[Updated 7/15/14 at 4:49 p.m. See below.] The Michigan Pre-Seed Fund 2.0, a $6.8 million statewide investment fund, announced today that it has made the fund’s first investment in ENT Biotech Solutions, a Detroit-based medical device startup. The company will receive $100,000 toward the development of a surgical tool for use in tonsil, adenoid, and … Continue reading “Michigan Pre-Seed Fund 2.0 Makes First Investment in ENT Biotech”
Category: Detroit
Easy Flights to Capital
Rather than dipping too deeply into the tax break tool box to attract new business, state and local governments might do just as well to make their local skies more friendly. Some research I’ve recently completed suggests that the easier it is for venture capitalists to travel by air, the better the companies in which … Continue reading “Easy Flights to Capital”
Roundup: Accelerate MI, Beringea, Compuware, LevelEleven & More
Here’s a look at news from around Michigan’s innovation hubs: —I’ve publicly expressed my dismay toward lazy reporting about Detroit on the part of the national media, so it’s only fair to offer praise when praise is due. The New York Times took another foray into Detroit for a lengthy piece in the Times magazine … Continue reading “Roundup: Accelerate MI, Beringea, Compuware, LevelEleven & More”
Stealth Mode is the New Sweet Spot for Some Biotechs
This post was co-authored by Sultan Meghji. In biotech’s early days, telling a story to a wide audience used to be part of the path to success. Founders would share a compelling early narrative to potential investors, reporters, and just about anyone else who would listen. Nature papers were the coin of the realm. But … Continue reading “Stealth Mode is the New Sweet Spot for Some Biotechs”
NanoSteel Inks Deal with Lincoln Electric, Readies Automotive Trials
NanoSteel, a Providence, RI-based company focused on developing iron-based alloys for the auto, mining, power, and oil and gas industries, has announced a licensing deal with Lincoln Electric for a steel coating technology used in weld overlays and thermal spray applications. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lincoln Electric, based in Cleveland, OH, … Continue reading “NanoSteel Inks Deal with Lincoln Electric, Readies Automotive Trials”
Boston Vs. San Francisco: Two Cultures of Innovation
Let’s say you’re an ambitious, creative professional or entrepreneur working in the United States. You’re interested in technology, you have the luxury of mobility, and you want to be close to the center of things. Which city should you choose as your home? If you’re attracted to a specific sub-field, the answer may be obvious. … Continue reading “Boston Vs. San Francisco: Two Cultures of Innovation”
Big Late-Stage Deals and Unicorns Drive U.S. Venture Activity Higher
Two years ago, VC firms shrugged off sluggish economic conditions to invest $8.1 billion in 812 U.S. deals in the second quarter. It was the highest total in more than a decade—and represented a high water mark for venture dollars invested that stood until the first quarter of this year. Now a surge in venture … Continue reading “Big Late-Stage Deals and Unicorns Drive U.S. Venture Activity Higher”
MuniRent Receives $25,000 Seed Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=317d05b2-e8c3-4d5d-a5d7-ebe842a3fb93 Date 7/10/2014 Company Name MuniRent Mailing Address 330 E Liberty Lower Level Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA Company Description MuniRent is a platform that makes it very easy for local governments to lease heavy duty equipment to other local governments. Website http://www.munirent.co Transaction Type Accelerator Transaction Amount $25,000 Transaction Round Seed … Continue reading “MuniRent Receives $25,000 Seed Round”
CureLauncher Aims to Match Patients With Clinical Trials
Two years ago, Steve Goldner was at a funeral. He started chatting with a family friend, a strapping young man in his late 20s who had a girlfriend, a great job in Boston, and his whole life in front of him, except for one thing: He kept blinking his eyes despite the fact that they … Continue reading “CureLauncher Aims to Match Patients With Clinical Trials”
Brazil: Ready for Future Growth in Health Care
The eyes of the world are on Brazil. It is one of the most dynamic countries in the southern hemisphere; the sixth-largest economy in the world; and host of the World Cup, now drawing to a close. In 2016, Brazil will host the Summer Olympics. The World Cup is bringing attention to Brazil, and being … Continue reading “Brazil: Ready for Future Growth in Health Care”
Never Forget a Face? How About Names? Spincard App Could Help
How many times have you been at a party or crowded networking reception, and the introductions are coming so quickly that you forget people’s names almost as soon as you’re introduced to them? A Detroit-based startup called Spincard is trying to build a better mousetrap when it comes to the exchange of personal information. Spincard’s … Continue reading “Never Forget a Face? How About Names? Spincard App Could Help”
The Path of Our Lives
“Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not?” —George Bernard Shaw (paraphrased by Ted Kennedy) I got a call that reminded me that most people live their life as if it’s predestined—but some live theirs fighting to change it. At 19 I joined … Continue reading “The Path of Our Lives”
Drive Capital, Led By Sequoia Vets, Sees Midwest as Next Startup Hub
Chris Olsen thinks the Midwest is a better place to build a startup than either coast, and he intends to prove it. The Cincinnati native was a partner for six years at the well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, before former Sequoia colleague Mark Kvamme recruited Olsen back to Ohio to start a … Continue reading “Drive Capital, Led By Sequoia Vets, Sees Midwest as Next Startup Hub”
Trust but Verify: When Customer Feedback is Not Enough
[Editor’s Note: If you’re following the methodology laid out by startup strategy guru and Xconomist Steve Blank, you have begun with a hypothesis about a customer need or problem. Then you develop a “mininum viable product” (MVP), a prototype with the smallest possible feature set that still shows potential customers how your idea can help … Continue reading “Trust but Verify: When Customer Feedback is Not Enough”
Photo Sharing + Playlists = Selocial
David Baird was working in London as a musician and producer—he’s had his songs featured on the Showtime series “House of Lies” as well as the Wayans Brothers movie “White Chicks”—when he hit upon on the idea of a photo-sharing app that allows users to pair the photographs that they post with short playlists. So … Continue reading “Photo Sharing + Playlists = Selocial”
Innovation Hub: The American Economy Is in Better Shape Than Ever
Despite increasingly good job numbers, pessimism about the economy persists. According to Gallup, almost 60 percent of Americans think the economy is still getting worse. Last week, Clayton Christensen told Innovation Hub that America was on its way to becoming Japan—a country that has been wrestling with stagnation for a quarter century. But Joel Kurtzman, … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: The American Economy Is in Better Shape Than Ever”
IncWell Invests in Seattle Digital Marketing Startup Inside Social
IncWell, the Birmingham, MI-based venture capital fund led by former auto executive Tom LaSorda, said today that it has invested in Inside Social, a Seattle-based startup that has built software to help companies measure how social media engagement translates to actual business results. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Evonna Karchon, IncWell’s director … Continue reading “IncWell Invests in Seattle Digital Marketing Startup Inside Social”
Roundup: Upwardly Global, BoostUp, Jacapps, Quicken Loans, Sakti3
Here’s a look at news from around Michigan’s innovation ecosystem: —On June 20, we published an article in which Steve Tobocman, director of Global Detroit, predicted that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan would soon announce new “immigration reform strategies.” On June 23, the city did indeed announce that the San Francisco-based nonprofit Upwardly Global has opened … Continue reading “Roundup: Upwardly Global, BoostUp, Jacapps, Quicken Loans, Sakti3”
Climbing the Mountain: Or, Life as a Black Founder in Tech
Please give me a minute to talk about diversity in tech, even though I know whenever anyone talks about diversity in the tech industry, there are two types of responses I typically hear: The first is tokenism or the defensive argument. People will usually point to one example of the “diverse” person they hired, funded, … Continue reading “Climbing the Mountain: Or, Life as a Black Founder in Tech”
TurtleCell Announces Partnership, Prepares National Product Launch
When we spoke to the Ann Arbor, MI-based startup TurtleCell last year, the company had recently won the $10,000 first-place prize at the annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers Innovation Showcase for its iPhone case with headphones embedded inside on a retractable cord. Earlier this month, TurtleCell finally made the headphone case for the iPhone … Continue reading “TurtleCell Announces Partnership, Prepares National Product Launch”
May 10,000 Cloud Startups Bloom
The cloud services market has fueled a boom of immensely successful startups, most of which have raised millions in venture funding. Take analytics platform company Birst, which started off in the high end financial sector, raised $64 million in venture capital, and is now growing fast as a regular Silicon Valley-style pre-IPO company. Technology Business … Continue reading “May 10,000 Cloud Startups Bloom”
Saying Nothing With Style: The 2014 BioPharma Edition of BS Bingo
Several years ago, I wrote an article venting my frustrations with having to sift through the fog and jargon of poorly written analyses of the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. I recounted that, “years ago, a thoughtful co-worker passed along to me a copy of a game called ‘BS Bingo’ that was designed to keep you awake during … Continue reading “Saying Nothing With Style: The 2014 BioPharma Edition of BS Bingo”
Langer, Led Zeppelin, and Hookups: Three Days Behind the BIO Scenes
Don’t let the blind men groping the elephant fool you. No one can get their arms around the massive, 15,000-attendee BIO conference, the industry’s annual flagship convention, and tell you what the real zeitgeist is. It’s all selection bias: If, say, you’ve been keenly following cancer immunotherapy the past couple years, you probably went to … Continue reading “Langer, Led Zeppelin, and Hookups: Three Days Behind the BIO Scenes”
Innovation Hub: Is America Becoming the Next Japan?
For much of its history, the U.S. has been a place of innovation, where new ideas and products could flourish. But that era may be coming to an abrupt end, warns Clayton Christensen, who coined the term “disruptive innovation” and teaches at Harvard Business School. Christensen, author of “The Capitalist’s Dilemma,” believes that American business … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Is America Becoming the Next Japan?”
Five Annoying Tech Problems for the Next Hot Startup to Solve
Why is it that we can put a man on the Moon, but we can’t figure out how to screen jet passengers without making everyone take their shoes off? Well, the truth is, we can’t even put a man on the Moon—not anymore. It’s not a technical impossibility, but reconstituting the technologies that helped a … Continue reading “Five Annoying Tech Problems for the Next Hot Startup to Solve”
Ann Arbor SPARK Snags $500K From MEDC to Establish New Angel Fund
The business development agency Ann Arbor SPARK said on Wednesday that it has been awarded $500,000 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to continue the Michigan Angel Fund and to raise the group’s second fund, called Michigan Angel Fund II. “The whole idea behind the Michigan Angel Fund is to allow qualified investors to … Continue reading “Ann Arbor SPARK Snags $500K From MEDC to Establish New Angel Fund”
BIO 2014: Innovations in 3-D Tissue for Disease and Drug Discovery
Editor’s Note: Sharon Presnell discussed the use of bioprinting and 3D tissue to improve predictability in preclinical drug discovery this week at the BIO 2014 convention in San Diego. —BVB The human race consists of a large population of genetically diverse organisms. This inherent diversity is compounded daily by the individualistic way we go about … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Innovations in 3-D Tissue for Disease and Drug Discovery”
King of BIO: The Chairwoman of Biotech’s Top Trade Org Talks Policy
Rachel King is CEO of GlycoMimetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GLYC]]), a Gaithersburg, MD-based drug developer, and the current chairwoman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. As a heavily regulated industry, biopharma’s interactions with politicians and policy makers are crucial, and BIO has grown in recent years to become a Washington, DC power broker. Look no further for proof … Continue reading “King of BIO: The Chairwoman of Biotech’s Top Trade Org Talks Policy”
Wayne State University Biomedical Engineering Symposium
In celebration of its 75th anniversary, the Wayne State University Department of Biomedical Engineering will host an international symposium titled “75 Years of Excellence in Injury Research: Biomechanics, Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment,” featuring a full roster of expert speakers. For registration and details, click here.
Coolhouse Labs Demo Day
Eight teams from around the world are spending the summer in Harbor Springs, a community on the shores of Lake Michigan, building their startups. This event is the culmination of the summer program, where the startups will pitch their ideas to a group of investors. Click here for more information.
Techonomy Detroit
Techonomy Detroit is back with its third annual conference exploring how technology boosts U.S. competitiveness, jobs, growth, and urban revitalization. Confirmed speakers include Jennifer Bradley of the Brookings Institute; Stacy Brown-Philpot, COO of Task Rabbit; Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square; Harvard Business Review executive editor Justin Fox; and Zach Sims, founder and CEO of … Continue reading “Techonomy Detroit”
AOL Founder Steve Case: Detroit Has All the Ingredients for a Comeback
The Rise of the Rest bus tour kicked off in Detroit yesterday as part of a broader effort to shine a national spotlight on a shift in the geography of high-growth entrepreneurship and the emergence of strong startup ecosystems in the nation’s heartland. The bus tour, sponsored by AOL founder and philanthropist Steve Case’s company … Continue reading “AOL Founder Steve Case: Detroit Has All the Ingredients for a Comeback”
MVPs in Health: Minimum Viable Product or Mightily Vexing Problem?
One thing the tech software industry is great at is failing fast. This concept of “failing fast” means, at least in part, rapidly bringing a “minimum viable product” to market, even if it’s a little rocky and feature-light, and then fixing it as it gets adopted by iterating with new releases. We see this all … Continue reading “MVPs in Health: Minimum Viable Product or Mightily Vexing Problem?”
BIO 2014: Two Cities, One Economy, and a Unique Innovation Ecosystem
Editor’s note: Mary Walshok will discuss how Mexican policy is using public-private partnerships to spur biotech innovation and investment in a breakout session Thursday at the BIO 2014 convention in San Diego. —BVB One of the under-appreciated features of the San Diego innovation ecosystem is the increasing significance of its proximity to one of North … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Two Cities, One Economy, and a Unique Innovation Ecosystem”
Vestaron Receives $1,009,737 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d7f8e7a4-c604-45ce-a9d5-3beb05dbe26b Date 6/25/2014 Company Name Vestaron Mailing Address 4717 Campus Drive Kalamazoo, MI 49008 USA Company Description Vestaron Corporation is developing a new generation of insecticides by employing peptides sourced from spiders – insecticides that are ideally suited for the environmentally conscious, twenty-first century. Over 50 unique, spider-venom peptides with novel sites … Continue reading “Vestaron Receives $1,009,737 New Financing Round”
Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress
Join participants for four days of programming celebrating transportation innovators. Includes an entrepreneurial village and investor matching event. For details, click here.
BIO 2014: Training Bio-Entrepreneurs to Use Coffee, Yoga, and Data
Editor’s note: Court Turner was a speaker in the bootcamp for biotechnology entrepreneurship at this week’s BIO 2014 Convention in San Diego. —BVB As a venture partner at San Diego’s Avalon Ventures, I divide my work day into three distinct activities: Coffee (at the best coffee shop in San Diego); Yoga (at a studio near … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Training Bio-Entrepreneurs to Use Coffee, Yoga, and Data”
Keep Calm and Test the Hypothesis
[Editor’s Note: On June 2 we published a video from startup strategy guru Steve Blank on The Real Meaning of “Minimum Viable Product.” A proper MVP, Blank argued in that video, is a prototype with the smallest possible feature set that still shows potential customers how your idea can help them. Once you have an MVP, … Continue reading “Keep Calm and Test the Hypothesis”
Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Awards $60K to Michigan Startups
On Friday, the Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, a statewide competition months in the making, concluded with a showcase celebrating the 11 startups that are this year’s winners. On the table were $60,000 in cash awards, a host of in-kind services provided by partner organizations, and admission to Michigan Corps’ Impact Investment Fellowship, a summer training … Continue reading “Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Awards $60K to Michigan Startups”
Innovation Beers: 8 Great Tasting, Low ABV Brews
Summer is (gleefully for me) upon us. As the heat rises, innovators need fuel of all types—but perhaps most especially the beer type. At least that’s the way I see it. But not all beers fit the mold, so to speak, for what I have in mind: to be innovation beers, they need to be … Continue reading “Innovation Beers: 8 Great Tasting, Low ABV Brews”
BIO 2014: Antisense and Disruptive Technologies for Drug Discovery
Editor’s note: The BIO 2014 convention begins today in San Diego. Stanley Crooke is among the speakers at a breakout session Wednesday titled Blazing New Trails in Disruptive Innovation: Stem Cells, RNA and Epigenetics-Based Therapeutics. —BVB For the past 25 years I, with my colleagues at Isis Pharmaceuticals, have persevered in the creation and validation … Continue reading “BIO 2014: Antisense and Disruptive Technologies for Drug Discovery”
Tobocman: Eric Cantor’s Defeat Hardly the End of Immigration Reform
Steve Tobocman, director of the immigration reform group Global Detroit, was at the second annual Global Great Lakes Network Convening last week when he heard the news: Eric Cantor, the sitting House Majority Leader, had been defeated in a Republican primary by a political novice, Dave Brat, who ran a grassroots campaign on what amounts … Continue reading “Tobocman: Eric Cantor’s Defeat Hardly the End of Immigration Reform”
Innovation Hub: Stop Listening to the Same People
How do you break out of your old mindset, in a way that will fuel innovation? Try heading to 16th-century Florence, according to Frans Johansson, the best-selling author of The Medici Effect. Johansson notes that the wealthy Medici family corralled a truly diverse set of thinkers, put them in the same place, and watched creativity … Continue reading “Innovation Hub: Stop Listening to the Same People”
Pogoplug: One Service to Back Up All Your Devices
I’m a little obsessive when it comes to backups. In my Windows days, in the early 2000s, I used to make complete CD-ROM copies of my PC’s hard drive every couple of months. Until last year, I had two separate online backup services running on my Macbook Pro—Carbonite and Backblaze—along with an external hard drive … Continue reading “Pogoplug: One Service to Back Up All Your Devices”
TechTown Hires Paul Riser Jr. to Run Tech-Based Entrepreneurship
Last week, the Detroit-based business accelerator TechTown announced it had hired Paul Riser Jr. as its new managing director of technology-based entrepreneurship. Riser replaces Charlie Moret, who left earlier this year to lead the new nonprofit Invest Michigan, which manages the Michigan Pre-Seed Fund 2.0. Riser has an extensive background as an entrepreneur, information officer, … Continue reading “TechTown Hires Paul Riser Jr. to Run Tech-Based Entrepreneurship”
Amazon’s Fire Phone: One Big Piece of a Real-World Shopping Push
Anyone who’s fallen into a wormhole of product recommendations can testify that buying things on Amazon.com is already pretty easy. With an Internet connection and a bank card, just about anything you can dream up is available around the clock, ready to be shipped to your door. But some things haven’t changed all that much … Continue reading “Amazon’s Fire Phone: One Big Piece of a Real-World Shopping Push”
Why Lean May Save Your Life: The I-Corps at NIH
Today the National Institutes of Health announced they are offering my Lean LaunchPad class (I-Corps @ NIH ) to commercialize Life Science. There may come a day that one of these teams makes a drug, diagnostic or medical device that saves your life. —- Over the last two and a half years the National Science … Continue reading “Why Lean May Save Your Life: The I-Corps at NIH”
BIO 2014: An Industry Surrounded by Insurmountable Opportunity
Biotech is riding the crest of a wave of public and private financial interest unparalleled in the 36-years since the founding of Genentech. Since 2012 public markets have committed $10.3 billion to more than 100 life-sciences IPOs, an industry record. Pharma has been buying/partnering with biotech on an unprecedented scale. Research breakthroughs from cancer immunotherapy … Continue reading “BIO 2014: An Industry Surrounded by Insurmountable Opportunity”
Avegant Receives $4,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=caa31a77-da21-4e5b-93d8-fdc07b4911f7 Date 6/19/2014 Company Name Avegant Mailing Address 210 E. Huron Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA Company Description Avegant is commercializing exciting next generation projection displays technologies. Founded in 2012 by Edward Tang and Allan Evans, its offices are currently located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information regarding the company or … Continue reading “Avegant Receives $4,000,000 New Financing Round”
MI Roundup: Contest Deadlines, Personnel Changes, New Investments, More
Here’s a look at news briefs from around Michigan’s innovation hubs: —Applications for the third annual Entrepreneur-YOU business plan competition are now being accepted from women-owned businesses or women with a hot startup idea. The competition will award cash prizes to six winners and coaching to 10 businesses, which includes advice on marketing, financial management, … Continue reading “MI Roundup: Contest Deadlines, Personnel Changes, New Investments, More”