Marketing / Media : News

When the M@dison Building opened in downtown Detroit in late 2011, Detroit Labs was one of the first start-ups to move in. Today the mobile app company has grown to the point where it's almost standing-room only in its office, prompting it to start building out its own office nearby on Woodward Avenue.

"We are out-growing our space like you wouldn't believe," says Paul Glomski, co-founder & CEO of Detroit Labs. "We're proud to say, 'We are the fastest-growing startup in Detroit.'"

Detroit Labs launched in May 2011 as one of Detroit Venture Partners' first portfolio companies. It started out creating custom mobile apps for the likes of Quicken Loans, Stryker and Chevrolet.  It has now taken on work for Domino's Pizza, a company that is almost as well known for its software innovation as its pizza. Glomski points out that Domino's pizza ordering app does about $4 million in business a week, and Detroit Labs is one of the key players in helping make that happen.

"They wanted to bring in a team that lives and breathes mobile day and night," Glomski says. He adds that Detroit Labs will continue to do custom work for big companies in 2013 but also expects to begin creating its own original apps this year. "We have a lot of areas we are looking at," Glomski says. "We have a lot of games we're working on. We have an app in the app store (called Koha) that helps people share bills (for things like groceries and going out to eat)."

All of this new work has prompted Detroit Labs to go on a hiring spree. It has doubled its staff to 32 employees and some summer interns. Glomski expects his staff to surpass 50 by the end of the year. That expansion has led the company to make the most of its 2,000 square feet in the M@dison Building, creating makeshift standing desks and even turning a treadmill into a work space.

Detroit Labs is building out its own space less than a block from the M@dison Building. Glomski declined to reveal the address but did say it's a building owned by Dan Gilbert and will measure out to 10,000 square feet. The new space will be similar to the unique nature of the M@dison Building and should be good to go within a few months.

"They're already swinging hammers and doing the actual build out," Glomski says. "It will be very unique. Our team is taking a sense of ownership to build out the space. It will be spectacular. It will be unique to Detroit Labs. It will be cool and collaborative. Every building Dan Gilbert and Bedrock (Gilbert's real-estate development company) do is unique and this will continue that trend."

Source: Paul Glomski, co-founder & CEO of Detroit Labs
Writer: Jon Zemke

ReapSo launched its customer loyalty app last week. The start-up is initially focusing on Apple users in the downtown Royal Oak market.

The Farmington Hills-based company and its team of three people have created a mobile app that helps local businesses increase sales using things like traditional customer loyalty rewards programs, newer technology like QR codes and gamification techniques to keep customers engaged. The app also takes care to protect customer's privacy and makes it easy for merchants to use by making sign-ups free and easy.

"We get paid from our merchants when a user comes in and pays for a product," says Steve Valentine, co-founder of ReapSo. "There is no risk. There is no long-term contract for them to sign."

ReapSo has signed up 30 merchants in Royal Oak, mostly restaurants and bars in downtown. The start-up's market research shows that about 60 percent of people who frequent downtown Royal Oak use Apple products. The focus on eateries aims to leverage the frequency of spending money on food and drink in the city's center.

"I might not buy a shirt everyday, but I am eating everyday," Valentine says.

Source: Steve Valentine, co-founder of ReapSo
Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Ann Arbor-based re:group recently found itself in need of more expertise to meet its clients needs. So the company hired it, bringing three new people onto its staff.

The digital marketing company has clients in a broad range of industries, ranging from bio-tech to retail. To help meet their demands, re:group hired a client services director and an expert in franchise businesses. It's staff currently stands at 22 people and a couple of interns.

"It's really expanded," says Carey Jernigan, vice president of development for re:group. "We had a majority of it here but we needed a few more people to shore it up."

Jernigan expects re:group to go after more franchise business this year. The firm has already attracted the likes of Domino's Pizza and is aiming to bring on more national and regional franchises as clients. Re:group has already hired on a new employee or two to help spur that growth.

"It will help us be able to take on more franchise clients," Jernigan says.

Source: Carey Jernigan, vice president of development for re:group
Writer: Jon Zemke

H2bid watched its user base expand significantly in 2012, allowing the Midtown-based Internet start-up to expand its team to 20 people with the addition of three new hires.

The 7-year-old company provides e-procurement services for water utilities. Its software helps these water utilities bid out projects over the Internet, helping ensure they get the best deal in the most cost-effective manner.

"It (the jump in usership) reflects the adaptation of the technology in this area," says Glenn Oliver, CEO of H2bid who formerly worked for the Detroit Board of Water Commissioners in the late 1990s. "People are getting more and more into using online resources for project bidding.

H2bid is also working to expand the connectivity between companies that bid on these sorts of infrastructure projects and the subcontractors that do the work. The firm is also starting to take on more bidding for projects in Canada.

"We are starting to grow globally," Oliver says.

Source: Glenn Oliver, CEO of H2bid
Writer: Jon Zemke

CrowdJuice, an event-based tech firm, has recently secured a five-figure microloan and plans to release the public Beta of its mobile app later this winter.

The Tech Brewery-based start-up is developing software that makes it easy for event participants to find the people they want to connect with and background information on them. The idea is to help maximize networking time. This web-based and mobile attendee matchmaking software and mobile conference will in essence serve as a guide for professional events. It premiered at last year's Michigan Growth Capital Symposium.

"All of this is about connecting at events," says Ed Farrell, CEO & founder of CrowdJuice. "We take the traditional print guide and put it in your smartphone or tablet and add a bunch of valuable features to it."

CrowdJuice, a two-person start-up, plans to use its new financing from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program to help further its product development, marketing and sales efforts. The Michigan Microloan Fund Program, launched in 2009, has provided microloans worth between $10,000 and $50,000 to 76 companies.  

Source: Ed Farrell, CEO & founder of CrowdJuice
Writer: Jon Zemke

Pleasant Ridge-based ePrize has acquired Mozes, a Silicon Valley-based start-up that specializes in mobile technology. The acquisition is the third in 18 months for ePrize, and more are on the horizon for the digital engagement software firm.

"We have a number of acquisitions targeted," says Matt Wise, CEO of ePrize.

Mozes' technology engages live audiences at concerts, sporting events and in television broadcast through social and location-based experiences, making it an attractive target for ePrize's efforts to expand its mobile capabilities. The 14-year-old firm (ePrize) plans to retain Mozes' staff and offices in Palo Alto and Nashville but will absorb the Mozes brand into its own operations.

Catterton Partners, a private-equity firm, acquired ePrize last year. That allowed the tech company to hire 60 people in the last year, expanding its staff to more than 400 employes and about 20 interns.

"It's been a great success story and we look forward to continuing that in the future," Wise says.

Source: Matt Wise, CEO of ePrize
Writer: Jon Zemke

Southfield-based jacAPPS can claim something a lot of local software companies can't: being an early adopter of the app economy.

The company launched in early 2008, spinning out of a media consulting and consumer research firm. Its first app was creating a radio app for local rock n' roll station WRIF. It now has created 775 apps (mostly custom ones for clients) and is doing work with Ford today.

"In 2008 we saw pretty clearly how disruptive smart phones and apps were going to be," says Paul Jacobs, president of jacAPPS.

Jacobs aspires to make jacAPPS one of the biggest players in the mobile field. It has hired one person to expand its staff to five people and it's looking to add interns. Now that jacAPPS has, as Jacobs describes it, the house app developer for Ford's SYNC system, it is poised for a rapid ascent in 2013.

"We are interviewing more people," Jacobs says. "We're growing. We're also talking to investors. I want to be the largest mobile developer in the U.S. I think we are on our way to doing that."

Source: Paul Jacobs, president of jacAPPS
Writer: Jon Zemke

Last year David Fuehrer and Stephen Goldner didn't know where to go to find new or experimental treatments for illness so they decided to do something about it. The started a business in Bloomfield Hills last summer called cureLauncher.

The Internet start-up now serves as a one-stop source for all new treatments and developments. It launched last fall and is now working to become the Wikipedia of clinical trials for new drugs and treatments.

"We have every enrolling breast cancer trial in the U.S.," says David Fuehrer, vice president & co-founder of cureLauncher. "It's 400 trials at 7,500 locations. Users can stroll through that list and see what is right for them."

The company is also working to help tackle the clinical trial enrollment problem. It cites that there are 50,000 clinical trials in the U.S. every year, and each one is delayed by 4.6 months due to enrollment issues. The firm hopes to help close that gap by connecting sick people with envelope-pushing treatments that could help them.

Fuehrer and Goldner's start-up recently made the finals of this winter's ACE business plan competition. The self-funded firm and its team of eight people is now applying for some seed-funding sources, such as financing from the Michigan Microloan Fund.

Source: David Fuehrer, vice president & co-founder of cureLauncher
Writer: Jon Zemke

A new start-up based in Ann Arbor, stkr.it, is helping people move memories trapped in old mobile technology to a format where they can be preserved for posterity.

For instance, if a series of text messages about getting a new job have sentimental value, stkr.it allows them to be moved from the original phone and preserved when the old cell phone is replaced.

"I found that young people were were saving their old cell phones that had old text message conversations," says Mike Newman, president of stkr.it. "They were meaningful and valuable. They didn't want to loose them."

Mike Newman and his father, Chuck Newman, were previously executives with ReCellular, a Dexter-based cell phone recycler. ReCellular has been the largest recycler of cell phones for many years and often worked to find ways to get people to recycle old cell phones. Sentimental attachment to the information inside cell phones was one of the larger barriers to overcome.

Mike Newman moved to New York City two years ago with his wife who took a job in finance. He started stkr.it not long after. Chuck Newman was one of the first investors and convinced Mike Newman (who splits time between New York and Ann Arbor) to move it back to Ann Arbor.

"We had a strong desire to make this a Michigan company," Mike Newman says.

Today, stkr.it is a little more than 1-year-old, employs five people (mostly in Ann Arbor) and is looking to add interns. It is expanding its product offerings to letting users move videos created on smart phones to greeting cards to create a personal touch.

"With our technology you can add a video or a voice message," Mike Newman says. "That way it's much more personal and meaningful."

Source: Mike Newman, president of stkr.it
Writer: Jon Zemke

Internet start-up Seelio has landed an investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, which is part of a larger angel round worth slightly more than $600,000.

The investment has allowed the downtown Ann Arbor-based company to expand its staff to 10 employees and two interns. It is now looking for strategic investors and has moved into the offices of Menlo Innovations, which is helping mentor the 1-year-old firm.

"We're very proud to be based out of Ann Arbor," says Moses Lee, co-founder & CEO of Seelio. "We have a very good team that is committed to the state of Michigan."

Seelio is developing a software platform that allows college students to showcase their portfolio of work. "We're able to document the entire story of a project and who you worked with," Lee says.

The platform is currently being used in 800 college campus across the U.S., including the University of Texas, UCLA, MIT, Albion College, Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, among many others. Seelio plans to expand its geographic reach around the world with universities in Europe the next in line.

"Some major universities are interested in this platform," Lee says.

Source: Moses Lee, co-founder & CEO of Seelio
Writer: Jon Zemke

Jesse Cory didn't make the decision to move his Internet art start-up to Detroit's Eastern Market by himself. He had his wife, his partner and five of his employees with him when they walked through 1410 Gratiot in the middle of last summer.

They saw the century-old building's vintage features, high ceilings and exposed brick walls. They saw that the renovation was practically complete and the finished space was perfect for a growing, edgy business like their's. And they'd only seen the first floor when they knew 1410 Gratiot had to be their next home.

"We walked through it and said, 'You want to sell this?'" Cory says.

1xRUN is a spin-off of 323 East and the Ohm Creative Group, a combination art gallery and marketing agency. Remember the Kwame mugshot mugs? Those came from the Ohm Creative Group and were sold at 323 East. Cory and his partners founded the quirky, art-inspired business in an odd-shaped commercial building on the eastern edge of downtown Royal Oak in 2006. The marketing agency magic took place in the back and the front gallery sold the wares of local artists with a heavy emphasis on graffiti art.

323 East and the Ohm Creative Group launched 1xRUN in 2010 as a way to sell limited editions of art prints. The idea took off and the business has grown rapidly since. It now employs eight people and a handful of independent contractors, becoming the centerpiece of the 323 East and Ohm Creative Group business empire.

323 East's downtown Royal Oak location couldn't keep up with 1xRUN's growth and increasing need for space to warehouse more art. The L-shaped building only consisted of a few 100 square feet on one floor. Cory and his partners began looking for a new home for their business and Detroit's greater downtown area was at the top of their list.

"There is an energy in the city we felt we were missing," Cory says.

He adds that he and his colleagues spent months speaking to every local economic development agency they could find and looking at even more spaces. There wasn't much in the way of what they were looking for, which consisted of a historic, urban building with three sizeable floors (a ground floor for an art gallery, a floor for 1xRUN art storage and work space and a floor for Cory to live on) that was largely renovated. Cory and his team didn't want an extensive renovation to take away from building their business.

The three-story building on Gratiot turned out to be perfect for those needs. The previous owners that had rehabbed it in 2005 were ready to move on after other opportunities led them elsewhere. They offered a Cory and his partners a land contract to purchase the building. And then there was Cory's familiarity with the block's emerging Bohemian atmosphere of artists and entrepreneurs.

"It's a very inspiring street," Cory says. "There are a lot of artists that have been there for years. We're excited to be part of the rebirth of that block."

Source: Jesse Cory, president of 1xRUN
Writer: Jon Zemke

LOVELAND Technologies got its start as sort of a happy-go-lucky group of friends leveraging software, crowd funding and art to launch a start-up. Today the 3-year-old company is expanding its client list, adding to its staff and focusing its business plan.

"We're trying to get smarter about how we make money," says Jerry Paffendorf, co-founder of LOVELAND Technologies.

The start-up's signature piece work is WhyDontWeOwnThis.com, a website that maps property ownership in Detroit. It got its start mapping out the thousands of tax foreclosed properties in Wayne County in 2011. Today it includes maps of government-owned land and is getting ready to launch a new version with more detailed views of all of the properties in the city and that helps people prepare for the tax foreclosure auction and prevent tax foreclosure.

"Now we're trying to make WhyDontWeOwnThis.com year round," Paffendorf says.

LOVELAND Technologies has also taken on more custom software projects, which has allowed it to add another staffer to its four-member team. The firm is also looking at launching a $100,000 fundraiser later this winter that will allow users to buy shares in the company in exchange for access to its newest tools.

"We're at the stage now where everything is functional, it just needs polishing," Paffendorf says.

LOVELAND Technologies has also moved from its Corktown office space to the Department of Alternatives in downtown Detroit. The new collaborative space at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street is focused on providing office space for startups making a positive impact on the city.

Source: Jerry Paffendorf, co-founder of LOVELAND Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke

David Mamo once worked as an electrical contractor at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford. It was a job that required everyone to leave their camera phones at the door due to corporate espionage concerns. Mamo found a middle ground and turned it into a business, PICpatch.

"It (cell phones that happen to have cameras in them) is an important tool," says Mamo, president of PICpatch. "There needed to be a solution to take your camera phone to work."

PICpatch is small red sticker users can put over the lense of their camera phone. The patch makes sure any photo, accidental or otherwise, becomes a red screen. It has a residue-free adhesive and becomes crumpled and easily detectable if it has been removed and reapplied.

Mamo created the prototype of PICpatch about five years ago and shortly after General Motors became his first customer. Today it has 200 customers, including some of the world's largest corporations. Sales have doubled each year and Mamo notes that "half of our customers are abroad."

The Milford-based company now has a team of seven people after adding one new person over the last year. That team is now working on a new iteration of its sticker technology called PICpatch Chaperone Seals, a small strip that parents and chaperones can put on the hotel room doors of children to make sure they stay put. Many adults do this with masking tape but Mamo notes its is easily defeatable and PICpatch Chaperone Seals will solve those inadequacies. The product launched a few months ago and Mamo expects it to gain traction this year.

Source: David Mamo, president of PICpatch
Writer: Jon Zemke

ForeSee Results has experienced double-digit revenue growth (25 percent over the last year), which has allowed the Ann Arbor-based company to hire dozens of new employees in 2012.

The 11-year-old company has added 40 people over the last year, expanding its staff to 275 employees. It currently has 25 job openings right now and expects to keep adding to its staff at that pace in 2013.

"We should be to 300 in the next 30-45 days," says Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results. "There is a lot of hiring going on right now."

ForeSee Results provides user-satisfaction surveys, primarily through websites. It leverages the American Customer Satisfaction Index, developed at the University of Michigan, to measure the results. This year it has expanded the reach of its surveys, making headway into social media, mobile, call centers, and in brick-and-mortar stores. Online surveys still account for 80 percent of the company's business, but the other avenues are gaining ground.

"It's been pretty diversified," Freed says.

All of the company's growth has been organic and Freed expects that trend to continue in 2013. More double-digit revenue gains are also projected for next year.

Source: Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results
Writer: Jon Zemke