Category: Detroit

Compuware Flags Massive, Mysterious Chinese Internet Outage

[Updated 1/23/14, 12:55 p.m. See below.] It was roughly 3 p.m. in China on Tuesday when Heiko Specht, a Compuware performance specialist based in Munich, noticed a huge drop-off in Chinese Web traffic going to .com, .net, and .org domains. Detroit-based Compuware has monitors all over the globe for just such an event; according to company officials, … Continue reading “Compuware Flags Massive, Mysterious Chinese Internet Outage”

How Startups Can Navigate the Dynamic IT Channel

The IT industry is one of the most dynamic industries where companies are under constant pressure to keep up with the rapid pace of technological advances and trends. However, information databases on IT companies aren’t always up-to-date. Therefore, navigating the IT channel to find potential channel partners to take a product to market is often … Continue reading “How Startups Can Navigate the Dynamic IT Channel”

Tech Wants to Ride Along, from LG’s Lifeband to Ford’s C-Max Solar

Who doesn’t want to check their heart rate while listening to music? Invading more parts of people’s lives is an ongoing goal for gadget developers. And now, more than ever, they want to come along for the ride in devices you can wear or drive. Plenty of updates of existing devices were on display at … Continue reading “Tech Wants to Ride Along, from LG’s Lifeband to Ford’s C-Max Solar”

Students Converge on Detroit for Record-Breaking Weekend Hackathon

After 36 feverish hours, the third MHacks event had finally reached its culmination late Sunday afternoon at the Qube in downtown Detroit, and this was the scene: Multi-colored towers of sleeping bags and pillows; plates of partially eaten chicken and broccoli casserole; a graveyard of empty water bottles and pop cans. Hundreds of bleary-eyed students … Continue reading “Students Converge on Detroit for Record-Breaking Weekend Hackathon”

The Village Walk: Trust, Relevance, and Reputation in Tech

Dawn broke quietly that morning near Eregi, in Western Kenya, apricot light chasing the indigo of night, birdcalls and soft footsteps sounding outside my farm room’s door. I shared that room with my son, then 11. We were visiting Kenya to work at a favorite childrens’ home and meet with rural entrepreneurs in the “birthplace … Continue reading “The Village Walk: Trust, Relevance, and Reputation in Tech”

The Big Guys Have Lost Their Iron Grip, and It’s All Good

Thinking about Big Pharma’s relationship with the biotech industry last week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco reminded me of an old physical education teacher I had in 7th grade. This guy was feared for his patented “pinch.” He would grab misbehaving teenage boys by the clavicle, and squeeze so hard that … Continue reading “The Big Guys Have Lost Their Iron Grip, and It’s All Good”

Roundup: iRule, Blackstone LaunchPad, Co-Working in Detroit

Here’s a look at some of the news you may have missed from around Southeast Michigan’s innovation community: —IRule, a Detroit-based startup that has created a smartphone-based remote control, won the Consumers Electronics Association’s Mark of Excellence award for “Control Product of the Year” at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. IRule was … Continue reading “Roundup: iRule, Blackstone LaunchPad, Co-Working in Detroit”

Google Gets a Nest, But Is It Flying Too High?

Somebody needs to say it: Google is getting too big. When one organization controls so much of the infrastructure of the digital economy, it’s not good for consumers. And when it has such an outsized influence on the resources flowing to inventors, programmers, and entrepreneurs, it’s not good for innovation. Like almost everyone else I … Continue reading “Google Gets a Nest, But Is It Flying Too High?”

MIT Sloan Students Meet Bay Area Innovators Tackling Huge Problems

I’d heard a lot about Silicon Valley, but had lived and worked in Europe and Asia until I came to MIT Sloan School of Management. Passionate about bringing new technologies to market, I wanted to do an MBA program in the U.S. because, more than anywhere else, this is where taking risk is valued as … Continue reading “MIT Sloan Students Meet Bay Area Innovators Tackling Huge Problems”

2013 VC Funding Tops $29B, and Software Continues to Eat the World

A few years ago, the technology investor Marc Andreessen wrote an essay that explained “Why Software is Eating the World”—and in 2013 venture capital investors laid out a feast to match the industry’s voracious appetite. Venture investments in both software and Internet-specific deals last year amounted to $18.1 billion, or nearly 62 percent of the … Continue reading “2013 VC Funding Tops $29B, and Software Continues to Eat the World”

Algal Scientific Secures $1,250,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b707f800-d885-49f1-89ea-7acd082c8887 Date 1/17/2014 Company Name Algal Scientific Mailing Address 46701 Commerce Center Drive Plymouth, MI 48170 Company Description Algal Scientific’s proprietary technology provides advanced treatment for municipal and industrial wastewater, while producing high amounts of algal biomass that can be used for biofuels. We design, build, and sell treatment systems incorporating factory … Continue reading “Algal Scientific Secures $1,250,000 New Financing Round”

Algal Scientific Obtains $1,250,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b707f800-d885-49f1-89ea-7acd082c8887 Date 1/17/2014 Company Name Algal Scientific Mailing Address 46701 Commerce Center Drive Plymouth, MI 48170 Company Description Algal Scientific’s proprietary technology provides advanced treatment for municipal and industrial wastewater, while producing high amounts of algal biomass that can be used for biofuels. We design, build, and sell treatment systems incorporating factory … Continue reading “Algal Scientific Obtains $1,250,000 New Funding”

WSU Student-Led SIB Medical Technologies Prepares Prototype for Market

Sagor Bhuiyan and Adham Aljahmi aren’t your typical college seniors. In addition to being pre-med students, they’ve launched SIB Medical Technologies, a startup that aims to commercialize at-home stool sample collection kits that they say are simpler and less likely to expose patients to toxic materials. Bhuiyan learned of the device, which was invented by … Continue reading “WSU Student-Led SIB Medical Technologies Prepares Prototype for Market”

FarmLogs Raises $4M Series A, Founder Named to Forbes List

The Ann Arbor, MI-based ag tech startup FarmLogs announced today that it has raised a $4 million Series A round of funding. The round was led by Ohio-based Drive Capital, with participation from Huron River Ventures, also of Ann Arbor, and Hyde Park Venture Partners and Hyde Park Angels, both based in Chicago. The announcement caps … Continue reading “FarmLogs Raises $4M Series A, Founder Named to Forbes List”

FarmLogs Lands $4,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=364e47fc-a306-4085-87ab-1e6291cb41dc Date 1/15/2014 Company Name FarmLogs Mailing Address 201 E. Liberty St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Company Description Our mission at FarmLogs is to invent the future of farming. Agriculture employs over 36% of the global workforce, and FarmLogs is creating innovative technology to make it more efficient and more profitable as … Continue reading “FarmLogs Lands $4,000,000 Series A Round”

Do Pivots Matter?

In late 2013 Cowboy Ventures did an analysis of U.S.-based tech companies started in the last 10 years, now valued at $1 billion. They found 39 of these companies. They called them the “Unicorn Club.” The article summarized 10 key learnings from the Unicorn club. Surprisingly, one of the “learnings” said that “the “big pivot” … Continue reading “Do Pivots Matter?”

ProNAI Therapeutics Raises $12M Series C Round

Plymouth, MI-based biotech company ProNAI Therapeutics announced yesterday that it has secured a $12 million Series C round. The round was led by the Wisconsin-based Capital Midwest Fund and includes new and existing investors. ProNAi, which was formed around technology developed at Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, aims to “quiet” … Continue reading “ProNAI Therapeutics Raises $12M Series C Round”

Welcome to Zappos-Style Health Innovation

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s effort to revitalize downtown Las Vegas includes last month’s launch of a new clinic, run by Iora Health and spearheaded by physician Zubin Damania. Stanford-trained, Damania also happens to rap by the name of ZDoggMD. So it’s no wonder the project has drawn attention. But there’s another unusual aspect to this … Continue reading “Welcome to Zappos-Style Health Innovation”

TechTown Starts 2014 With $2.5M Renovation, New Co-Working Space

More changes are afoot at TechTown as the startup accelerator streamlines its mission and prepares to anchor neighborhood construction that could make North Midtown a serious hub of innovation. Most striking to visitors is the $2.5 million renovation that TechTown completed in late November. The space has been transformed from a drab, nondescript office to … Continue reading “TechTown Starts 2014 With $2.5M Renovation, New Co-Working Space”

JCI Sells Rest of Auto Electronics Unit to Visteon for $265M

Johnson Controls said Monday it will sell the remainder of its automotive electronics business for $265 million to Visteon, a global automotive supplier with offices in Michigan, China, and the United Kingdom. The deal marks the completion of a significant piece of Johnson Controls’ strategic shift. In the past year, the company has focused on … Continue reading “JCI Sells Rest of Auto Electronics Unit to Visteon for $265M”

What Biotech Pros Will Be Chirping About at JP Morgan This Week

Somebody always has to announce a monster acquisition, or gee-whiz biotech/pharma partnership, on the eve of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Everyone wants to be the center of attention at the annual biotech investing and networking frenzy. With a full business week to get ready, biotech executives and all their PR handlers … Continue reading “What Biotech Pros Will Be Chirping About at JP Morgan This Week”

How I Learned to Stay Organized with Evernote, Post-its & Foamcore

I like to think I’m a fairly organized person. I have to be. I’ve got stories to edit and events to plan. I write 5,000 to 10,000 words a week. Some 200 to 300 new e-mail messages hit my inbox every day, all requiring some kind of action. And I have a lot of cool … Continue reading “How I Learned to Stay Organized with Evernote, Post-its & Foamcore”

Vestaron Secures $1,266,919 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2f86dc1a-8090-4df3-9b5b-b6a80624ed67 Date 1/10/2014 Company Name Vestaron Mailing Address 4717 Campus Drive Kalamazoo, MI 49008 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 of … Continue reading “Vestaron Secures $1,266,919 New Funding Round”

Menlo’s Rich Sheridan on Building an Intentionally Joyful Workplace

In his new book, “Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love,” Rich Sheridan, founder and CEO of the Ann Arbor-based software company Menlo Innovations, writes about the first time he fell in love. “I was only a freshman in high school, but a singular moment changed the course of my life,” he writes. … Continue reading “Menlo’s Rich Sheridan on Building an Intentionally Joyful Workplace”

U.S. Biomedical Research at a Precipice

[Editor’s Note: this post was co-authored by Justin Chakma, Dr. Reshma Jagsi, and Stephen M. Sammut.] Since 1950, U.S. government funding has supported research underlying 84 percent of Nobel Prizes awarded in Medicine & Physiology. These scientific breakthroughs have resulted in new medicines and created significant economic value. For example, the discovery of gene silencing, … Continue reading “U.S. Biomedical Research at a Precipice”

Ablative Solutions Lands $9,575,077 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d8708c5d-eca1-4a90-ac06-c0a3063a8529 Date 1/8/2014 Company Name Ablative Solutions Mailing Address 350 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Company Description Ablative Solutions’ technology involves endovascular catheters to provide an efficacious, durable, cost-effective and safe alternative to surgical renal denervation for the treatment of hypertension and other diseases caused by an overactive sympathetic nervous system. … Continue reading “Ablative Solutions Lands $9,575,077 New Funding Round”

ProNAi Announces Progress on Its Novel Cancer-Fighting Drug

Mina Sooch, Detroit Xconomist and president and CEO of ProNAi Therapeutics, says 2013 was a landmark year for the biotech startup based in Plymouth, MI. ProNAi, which was spun out of technology discovered at Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, aims to “quiet” disease using novel drugs that target cancer and … Continue reading “ProNAi Announces Progress on Its Novel Cancer-Fighting Drug”

Bad Statistics, and Bad Training, Are Sabotaging Drug Discovery

One of the most widely read college textbooks in the 1960s and ‘70s was How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff. Despite the humorous title, the serious intent of the book (written by a journalist, not a statistician) was to illustrate how common errors in the use of statistics frequently lead to misleading conclusions. … Continue reading “Bad Statistics, and Bad Training, Are Sabotaging Drug Discovery”

Motor City Mapping Tackles Urban Blight Using Loveland Tech

A new day seemed to be dawning in Detroit when Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert paraphrased 50 Cent and told an audience at Marygrove College that Detroit’s recently announced urban blight task force is “going to get this done or we are going to die trying.” The bold statement made last month was a welcome … Continue reading “Motor City Mapping Tackles Urban Blight Using Loveland Tech”

Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex

What has Josh Boger been doing the past four years in his supposed “retirement” from Vertex Pharmaceuticals? Turns out, he’s found peace and beauty. He discovered it about as far away from the biotech grind as you can possibly get. Boger, as many readers know, is the founder and former president and CEO of Cambridge, … Continue reading “Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex”

Startups Poised to Make Their Mark Alongside the Big Guys at CES

Much of the technology world will descend this weekend on Las Vegas, bound for the annual spectacle of new gadgets known as the International CES. As soon as the Northeast digs its way out of the snow, I will be on my way for hands-on coverage of this carnival of consumer devices. Big companies such … Continue reading “Startups Poised to Make Their Mark Alongside the Big Guys at CES”

Scientific Reproducibility: Raising the Standards for Biomedicine

The vast majority of findings published in high-profile biomedical research publications can’t be reproduced by independent laboratories. Multiple groups have come to this same shocking conclusion in recent years, and it has deservedly generated considerable attention. It matters because the ability to reproduce a result is fundamental to establishing the legitimacy of a new research … Continue reading “Scientific Reproducibility: Raising the Standards for Biomedicine”

The Future of Education: 10 Trends To Watch

It is that time of the year when we tend to pause, reflect, and look forward. What have we achieved in the year just passed? What are the highlights of culture, business, technology, and trends that we have observed around us? For me, the most exciting and positive movement at present is in the domain … Continue reading “The Future of Education: 10 Trends To Watch”

New Online Services Put You Back in Command of Your 401(k)

If you’re still in search of a New Year’s resolution, here’s one you’re free to borrow from me: Become a more active and self-reliant manager of your retirement investment accounts, using some of the affordable new tools available online. This week I’ve been exploring two of the leading services, Jemstep and Personal Capital. After just … Continue reading “New Online Services Put You Back in Command of Your 401(k)”

Here’s What Mobile Industry Insiders See Ahead for 2014

By now, you should know the truly big stories in the mobile sector: Samsung’s rise to challenge Apple, Microsoft finally acquiring Nokia, Google leaping into wearables, more moves toward carrier consolidation. But if you want to get a jump start on some of the biggest trends shaping up in the mobile industry, you could do … Continue reading “Here’s What Mobile Industry Insiders See Ahead for 2014”

Tech Bubble Leaks Air, Healthcare Bests Biotech, & More for 2014

The coming year will see some good news and some bad news in tech. Here are five predictions. • IPOs: This past year witnessed an extraordinary resurgence in IPO activity for venture-backed companies. It felt much like 1999 right before the crest of the wave. With modest growth, unsustainably high valuation multiples, little excess left for … Continue reading “Tech Bubble Leaks Air, Healthcare Bests Biotech, & More for 2014”

The Year in Innovation: Xconomy’s Top 13 Stories of 2013

If you only have time to read a few of our articles from the past year, these are the ones. These are editor’s picks (mine). They are not based on Web traffic, but rather on a subjective weighting of their impact, significance, and representation of our mission and geographies. Xconomy is now in 9 regions … Continue reading “The Year in Innovation: Xconomy’s Top 13 Stories of 2013”

Remembering James L. Vincent, Longtime Biogen Leader

Are they making innovators quite like James L. Vincent any more? This question, spurred by Vincent’s death on Dec. 5, has more edge these days as we worry how Americans are going to keep inventing, making, and selling new things to earn a good living in a sharply competitive world. More bluntly, do the innovators … Continue reading “Remembering James L. Vincent, Longtime Biogen Leader”

Help Wanted: Houston vs. Austin and the Search for the Best IT Talent

Last May, we announced that we were moving Datafiniti to Austin. A big reason for our move was the lack of a suitable talent pool from which to hire. There was a lot of skepticism—perhaps surprisingly so—around our reasoning. At the time, we provided what I thought was a healthy dose of data to back … Continue reading “Help Wanted: Houston vs. Austin and the Search for the Best IT Talent”

ProNAi Therapeutics Garners $11,176,453 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=43974016-c7bd-4b5e-ab67-6bf75799b19b Date 12/31/2013 Company Name ProNAi Therapeutics Mailing Address 46701 Commerce Center Drive Plymouth, MI 48170 Company Description ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc. is an emerging biopharmaceutical company that is leveraging its novel and proprietary nucleic acid-based interfering technology, DNAi, to advance a next generation of therapies for patients with cancer and other complex … Continue reading “ProNAi Therapeutics Garners $11,176,453 New Round”

Mardil Secures $500,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=74695171-5b1f-4401-be53-1736484cf4e2 Date 12/31/2013 Company Name Mardil Mailing Address 505 North Highway 169 Plymouth, MN 55441 Company Description Mardil Medical, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, is a venture-backed medical device company developing therapies for structural heart diseases including abnormalities in the shape of the heart muscle or valves. Website http://www.mardil.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Mardil Secures $500,000 New Funding”

Avegant Obtains $1,920,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=56e4cb25-9b20-4861-bcfc-54b4b05f32b2 Date 12/31/2013 Company Name Avegant Mailing Address 210 E. Huron Ann Arbor, MI 48104 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 investing. … Continue reading “Avegant Obtains $1,920,000 New Funding Round”

Axenic Dental Garners $3,445,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=43822a16-062c-4d89-a20d-56a1e5249214 Date 12/31/2013 Company Name Axenic Dental Mailing Address 259 E Michigan Ave Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Company Description Axenic Dental has created a disposable high-speed dental drill. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,445,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed

Why Angels Should Keep Their Distance from Crowdfunding in 2014

There’s certainly been a lot of uncertainty in the angel and venture capital arenas over the past decade, and understandably so. Add to that, the lure of crowdfunding—a nearly $3 billion business in 2012—and it’s led some angel groups to consider if there is a role for individual investors in crowdfunding their deals. My advice … Continue reading “Why Angels Should Keep Their Distance from Crowdfunding in 2014”

Why Business and Personal Email Are Not the Same

We all carry certain expectations about email from our private lives into a corporate setting. Some of those expectations are met, but in other ways business email is very different from consumer email. These differences can be confusing at best and, at worst, lead to major problems for organizations. The Inside and the Outside To … Continue reading “Why Business and Personal Email Are Not the Same”

Torax Medical Garners $13,699,997 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=86542d6d-09d1-499b-a40a-f589e34f9b62 Date 12/30/2013 Company Name Torax Medical Mailing Address 4188 Lexington Ave North Shoreview, MN 55126 Company Description Torax Medical is a clinical-stage medical device company founded in 2002 Website http://www.tm-partners.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $13,699,997 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. Contact … Continue reading “Torax Medical Garners $13,699,997 New Financing”

Good, Business, and Good Business

Here in the 20-teens, the roles of for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, government, NGO’s, foundations, investors and philanthropists are beginning to blur together. We are quickly finding ourselves in a world where it is not only possible to do good while doing business, but expected. This is quite a change from the “Friedman Doctrine” that claimed … Continue reading “Good, Business, and Good Business”