Category: Detroit

An Opportunity for Congress to Vote for Job Creation

Congressional leaders of both parties have a short-term opportunity to come together in rare bipartisan fashion and get on the right side of American economic growth and job creation. With the House expected to pass a bill this week that would temporarily ease regulatory requirements related to young, high growth companies filing for an initial … Continue reading “An Opportunity for Congress to Vote for Job Creation”

Sramana Mitra Combats Infant Entrepreneur Mortality

Investor Stewart Alsop has called San Francisco Xconomist Sramana Mitra “a symbol of everything that is great about America: a geek, an entrepreneur, an immigrant, a leader.” He could have added “prolific writer”: Mitra is the author of a blog and five books, as well as three years’ worth of Forbes columns. Throughout these writings, … Continue reading “Sramana Mitra Combats Infant Entrepreneur Mortality”

Eden Park Illumination Garners $3,106,177 Series B Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5ecfb9b3-501d-4f00-9869-e59b30ec5343&Preview=1 Date 3/8/2012 Company Name Eden Park Illumination Mailing Address 903 N Country Fair Drive Champaign, IL 61821 Company Description Eden Park Illumination is a young dynamic lighting technology company anchored in over fifty years of technology heritage through our affiliation with the Laboratory of Optical Physics and Engineering at the University … Continue reading “Eden Park Illumination Garners $3,106,177 Series B Funding Round”

Ford Software Upgrade Doubles Down on Connectivity, Customer Satisfaction

Ford took another step on its journey toward becoming a mobile technology company on wheels with the release of a free MyFord Touch software upgrade to more than 300,000 existing customers. The upgrade is being mailed to MyFord Touch users in the form of a USB flash drive that contains the new software, detailed instructions for … Continue reading “Ford Software Upgrade Doubles Down on Connectivity, Customer Satisfaction”

Molecular Imaging Research Lands $2,500,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=52f256df-290e-4f29-aa50-a9cef6819a61&Preview=1 Date 3/7/2012 Company Name Molecular Imaging Research Mailing Address 800 Technology Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48108 Company Description Molecular Imaging Research, Inc. (MIR) is a specialty contract research organization (CRO) located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. MIR employs a wide array of imaging technologies including preclinical MRI, CT (µCT), high resolution PET … Continue reading “Molecular Imaging Research Lands $2,500,000 Series A Financing”

Tech Twurl:Whiz Kid Runs Online Enterprise From His Dorm Room

Usman Majeed is not your typical college student (though, admittedly, my concept of the modern college student is heavily shaped by Texts From Last Night). He studies neuroscience at Michigan State University in preparation for med school, and, in his off hours, he runs a successful online business called Tech Twurl, where he buys old … Continue reading “Tech Twurl:Whiz Kid Runs Online Enterprise From His Dorm Room”

Five Reasons Illumina Should Fight Roche’s Insulting Low-Ball Bid

Illumina is like the Apple of the genomics business. Tools made by the San Diego company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) are revered by genomics researchers around the world just like millions of consumers love their iPhones and iPads. And Illumina holds its dominant position at an enviable moment in history, as we’re heading into a scientific golden … Continue reading “Five Reasons Illumina Should Fight Roche’s Insulting Low-Ball Bid”

How Zite’s News App Altered the Zeitgeist in Personalized Publishing

It’s just past noon on March 30, 2011. The entire executive team from Zite is at the Sharon Heights Starbucks in Menlo Park—the usual hangout for entrepreneurs making the venture circuit. They’re killing time between VC meetings on Sand Hill Road, and they’re a little nervous. But it’s not because of the meetings, or the … Continue reading “How Zite’s News App Altered the Zeitgeist in Personalized Publishing”

U-M Business Competition Awards $90K to Student Startups

I don’t have any children, but almost all of my girlfriends do. I remember a time early last decade when they were constantly shipping maternity clothes back and forth to one another to avoid spending money on an entirely new wardrobe. They could have used a website like Fashion Forward Maternity,  an online boutique that … Continue reading “U-M Business Competition Awards $90K to Student Startups”

A123 Systems Inks Supply Deal With India’s Tata Motors

A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE), the Watertown, MA-based manufacturer of lithium-ion battery packs with significant operations in Michigan, today announced a deal with Tata Motors to supply battery packs for its line of hybrid electric buses and other commercial vehicles. Tata Motors is India’s largest automaker. “Strategically, this is very important for us since Tata has … Continue reading “A123 Systems Inks Supply Deal With India’s Tata Motors”

Xconomist of the Week: Roger Perlmutter’s Parting Thoughts on Amgen

[Updated: 1:50 pm PT] Roger Perlmutter had a long run by biotech standards, a full 11 years, to put his stamp on R&D at Amgen. Some of the work he oversaw was unequivocally good (denosumab for osteoporosis and cancer), some bad (the EPO debacle), and some of the record is still a work in progress (44 … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Roger Perlmutter’s Parting Thoughts on Amgen”

Open Mile Receives $3,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fe9075b1-ec81-4555-87d1-bd4c2ac610ca&Preview=1 Date 3/1/2012 Company Name Open Mile Mailing Address 325 W. Huron St. Chicago, IL 60654 Company Description Our business utilizes the best aspects of web and mobile technology to empower shippers and carriers to interact, collect market intelligence and match demand with capacity all in real-time. Website http://www.openmile.com Transaction Type Debt … Continue reading “Open Mile Receives $3,000,000 New Financing”

MBI Helps Biotech Companies De-Risk and Expand

MBI International, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Michigan State University Foundation, has an ambitious goal: To help Michigan’s bioeconomy sector grow by working with companies to negotiate the “valley of death”—taking their early-stage innovations to commercial viability, and, if failure is imminent, helping companies fail quickly before too much money is spent. That MBI … Continue reading “MBI Helps Biotech Companies De-Risk and Expand”

How Big Data Is Changing Everything

There’s a radical transformation happening in information technology today, one that promises to be every bit as significant—and every bit as disruptive to existing business models—as were Web applications in the 1990s and virtualization in the first decade of the 21st century. It’s a foundational change in the way enterprises, their employees, and their customers … Continue reading “How Big Data Is Changing Everything”

Duo Security Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=202f3555-b432-4999-900f-5d79dd2908b5&Preview=1 Date 2/28/2012 Company Name Duo Security Mailing Address 1327 Jones Dr Ann Arbor, MI 48105 Company Description Duo Security provides strong two-factor authentication as a service built to prevent account takeover and data theft. Duo uses a mobile phone as the second factor to make authenticating easy and convenient. At Duo, … Continue reading “Duo Security Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing Round”

Seven MI Universities to Partner in Tech Transfer Talent Network

The University of Michigan’s tech transfer office will lead a new two-year, $2.4 million initiative to help state universities take advantage of local entrepreneurs and innovators in an effort to commercialize university technology. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is funding the Tech Transfer Talent Network, and other member universities are Wayne State University, Michigan State University, … Continue reading “Seven MI Universities to Partner in Tech Transfer Talent Network”

Bruce Booth, a LifeSciVC Shining Some Much-Needed Light on Biotech

Techies who want to learn about high-tech venture capital learn quickly they must read blogs by guys like Fred Wilson and Brad Feld. They are insiders who speak with clear, consistent, and insightful voices about an otherwise opaque little corner of the investing world. Nobody has ever performed this kind of service for biotech venture … Continue reading “Bruce Booth, a LifeSciVC Shining Some Much-Needed Light on Biotech”

What If Your Next TV Is a Tablet?

It is a dark time for the TV rebellion. Although legions of cord-cutters have abandoned their cable subscriptions, Hollywood troops have driven the early TV-technology startups from their hidden Silicon Valley bases and pursued them across the Internet. Evading the dreaded cable and satellite companies, a group of freedom fighters led by Boxee, Netflix, and … Continue reading “What If Your Next TV Is a Tablet?”

Proto Labs Garners $68,800,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9f608c9d-2977-4b0f-99ca-428ffabf7cb7&Preview=1 Date 2/24/2012 Company Name Proto Labs Mailing Address 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr Maple Plain, MN 55359 Company Description Proto Labs (NYSE: PRLB) is the world’s fastest manufacturer of custom prototype and low-volume plastic parts. Our customers provide us with three-dimensional computer-aided designs (3D CAD) and we ship their parts in as … Continue reading “Proto Labs Garners $68,800,000 New Funding Round”

Xconomist of the Week: Rich Sheridan and the Business Value of Joy

[Corrected 2/24/12, 10:00 am. See below.] The first thing you notice upon walking into Menlo Innovations, a small open-plan office in Ann Arbor, MI, is how hard everyone is working. There is a hive-like focus and intensity, so much so that the 40-member staff seems oblivious to the presence of a stranger with a notebook and … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Rich Sheridan and the Business Value of Joy”

BioAmber Receives $30,000,000 Series C Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=854289b4-aa12-4754-b9e9-31143d9375be&Preview=1 Date 2/23/2012 Company Name BioAmber Mailing Address 3850 Annapolis Ln. N. Plymouth, MN 55447 Company Description BioAmber (formerly DNP Green Technology) is a renewable chemistry company. We use agricultural crops and transform them into green chemicals that directly substitute petrochemicals (chemicals derived from fossil fuels). Website http://www.Bio-Amber.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “BioAmber Receives $30,000,000 Series C Financing Round”

CerviLenz Receives $2,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=beb54230-48da-40dc-b125-b3da4f87ac42&Preview=1 Date 2/23/2012 Company Name CerviLenz Mailing Address 100 N. Main Street Chagrin Falls, OH 44022 Company Description CerviLenz(TM), Inc., headquartered near Cleveland, Ohio, is a manufacturer and marketer of a patented, FDA cleared device to predict preterm birth risk in pregnant women by accurately measuring cervical length. Website http://www.cervilenzinc.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “CerviLenz Receives $2,000,000 New Funding”

SE Michigan Startups Nab Pre-Seed, Microloan Funding

Ann Arbor SPARK and Wayne State University recently announced that eleven Southeast Michigan startups have received investments from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and microloan awards from the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Local Development Financing Authority (LDFA). The investments are meant to help early-stage companies commercialize their technology. Three companies from TechTown’s business accelerator program received pre-seed … Continue reading “SE Michigan Startups Nab Pre-Seed, Microloan Funding”

Zipcar and Fontinalis Bet $13.7M on Car-Sharing Startup Wheelz

The world of car-sharing just got more interesting. Zipcar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZIP]]), the Cambridge, MA-based pioneer in the sector, said today it has led a $13.7 million Series A investment in Wheelz, a Palo Alto, CA-based car-sharing startup that targets college students. Detroit-based Fontinalis Partners, a transportation tech investment firm, also participated in the round. As … Continue reading “Zipcar and Fontinalis Bet $13.7M on Car-Sharing Startup Wheelz”

Fluid Secures $24,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=63d46616-0035-4320-8846-65c0a4941496&Preview=1 Date 2/22/2012 Company Name Fluid Mailing Address 3717 N. Ravenswood Ave Chicago, IL 60613 Company Description Fluid-Digital Shopping Innovation. Their love affair with mobile is transforming the way they act when they walk into your offline store. Online, they’re exposed to increasingly thrilling rich media, and have come to expect an … Continue reading “Fluid Secures $24,000,000 New Round”

LiveSnip Nabs Startup Weekend Detroit Win Among A Talented Crowd

When I walked into the Madison Building Sunday night for the final round of Startup Weekend Detroit pitches, I worried for a moment that I might be the oldest person in the room. As MGMT and Deadmau5 throbbed from the auditorium’s speakers, groups of mostly male twentysomethings huddled in groups, intently pecking away on various … Continue reading “LiveSnip Nabs Startup Weekend Detroit Win Among A Talented Crowd”

University of Michigan Recognizes Beyster for $15M Gift

The University of Michigan Board of Regents agreed to name its computer science and engineering building the “Bob and Betty Beyster Building” in recognition of a $15 million gift from J. Robert Beyster, 87, who founded SAIC (NYSE: [[ticker:SAI]]) in San Diego 43 years ago. Beyster, who also is a San Diego Xconomist, received his … Continue reading “University of Michigan Recognizes Beyster for $15M Gift”

Oh, And One More Thing: A Wowser Moment in DNA Sequencing

[Updated and corrected, 10:15 am PT] Steve Jobs used to love being on stage, getting the audience in the palm of his hand. Famously, he’d say, “Oh, and one more thing,” to build suspense right before delivering some stunning line about a new Apple product. Last week, that same showmanship was at work in a … Continue reading “Oh, And One More Thing: A Wowser Moment in DNA Sequencing”

Mobile Matchup

The Mobile Technology Association of Michigan and Bizdom U are hosting this meeting, which is designed to build relationships between mobile developers and entrepreneurs in a series of three-minute meetings (similar to the speed dating format). To register, click here.

Xconomy’s Timmerman Wins National Journalism Award

Xconomy’s national biotech editor, Luke Timmerman, has won a national award for column-writing from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. It’s the first national journalism award for Xconomy, which was founded in 2007 and now operates a six-city network of news sites focused on business innovation. The award is for Luke’s weekly BioBeat … Continue reading “Xconomy’s Timmerman Wins National Journalism Award”

D:Hive Helps Detroit’s Newly Arrived Entrepreneurs Plug In

I don’t know about you, Detroiters, but I feel like we’ve turned a corner on this revitalization thing. The energy around town is building, there are interesting little projects under way in every corner of the city, and people are moving here at a steady clip. The word of mouth has spread, and Detroit is … Continue reading “D:Hive Helps Detroit’s Newly Arrived Entrepreneurs Plug In”

LinkedIn: The Missing Manual Worth Reading

I picked up The Start-up of You, the new book published this week by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and journalist-entrepreneur Ben Casnocha, with some trepidation. I feared that the title was intended literally—that this would be one of those dreary business books that spends seven chapters twisting reality to fit its gimmicky metaphor. (I’ve got … Continue reading “LinkedIn: The Missing Manual Worth Reading”

Milo Biotechnology Receives $250,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ed18c7f7-c0e6-4596-9231-410c6237f797&Preview=1 Date 2/17/2012 Company Name Milo Biotechnology Mailing Address Undisclosed Cleveland, OH 44101 Company Description Milo Biotechnology is a Cleveland-based company dedicated to improving the lives of patients with neuromuscular diseases. Milo’s early clinical stage follistatin program, exclusively licensed from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, is designed to increase muscle size and strength. Website … Continue reading “Milo Biotechnology Receives $250,000 New Funding Round”

Xconomist of the Week: Peter Kuhn on Detecting Circulating Tumor Cells

Worrying whether a solid tissue tumor might spread elsewhere in the body represents one of the biggest unknowns for many cancer patients, according to Peter Kuhn, an associate professor of cell biology at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. “As long as the disease is confined to the primary tumor, the oncologists can deal … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Peter Kuhn on Detecting Circulating Tumor Cells”

Will New Business Models Enhance or Endanger Drug Discovery?

The most successful biotechs of the past quarter century have been companies that established relatively large, cutting edge research programs, such as Biogen, Immunex, and Genentech. I’ll refer to this as the B.I.G. model. These companies were able to hire young, innovative scientists by promising them a certain degree of intellectual freedom to pursue research … Continue reading “Will New Business Models Enhance or Endanger Drug Discovery?”

EPA Expands Innovative Compound-Testing Collaboration With BioSeek

The Detroit-based life sciences company Asterand (LSE: ATD) recently announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has expanded its collaboration with BioSeek, a wholly owned Asterand subsidiary, on the ToxCast environmental compound testing program. The EPA first began working with BioSeek, which is based in South San Francisco, in 2007. The new agreement includes an additional … Continue reading “EPA Expands Innovative Compound-Testing Collaboration With BioSeek”

No Jobs in Detroit? Bizdom U Startup Begs to Differ

It’s an oft-repeated Detroit lament: There are no jobs in this city and even if there were, the undereducated masses wouldn’t qualify for them. Not so fast, says Antonella Solomon, chief operating officer of Launch Learning Group (LLG), a Bizdom U start-up launched in 2010. Her company has created a training course which utilizes innovative, … Continue reading “No Jobs in Detroit? Bizdom U Startup Begs to Differ”

Serial Entrepreneur Turned Pro Hoops Player Named CEO of New Team

Can anyone say Jackie Moon? He was the character from the movie Semi-Pro, played by Will Ferrell, who used the profits from his one-hit-wonder singing career (the song was Love Me Sexy) to buy a semi-professional basketball team—and then made himself a player. Well, the Jackie Moon references can’t help but come to mind in … Continue reading “Serial Entrepreneur Turned Pro Hoops Player Named CEO of New Team”

Venture Capital Is the Essence of Everything Good in Capitalism

I was heartened this month to see that the Private Equity Growth Capital Council launched a multi-million-dollar education and public affairs campaign on the Internet highlighting the basics of private equity. Hopefully, this will address a general lack of understanding about private equity, which, among other things, is too often confused with venture capital. This … Continue reading “Venture Capital Is the Essence of Everything Good in Capitalism”

RetroSense Therapeutics’ Blindness Therapy Lands Investment

On Friday, the Maryland-based Foundation for Fighting Blindness announced it has invested $250,000 in a vision-restoring therapy developed by Ann Arbor, MI-based startup RetroSense Therapeutics. The technology RetroSense uses was licensed from Wayne State University, where it was pioneered by anatomy and cell biology professor Zhuo-Hua Pan. RetroSense works with a photosensitivy gene called Channelrhodopsin-2 … Continue reading “RetroSense Therapeutics’ Blindness Therapy Lands Investment”

Option to Buy: The New Face of Biotech Funding?

When Cambridge, MA-based Warp Drive Bio launched on January 10, the startup was as notable for its financing structure as it was for its technology—maybe more. That’s because part of the $125 million in funding that Warp Drive received came from French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) , which received in return the chance to … Continue reading “Option to Buy: The New Face of Biotech Funding?”

AllTrails and National Geographic Team Up to Get Hikers Oriented

The United States is essentially an unpopulated wilderness. If you scattered the citizenry evenly across the country, we’d each have a luxurious eight acres to ourselves. But here’s the weird thing: In a country where the outdoors is so vast, people rarely go there. Even folks who think of themselves as outdoorsy types don’t leave … Continue reading “AllTrails and National Geographic Team Up to Get Hikers Oriented”

Checkpoint Surgical Secures $3,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7c1ccadd-2e01-4b4f-a140-2328dbf865c9&Preview=1 Date 2/10/2012 Company Name Checkpoint Surgical Mailing Address 22901 Millcreek Blvd Cleveland, OH 44122 Company Description The mission of Checkpoint Surgical is to provide physicians with medical devices to locate, evaluate and protect nerves and muscles in surgical procedures for better patient outcomes. Website http://www.checkpointsurgical.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Checkpoint Surgical Secures $3,000,000 New Funding”

Xconomist of the Week: Tim Mayleben on Building University Startups

Last month, Aastrom Biosciences president and CEO Tim Mayleben and his wife, Dawn, announced they are funding a new “venture shaping” program at the University of Michigan. Venture shaping refers to the process of systematically vetting a nifty idea for a startup, with the idea that the failure of a less-than-viable business will occur at … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Tim Mayleben on Building University Startups”

Access Media 3 Receives $30,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5759218d-fb65-4cea-86aa-33e3600ea674&Preview=1 Date 2/9/2012 Company Name Access Media 3 Mailing Address 900 Commerce Drive Oak Brook, IL 60523 Company Description Provides digital media and telecommunication solutions. In the current digital media marketplace it is critical to choose a provider that will partnership with you to create tailor-made solutions, implement a plan, and support … Continue reading “Access Media 3 Receives $30,000,000 New Financing Round”

Is DVP’s Quest to Get Startups to Detroit Working? Ask Shawn Geller

[Corrected 2/9/12, 9:05 a.m. See below.] A few weeks ago, Dan Gilbert and the Detroit Venture Partners (DVP) crew welcomed reporters for a tour of the newly renovated Madison Building in downtown Detroit. Gilbert had recently spent $12 million to turn the former theater into a sort of fantasy workspace for budding entrepreneurs, and the … Continue reading “Is DVP’s Quest to Get Startups to Detroit Working? Ask Shawn Geller”