloucester, MA, a couple of weeks ago as a dry run for our trip. Today’s episode is the first one shot en route. We left Boston early Sunday morning, June 27, … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode II: Rochester, NY”
San Diego’s Genomatica Scales Up Bio-Based Technology in Michigan Demo
Genomatica says it has successfully scaled up technology that uses genetically engineered microbes to make 1,4-butanediol (BDO)—a solvent and industrial chemical usually made from crude oil or natural gas. The San Diego company, which touts itself as a leader in the “sustainable chemicals revolution,” worked with an industrial biotechnology partner in Lansing, MI, to make … Continue reading “San Diego’s Genomatica Scales Up Bio-Based Technology in Michigan Demo”
Dream of an IPO, but Plan for an Acquisition
It’s now very clear to me: a successful M&A exit is far more likely for entrepreneurs than the once vaunted IPO. Structural changes in the venture-IPO ecosystem over the past 15 years have made it increasingly difficult for young companies to successfully tap the public markets to fuel their continued growth. While this fact has … Continue reading “Dream of an IPO, but Plan for an Acquisition”
Tesla Investors Hope IPO Heralds a New Era in Electric Automobiles
San Francisco angel investor Bill Lee says he knew what he was getting himself into four years ago when he decided to invest in Tesla, the Palo Alto, CA electric car company that is expected to go public Tuesday. Much of the media coverage today has focused on the fact that Tesla has not turned … Continue reading “Tesla Investors Hope IPO Heralds a New Era in Electric Automobiles”
World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode I: Gloucester, MA
If you don’t know where you started from, it’s harder to figure out where you’re going. That’s why we chose to kick off this week’s special video travelogue series, World Wide Wade Goes West, in a place that’s as East Coast as they come: the historic seaport of Gloucester, MA. While Gloucester is famous for … Continue reading “World Wide Wade Goes West—Episode I: Gloucester, MA”
Future Biotech Winners Will Help Nurses Clean up Less (Stuff), Says Roger Longman
Savvy biotech companies developing, say, cancer drugs, will have to do more in the future than just look at whether a new drug is safe and kills tumors, according to Roger Longman. They’ll also measure things that really count for payers, like length of hospital stays, and—set aside your bowl of Cheerios—how much time it … Continue reading “Future Biotech Winners Will Help Nurses Clean up Less (Stuff), Says Roger Longman”
Starting Your Own Business
At this forum, sponsored by Ann Arbor SPARK, participants will learn about personality traits that impact entrepreneurialism, create a marketing plan for their business, learn about legal, accounting, franchises, business plans and financing options. They’ll receive one-on-one counseling with a business expert and have an opportunity to get advice from a variety of business experts … Continue reading “Starting Your Own Business”
Biomass Plant For Michigan’s UP
Verso Paper, a paper products company based in Memphis, TN, is building a $43 million renewable energy biomass plant in the Upper Peninsula Michigan town of Quinnesec, the company has announced (PDF). The plant is made possible through tax breaks awarded by the state declaring the area a Forest Products Processing Renaissance Zone. The plant … Continue reading “Biomass Plant For Michigan’s UP”
Consumers Energy To Reach 6.2 Percent Renewable Power After Deal With Four New Michigan Projects
With Michigan law requiring that 10 percent of its energy supply come from renewable sources by 2015, Consumers Energy has announced its supply will reach 6.2 percent after it purchases electricity from four new renewable energy projects. Consumers Energy, which supplies power to more than 6 million of Michigan’s 10 million residents, has reached power … Continue reading “Consumers Energy To Reach 6.2 Percent Renewable Power After Deal With Four New Michigan Projects”
26 Apps to Drive Your iPad Wild!
Being one of the earliest of early adopters—I got my first iPad about half an hour after they went on sale on April 3—I’m often asked by friends, family members, and readers about my favorite iPhone and iPad applications. I’ve written plenty of columns about iPhone apps, so now it’s the iPad’s turn. Given the … Continue reading “26 Apps to Drive Your iPad Wild!”
5th Annual Michigan Energy Fair
The Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association advocates and promotes policies, technologies, and practices that are environmentally and economically sustainable while partnering with key stakeholders to connect businesses, government, and communities to increase use of renewable energy technologies. The goal of the group’s Michigan Energy Fair is to allow those in the sustainable energy industry an … Continue reading “5th Annual Michigan Energy Fair”
Startup School, Round Two: The 2010 Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators
A common trait among entrepreneurs is their distaste for working alone. Fortunately, there are programs across the country that aim to surround startups with entrepreneur comrades, seasoned execs, and investors, to provide both community and guidance. We rounded up these programs last year in the inaugural Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators, and are back again … Continue reading “Startup School, Round Two: The 2010 Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators”
Fixing the Broken Model: Look Inside Your Company
You know that ominous figure people always talk about, that one staggering number—$1.3 billion these days—that represents the cost to develop and market a drug? It is, to be sure, way too high and unsustainably so. The billions of dollars that have been invested to discover the next generation of blockbusters have, for the most … Continue reading “Fixing the Broken Model: Look Inside Your Company”
Borders Joins E-Reader Price Wars with Kobo Device, Gift Cards, New Apps, Even A Free Cup of Joe
This isn’t quite the $49 “paperback Kindle” that marketing guru Seth Godin has been urging Amazon to build, but Ann Arbor, MI-based bookseller Borders is firing another shot in the e-reader price wars brought on by the introduction of Apple’s iPad, which scared the bejeezus out of the nascent industry. Borders has announced that it … Continue reading “Borders Joins E-Reader Price Wars with Kobo Device, Gift Cards, New Apps, Even A Free Cup of Joe”
Consumer Genetics Needs More Transparency, Not Excessive Regulation
[Editor’s Note: Daniel MacArthur, a researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, and the author of Genetic Future, co-wrote this post.] Are you ready for consumer genetics? Is your government? Recent announcements of federal investigations into the budding direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing industry suggest that authorities are preparing to increase regulation of … Continue reading “Consumer Genetics Needs More Transparency, Not Excessive Regulation”
Northern Border Security Conference
The Michigan Security Network, a nonprofit organization involving private companies, universities, and opinion leaders advancing the homeland security industry in Michigan, is holding a conference to bring together government, business, and technology leaders to address high-priority challenges in the security field.
Michigan-Based Site Boocoo.com Thinks It’s Found a Way to Compete with Craigslist and eBay…and Save Your Local Newspaper
Since Monday, if you’ve paid close attention, you might have noticed a goofy-sounding phrase in your Boston Herald or San Diego Union-Tribune: “Boocoo Auctions.” It comes from a Royal Oak, MI, based company called Ranger Data Technologies and is part of an ambitious plan to take lost advertising revenue back from Craigslist and eBay. But, … Continue reading “Michigan-Based Site Boocoo.com Thinks It’s Found a Way to Compete with Craigslist and eBay…and Save Your Local Newspaper”
Esperion Reaches Deal With TransGenRx
Esperion Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company based in Ann Arbor, MI, has announced that TransGenRx, a Baton Rouge, LA, company, will produce protein-based therapeutics to be used in Esperion’s research. Esperion is developing therapies to treat cardio-metabolic disease including therapies based on HDL, the body’s “good” cholesterol, which has been shown to play an important role … Continue reading “Esperion Reaches Deal With TransGenRx”
Major Michigan Business Incubators Get $3M Incentive to Get Their Act Together
Southeast Michigan’s four major business incubators are, at last, discovering how to work together, with $3 million worth of prodding from the New Economy Initiative, a philanthropic organization aimed at transitioning the region to an innovation-based economy. The leaders of Ann Arbor SPARK, Techtown in Detroit, Automation Alley in Troy, MI, and the Macomb-OU INCubator … Continue reading “Major Michigan Business Incubators Get $3M Incentive to Get Their Act Together”
Fallbrook Moves Ahead With Chinese Bus Deal
In a move foreshadowed last month in its amended IPO filing, San Diego’s Fallbrook Technologies says today it has inked a deal with China’s Chengdu Bus Co. to put its accessory drive technology into buses made for use in the Chinese market by Chengdu. Bill Klehm, Fallbrook’s chairman and CEO, calls the memorandum of understanding … Continue reading “Fallbrook Moves Ahead With Chinese Bus Deal”
CytoPherx of Ann Arbor Raises $5M For Device To Treat Kidney Failure
CytoPherx, a medical device company based in Ann Arbor, MI, has raised $5 million toward a $7.5 million Series B round, according to VentureWire and a June 11 regulatory filing. CytoPherx is a portfolio company of Apjohn Ventures, based in Kalamazoo, MI, which participated in the round led by Diamond Capital Partners in Los Angeles. … Continue reading “CytoPherx of Ann Arbor Raises $5M For Device To Treat Kidney Failure”
CytoPherx Lands $5,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4c375f11-3dbc-4a12-aff4-856e7531927a&Preview=1 Date 6/21/2010 Company Name CytoPherx Mailing Address 401 W. Morgan Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48108 Company Description CytoPherx, Inc., founded in July 2007 and headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a venture-backed, clinical stage medical device company addressing inflammation-based diseases and conditions with a proprietary selective cytopheresis system. The Company’s products … Continue reading “CytoPherx Lands $5,000,000 New Funding”
Goodbye, Boston
Who was it who wrote, “If Silicon Valley didn’t exist, Boston would have to invent it in order to have someplace to feel inferior to”? Oh wait, that was me. It was a snarky thing to say—but it was back in February 2009, and I was feeling piqued at the time about calls for a … Continue reading “Goodbye, Boston”
Own a Volt, Get a Jolt With Free Chargers From GM and the Feds
General Motors is planning to give away free high-speed home chargers to juice up its gas-electric hybrid Chevy … I mean, Chevrolet … Volt when it’s released to customers this year. The money to cover the 4,400 freebie 240-volt chargers comes from federal stimulus dollars and is part of the Detroit automaker’s general strategy of … Continue reading “Own a Volt, Get a Jolt With Free Chargers From GM and the Feds”
Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs
This free interactive presentation will cover the types of intellectual property, the biggest pitfall in patent law, and the biggest misunderstanding in patent law. It will end with a short discussion on what do investors want to hear when they ask about your intellectual property.
MichBio Expo
Billed as the largest single gathering of biosciences professionals in Michigan, the MichBio Expo attracted 530 participants and 57 exhibitors last year. Seventy percent of attendees are executives in biosciences companies, research institutions and universities with another 25 percent representing service providers and other related industries. Michigan biosciences companies will present before an audience of … Continue reading “MichBio Expo”
NanoBio, Grand River Granted Tax Credits
Two Ann Arbor, MI, companies have been given tax credits from the state of Michigan in exchange for commitments to expand and hire more workers over the next five years. Biopharmaceutical company NanoBio received tax credits valued at $434,378 to be used for a planned $1.4 million expansion and to hire 32 more people on … Continue reading “NanoBio, Grand River Granted Tax Credits”
Michigan State’s InPore Hopes to Churn Out Better Wind Turbines Through Chemistry
Michigan State University spinout InPore Technologies makes a particle that, when mixed with other materials, makes plastic stronger, lighter, cheaper, and more flame-retardant. Yeah. I know. Doesn’t sound all that sexy. It really is, but we’ll get to that in a moment. First, the reason the East Lansing, MI-based company recently earned a $100,000 paycheck … Continue reading “Michigan State’s InPore Hopes to Churn Out Better Wind Turbines Through Chemistry”
Esperion, Cleveland Clinic Collaborate
Esperion Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company based in Ann Arbor, MI, has signed an agreement with the Cleveland Clinic to advance research targeting new HDL therapies to treat cardiovascular disease. “When Esperion was first founded, we collaborated with Cleveland Clinic in a research effort that showed for the first time that HDL can reverse atherosclerosis in … Continue reading “Esperion, Cleveland Clinic Collaborate”
Beringea Invests in Detroit Area Internet Player Startup Livio Radio
Jake Sigal unceremoniously bootstrapped his company out of his guest bedroom in my hometown of Ferndale, MI, about 2 1/2 years ago—tinkering around with the idea of a stand-alone Internet radio. Today, Sigal’s company, Livio Radio, is the recipient of an investment from Beringea, one of Michigan’s largest venture capital firms. I spoke with Sigal … Continue reading “Beringea Invests in Detroit Area Internet Player Startup Livio Radio”
Xconomy Arrives in San Francisco Bay Area, Telling Stories of Innovation in the Global Capital of Technology and Entrepreneurship
MIT’s Robert Solow won the 1987 Nobel Prize in economics for showing that long-term growth in advanced economies like the United States is not driven so much by capital investment, the pillar of classic economics, as by technological progress. Nearly three years ago, on June 27, 2007, Xconomy began publishing online from Kendall Square, Cambridge, … Continue reading “Xconomy Arrives in San Francisco Bay Area, Telling Stories of Innovation in the Global Capital of Technology and Entrepreneurship”
Aastrom Shows Off Vascular Results
Aastrom Biosciences, the Ann Arbor, MI-based developer of cell therapies for cardiovascular diseases, is presenting some new data on a clinical trial of its method against critical limb ischemia, a complication of clogged arteries that often leads to amputation and death. Detailed results from half of the first 90 patients are being presented today at … Continue reading “Aastrom Shows Off Vascular Results”
Wolverine, Early Stage Funds Invest in SaaS Firm
Wolverine Venture Fund, a $5.2 million student-led fund managed by the University of Michigan’s business school, and Early Stage Partners, a Cleveland based VC firm with an office in Ann Arbor, MI, have invested in Intelligent Clearing Network, a Connecticut-based software-as-a-service firm that validates and clears coupons in real time at point of sale, according … Continue reading “Wolverine, Early Stage Funds Invest in SaaS Firm”
KeyOn Communications Holdings Acquires Dynamic Broadband Corporation for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a6487804-bf23-4220-a012-4dc820d4c665&Preview=1 Date 6/11/2010 Company Name Dynamic Broadband Corporation Mailing Address 2750 1st Avenue North East Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 Company Description For over five years, Dynamic Broadband has been delivering the best high speed internet solutions to businesses in the midwest. Some of Iowa’s largest companies are utilizing our service as well … Continue reading “KeyOn Communications Holdings Acquires Dynamic Broadband Corporation for Undisclosed Sum”
Xconomy Welcomes Susan Hunt Stevens to Our Board
A lot of great things have been happening here at Xconomy lately. We have done syndication deals with the Boston Globe and Motley Fool, launched our new Health IT channel, and expanded to Detroit—with another geographic expansion coming up very soon (stay tuned). Today, though, I am extremely pleased to announce that we have expanded … Continue reading “Xconomy Welcomes Susan Hunt Stevens to Our Board”
South Korean Company Moves Lithium-Ion Battery Plant To Michigan
TSC Michigan, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Techno Semichem, which develops components for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, cut the ribbon Wednesday for new U.S. headquarters in Northville Township near Detroit. The plant is expected to create 279 new direct jobs over five years and 1,394 indirect ones. It was another case of tax breaks … Continue reading “South Korean Company Moves Lithium-Ion Battery Plant To Michigan”
The Genomics Comeback
One of the things that fascinates me most about the slow-paced business of biotech is how utterly mismatched it is against the demands of Wall Street. Asking for quarterly earnings reports from companies that are in the red, and likely to remain so for years, while they test drug candidates in early-stage clinical trials (which … Continue reading “The Genomics Comeback”