On July 18th, 2013, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, becoming the largest city in American history to do so. Just four years earlier, Chrysler and General Motors—automobile companies that were long a staple of the Detroit economy—had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. “You hear stories about the Great Depression in the … Continue reading “How 3 Detroit Founders Built Tech Startups Despite City’s Bankruptcy”
Tag: Ludlow Ventures
As Midterms Approach, Notarize Lends a Hand to Absentee Voters in SD
The idea started with online complaints from voters in South Dakota, where applications for absentee ballots require the certification of a notary public. The response from Pat Kinsel, founder and CEO of a Boston-based online notary startup aptly named Notarize, was to offer its services for free—the same deal it made last year to hurricane-battered … Continue reading “As Midterms Approach, Notarize Lends a Hand to Absentee Voters in SD”
Clora Reaps $3.3M to Speed Consultant Hunts by Life Sciences Companies
Rahul Chaturvedi worked for 16 years as a life sciences company executive, but he was also an avid consumer tech fan who chafed at the clunky enterprise apps used in his industry. Spoiled by speedy, user-friendly consumer apps, he also wondered why finding a biotech consultant to hire was so much harder than, say, lining … Continue reading “Clora Reaps $3.3M to Speed Consultant Hunts by Life Sciences Companies”
MVCA Report Shines Light on Detroit’s Startup Growth and Challenges
For roughly the past five years, Detroit’s tech startup ecosystem has been growing at a rapid pace. However, accounts have differed as to just how much growth has occurred. A recent report by the Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA) attempts to shine a light on the subject while detailing a couple of key findings. According … Continue reading “MVCA Report Shines Light on Detroit’s Startup Growth and Challenges”
Winnie Lands $2,500,000 Seed Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9fc56ff8-f065-4b05-8b1c-6bcd1cd64637 Date 10/27/2016 Company Name Winnie Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94107 USA Company Description Winnie’s mission is to make parents’ lives easier through technology. Our app gives parents the information they need to travel, explore, or even just run errands with their kids. With data on over a million locations, … Continue reading “Winnie Lands $2,500,000 Seed Funding Round”
Tribe Receives $3,000,000 Seed Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=edb71a2b-1a5b-4abe-bf49-68ed4d15a09d Date 10/13/2016 Company Name Tribe Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94107 USA Company Description Tribe is experiential, effortless messaging. With Tribe, press and hold to release a message. Then, release to send. No keyboard needed. Tribe allows for sending messages with one hand only, has a pull-to-search option, and a … Continue reading “Tribe Receives $3,000,000 Seed Funding Round”
Paperspace Secures $4,000,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a1363d7d-cc03-48fe-9614-da6677733297 Date 10/5/2016 Company Name Paperspace Mailing Address 78 South 4th St. Brooklyn, NY 11249 USA Company Description Paperspace started with the idea that buying and managing computers is an unnecessarily painful and expensive process. By renting a powerful desktop in the cloud, it is finally possible to get rid of the … Continue reading “Paperspace Secures $4,000,000 Seed Financing Round”
Density Secures $4,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3e744c7e-736b-42be-861d-ab2a4b2f3976 Date 7/27/2016 Company Name Density Mailing Address 593 Valencia St. San Francisco, CA 94110 USA Company Description Density is a people counter and an API. Website http://www.density.io Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed by the company. M&A Terms Venture … Continue reading “Density Secures $4,000,000 Series A Financing”
Notarize Lands $8,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=45ac349e-3ffa-4224-badd-b0165c2803c3 Date 6/13/2016 Company Name Notarize Mailing Address Undisclosed Boston, MA 02108 USA Company Description Notarized documents serve an important and enduring part of the American economy. While any document can be signed, certain documents must be verifiably accepted and signed before an official Notary Public. Website http://www.notarize.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Notarize Lands $8,000,000 Series A Funding”
Flywheel Garners $4,000,200 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=75848352-663a-4b93-baea-e9570f45d243 Date 3/31/2016 Company Name Flywheel Mailing Address 2 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94107 USA Company Description Grab a cab with the best taxi app for iPhone & Android. Flywheel allows you to catch a cab and pay for it all with your smartphone – no need to hunt for cash. … Continue reading “Flywheel Garners $4,000,200 New Funding Round”
Scentbird Garners $2,800,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=12625c77-aae9-4f4a-9a3d-0d218ba2182f Date 3/30/2016 Company Name Scentbird Mailing Address 146 East 98th Street New York, NY 10029 USA Company Description An e-commerce company that has created a discovery and sampling engine for scented beauty products (e.g., perfumes, home fragrance, bodycare). Scentbird eliminates the uncertainty of purchasing fragrances online by combining a visual fragrance … Continue reading “Scentbird Garners $2,800,000 New Financing”
Campless Morphs Into StockX, a “Stock Market” for Sneakers
In October, we brought you the news that Campless, a Philadelphia-based website calling itself the “Kelley Blue Book for sneakers,” had relocated to Detroit at the behest of investor Dan Gilbert. On Monday, Campless morphed into a new venture called StockX, which CEO Josh Luber described as the world’s first online “stock market of things,” … Continue reading “Campless Morphs Into StockX, a “Stock Market” for Sneakers”
Notarize Obtains $2,400,000 Seed Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4f0c3963-15f4-4c74-a91a-4f873268eb65 Date 2/5/2016 Company Name Notarize Mailing Address Undisclosed Boston, MA 02108 USA Company Description Notarizing documents may not come up very often, but when you need it done there’s really no way to cut corners. Website http://www.notarize.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,400,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes Notarize said … Continue reading “Notarize Obtains $2,400,000 Seed Funding Round”
Polaris Partners Unveils New Startup Notarize with $2.4M Funding
The market for notarizations may not strike you as a booming industry, but it accounts for billions of transactions annually, according to Polaris Partners’ Pat Kinsel. Kinsel, a venture partner at the Boston-based firm, says there are an estimated 1 billion to 2.5 billion documents notarized each year, making it a $30 billion market. Even … Continue reading “Polaris Partners Unveils New Startup Notarize with $2.4M Funding”
Wrapify Lands $1,500,000 Seed Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b6a66456-119a-42dc-9211-4b9b60e598ae Date 2/2/2016 Company Name Wrapify Mailing Address 535 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105 USA Company Description Wrapify is the easiest way to make money on the road short of finding it in the street. Website http://www.wrapify.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,500,000 Transaction Round Seed Proceeds Purposes The company … Continue reading “Wrapify Lands $1,500,000 Seed Funding Round”
Ambassador Helps Companies Manage Word-of-Mouth Marketing Online
Royal Oak, MI-based Ambassador came into being the way startups sometimes do—after its founder grew disillusioned with practicing law and took up full-time entrepreneurship instead. “I grew up in Southeast Michigan and went to law school in Chicago,” Ambassador CEO Jeff Epstein says. “I stumbled into affiliate marketing through online poker in the early 2000s, … Continue reading “Ambassador Helps Companies Manage Word-of-Mouth Marketing Online”
Navdy’s $20M for Heads-Up Displays: Why It Raised More Than Expected
The things that can distract a driver’s attention are innumerable, from crying children to a spilled soda. Navdy, a San Francisco-based hardware and software maker, believes its windshield display technology is the innovation that can cure the latest plague attacking driver safety: smartphones, with their notifications that are constantly tempting owners to answer while driving. The … Continue reading “Navdy’s $20M for Heads-Up Displays: Why It Raised More Than Expected”
Detroit’s Locqus Gives Simple Mobile Tools to Contractors, Plumbers
There’s hardly a plumber, electrician, or contractor these days who doesn’t have a smartphone with them on service calls. But much of the software available for managing jobs and customers in the field is overly complicated and hopelessly outdated. That’s what gave serial entrepreneur Sandy Kronenberg the idea for his latest venture, Detroit-based Locqus, back … Continue reading “Detroit’s Locqus Gives Simple Mobile Tools to Contractors, Plumbers”
Flud Co-Founder Says News Platform Is Closing Down Aug. 8
Flud co-founder and CEO Bobby Ghoshal sent an e-mail around to users and supporters yesterday announcing that the company had decided to “wind down” operations. Starting Aug. 8, Flud’s social news aggregation platform will no longer be in service. In the e-mail, Ghoshal wrote, “Flud managed to capture the hearts of millions of you all … Continue reading “Flud Co-Founder Says News Platform Is Closing Down Aug. 8”
Detroit’s UpTo Pivots, Completes a $2 Million Series A Round
UpTo, the Detroit-based startup that launched a social calendar app last year, announced last week that is has completed a $2 million Series A round and has pivoted to add new features as well as a business-to-business component. “UpTo is now a full calendar with social networking instead of the other way around,” says founder … Continue reading “Detroit’s UpTo Pivots, Completes a $2 Million Series A Round”
Quikly: Part Daily Deal, Part Flash Sale, All Growth
Back in February 2012, Xconomy profiled Shawn Geller, the founder and CEO of the startup Quikly (though back then it was called Quikkly). Geller had come to Detroit from Philadelphia to build his company at the Madison Building alongside a growing number of tech startups. Geller said at the time that Detroit wasn’t a place … Continue reading “Quikly: Part Daily Deal, Part Flash Sale, All Growth”
Venture Funding in Detroit Down in Q1, Still Higher Than 2011
According to MoneyTree data released today, first-quarter venture funding in southeast Michigan was down compared to the first quarter of 2012, though the deal count rose by one. Compared to last year, funding in Q1 2013 was down by almost two-thirds, with venture capitalists investing $17.6 million in 13 deals. However, 2012 was a record-high … Continue reading “Venture Funding in Detroit Down in Q1, Still Higher Than 2011”
Detroit Venture Partners Reportedly Invests $750K in Chalkfly
According to a report in Crain’s Detroit Business today, Detroit Venture Partners is poised to announce it has invested $750,000 in Chalkfly, a startup Xconomy profiled in September. Joining the round is Bizdom; Ludlow Ventures, which is also located with Chalkfly in downtown Detroit’s Madison Building; Rick DeVos’ Grand Rapids-based Start Garden; and the Chicago-based Griffon … Continue reading “Detroit Venture Partners Reportedly Invests $750K in Chalkfly”
Detroit Startups Stik.com and UpTo Raise Key Financing Rounds
Detroit’s nascent tech scene got another boost with the announcement today that Stik.com, an online business referral platform that relocated to the Motor City from San Francisco last year, has closed a fundraising round worth $2.3 million. Nathan Labenz, Stik’s co-founder, says that the round was led by Detroit Venture Partners (DVP) with a host of … Continue reading “Detroit Startups Stik.com and UpTo Raise Key Financing Rounds”
UpTo Secures $1,500,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9b4394a4-20c8-4227-82aa-ed32c0e582f9&Preview=1 Date 3/1/2013 Company Name UpTo Mailing Address 1555 Broadway Detroit, MI 48226 Company Description UpTo Lets You Glance Into the Future. Share what you’re going to be up to, see what friends are up to and discover new events. UpTo integrates with your calendar to make sharing simple. Website http://www.upto.com Transaction … Continue reading “UpTo Secures $1,500,000 Series A Financing”
Mobile Madness Motor City is Coming Soon—Join Us!
We are now less than a month away from the Mobile Madness Motor City forum, Xconomy’s first mobile event in Detroit. We hope to see you there, and are offering special rates to students and startups designed to fit a range of budgets. The event takes place on Jan. 17 from 2 p.m. to 5:30 … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Motor City is Coming Soon—Join Us!”
Mobile Madness Motor City: Linkner, Song, & More at Jan. 17 Forum
All of you smartphone-toting innovators know it’s true: Five short years since the first iPhones sparked lines around Apple stores, mobile computing has completely transformed our lives. Whether revolutionizing the way we communicate or how we run our companies, there’s hardly a business in operation that hasn’t been affected by the power of mobile. In … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Motor City: Linkner, Song, & More at Jan. 17 Forum”
Social News Reader Flud Expands to Serve Businesses
Flud, creator of a social news reader that delivers visually appealing, shareable news streams to consumers’ mobile and tablet devices, has pivoted slightly to offer a version of its platform tailored to businesses. The San Diego and Detroit-based startup wants to disrupt the current intranet and inter-office email mode of conversation, with all those annoying … Continue reading “Social News Reader Flud Expands to Serve Businesses”
Republic Project Receives $1,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7ddacb93-1c28-47a2-82f0-45fc53d41216&Preview=1 Date 9/12/2012 Company Name Republic Project Mailing Address 216 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90291 Company Description Republic Project is a cloud-based ad platform that enables agencies and brands to improve brand engagement and purchasing behavior. Today’s most compelling company websites include live content, social media connectors, mobile delivery, and rich … Continue reading “Republic Project Receives $1,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
Creative Market Receives $1,300,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4b584c2f-8533-4157-a6d7-e7cee7cc0276&Preview=1 Date 6/8/2012 Company Name Creative Market Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10023 Company Description A new kind of marketplace for handcrafted, mousemade design content powered by a global community of creative people. Website http://www.creativemarket.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,300,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were … Continue reading “Creative Market Receives $1,300,000 Series B Financing”
NetPlenish Secures $1,900,000 Seed Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1629a528-852d-4483-bc41-0c10c6aaa50a&Preview=1 Date 5/4/2012 Company Name NetPlenish Mailing Address 505 Poli Street Ventura, CA 93001 Company Description NetPlenish puts the best pricing in your hands for your favorite products. We turn a boring 45 minute run to the store for diapers, dog food and detergent into 45 seconds on your iPhone or Android. … Continue reading “NetPlenish Secures $1,900,000 Seed Funding Round”
Ludlow Ventures: A Family Venture “Without Ego”
Ludlow Ventures, the Detroit-based firm, has a motto: “VC without ego.” Managing partner Jonathon Triest certainly lives up to that ideal of selflessness when describing the influence his partners—his father, Brent Triest, and his great-uncle, Warren Coville—have had on his life. “They’re successful, humble, super smart, and philanthopic. They bring extraordinary talent to the table, … Continue reading “Ludlow Ventures: A Family Venture “Without Ego””
Flud (Quietly) Relaunches Its Android App
When we last checked in with Flud, the Web startup had just launched a new-and-improved version of its iPhone app, which allows users to aggregate, curate, and share news content. Bobby Ghoshal, Flud’s co-founder and CEO, says the company was riding high on widespread news coverage (Ghoshal says the accompanying spike in traffic briefly killed … Continue reading “Flud (Quietly) Relaunches Its Android App”
Scan Obtains $1,700,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5f9f98aa-0b55-4817-a9b1-584597a86535&Preview=1 Date 2/24/2012 Company Name Scan Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Scan is creating disruptive apps that connect the real world with the digital universe in fun and innovative ways. Through QR code, NFC, and other technologies, Scan brings social media, lead generation, and mobile commerce to life … Continue reading “Scan Obtains $1,700,000 Seed Financing 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”
Updated Flud Platform Combines News Aggregation and Social Networking
According to Bobby Ghoshal, the future of news consumption is in finding new ways for users to interact with content and influence other users’ reading habits, and the development of online “news personalities.” Ghoshal is the co-founder and CEO of Flud, a news aggregation app that unveiled its updated platform for the iPhone and iPad earlier … Continue reading “Updated Flud Platform Combines News Aggregation and Social Networking”
Hipster Lands $1,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1954127b-7074-44f6-bf13-7bb9b4b0c95f&Preview=1 Date 5/17/2011 Company Name Hipster Mailing Address Undisclosed San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description The company offers a local Q&A service. Website http://www.hipster.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company will use part of proceeds to move its operations from Los Angeles to San … Continue reading “Hipster Lands $1,000,000 New Financing”
FLUD Secures $1,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=98da5ed0-cc6a-473b-962f-3c118d181aeb&Preview=1 Date 4/14/2011 Company Name FLUD Mailing Address Undisclosed San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description FLUD is a modern, beautiful and personalized mobile news ecosystem with a vision to empower it’s users to interact with each other to access, engage and broadcast content that is relevant to them. You probably visit hundreds … Continue reading “FLUD Secures $1,000,000 New Financing”