News

AlertWatch has set some high hopes for its first round of venture capital. The Ann Arbor-based start-up has raised $1 million in seed capital and plans to formally close on its Series A round in 2014.

The 1-year-old star-up is a University of Michigan spinout and calls the Venture Accelerator at the university's North Campus Research Complex home. Its first year has focused on pushing forward the development of its patient-monitoring technology and turning its team of three people's work into full-time jobs.

"A lot of it was just the blocking and tackling of getting a company off the ground," says Justin Adams, CEO of AlertWatch.

AlertWatch's technology is a secondary patient monitor for hospital operating rooms. It aggregates data from multiple networks and hospital IT systems and displays them at a central location. It is currently being used in three pilot projects. Adams hopes to have its intensive care unit product ready for commercialization and to be piloting an emergency room product by early 2014.

"We'd like to be in five hospitals and have a term sheet for a Series A round," Adams says.

Source: Justin Adams, CEO of AlertWatch
Writer: Jon Zemke

Therapy Charts recently received a microloan from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program and is using that cash to grow the fledgling firm and expand its staff.

The Michigan Microloan Fund Program, managed by Ann Arbor SPARK, makes five-figure loans to growing companies in the Great Lakes State. It has loaned more than $2.3 million to 55 companies since its founding in July, 2009. Therapy Charts used its microloan to grow the company by implementing an Internet marketing plan and hiring a chief operating officer.

"Our membership has almosty tripled in the last year," says Lisa Farmer, co-founder of Therapy Charts.

Therapy Charts sells a patient information management software platform for mental health professionals. The software helps these clinicians provide treatment plans to their patients. It is also preparing to launch another product later this month that will give treatment providers homework plans for their patients.

"Having the reaffirmation of what happens in the sessions helps them decrease the session count and decrease the chances of relapse," Farmer says.

The 5-year-old company currently has a staff of seven employees and two interns at its home base in downtown Ann Arbor. It has hired one person over the last year and expects to continue growing at an accelerated pace in 2013.

Source: Lisa Farmer, co-founder of Therapy Charts
Writer: Jon Zemke

Gongos continues its 22-year tradition of steady growth, expanding its operations with a new division this year, despite taking a serious blow.

The Auburn Hills-based market research firm is launching O2 Integrated, a division of the company that it's billing as "a consultative unit dedicated to fusing enterprise data and primary research to reshape customer-centric decision making for Global 1000 companies." Put simply, O2 Integrated is Gongos' plunge into data analytics marketing. The difference, Gongos president & CEO Camille Nicita points out, is O2 Integrated helps its clients see through the plethora of white noise in the growing world of information.

"We see it as decision intelligence versus big data," Nicita says.

Gongos, formerly Gongos Research, itself has grown over the last, expanding its revenues by 4 percent and hiring eight new people. That number isn't as high as Gongos' normal growth gains but it's also the number that followed after its founder, CEO and driving force, John Gongos, died suddenly of metastatic melanoma at age 51 last summer.

But the company is rallying. It now has a staff of 108 people and is getting ready to welcome seven new interns this summer. Nicita expects O2 Integrated to continue to drive the company's continued growth this year and beyond.

"We feel O2 Integrated is a huge opportunity for talent expansion," Nicita says.

Source: Camille Nicita, president & CEO of Gongos
Writer: Jon Zemke

Ghostly International is making to moves to utilize technology more effectively to grow the electronic and ambient music label's business.

The Ann Arbor-based company, which calls the Tech Brewery home, has watched as subscription service Drip.fm take off in the last year, signing partners like Owsla (Skrillex's music label) and Stones Throw. Its publishing division just rebranded and relaunched its website, making its catalogue of music more easily searchable.

"We want to use technology to make it easier for people to use our content," says Jeremy Peters, director of creative licensing & business affairs for Ghostly International.

Those sorts of advances has allowed the 14-year-old business to continue its growth streak. It recently opened a new office in Los Angeles, giving it a presence now in LA, New York City and Ann Arbor. It has also hired two software developers over the last year, expanding its staff to 10 people and an intern.

Ghostly International is also about to renew its contract to provide music for Adult Swim www.adultswim.com. Peters adds that some new deals are also on the precipice of being done in 2013.

"There is some pretty cool stuff coming down the pipe," Peters says.

Source: Jeremy Peters, director of creative licensing & business affairs for Ghostly International
Writer: Jon Zemke

The demand for more bandwidth and expertise in the IT and data management industries has risen sharply with the economy, which is good news for a business like DataFactZ.

The Northville-based firm specializes in data-warehousing and IT services. Its revenue has spiked 30 percent, enabling it to hire 110 people over the last year. It now has a staff of 500 employees and a few interns. It is currently looking to hire another 10 people.

"We had tremendous growth last year," says Sridhar Kodati, vice president of DataFactZ. "We added many clients, like Meijer.

This is helping good companies like DataFactZ that are in the right place at the right time to grow exponentially. Kodati expects to notch another 30-40 percent  growth this year as the company continues to attract more clients and staff.

"The trend has been increasing day by day," Kodati says. "The industry needs more resources, so a lot of companies are looking to us."

Source: Sridhar Kodati, vice president of DataFactZ
Writer: Jon Zemke

Scott Hasbrouck and his wife, Lisa Hasbrouck, moved to Ann Arbor for Georgia last spring to launch Ginkgotree from the Tech Brewery. Today, the start-up has adjusted its business plan and launched its higher-education technology.

Ginkgotree got its start creating a note-taking app built for the education industry. A few months into building the company, the Hasbrouck's shifted the firm's focus to creating a software platform that enables professors to create a digital curriculum that combines copy righted materials and open-educational resources.

"Essentially it's a tool for faculty to create a curriculum that would replace the text book in the course," says Scott Hasbrouck, CEO of Ginkgotree. "It would be much cheaper than a textbook."

Think of the cost of a text book's price in the $100-200 range and compare it to Ginkgotree's curriculum price point of $30. The four-person team at Ginkgotree launched the product over the holidays and has several hundred faculty members from across the country signed up to use it. Spring Arbor University is running a pilot program and Scott Hasbrouck expects a few more universities will sign up to run their own pilot programs later this year.

"Next fall is shaping up to be a pretty good time for us," Scott Hasbrouck says.

Source: Scott Hasbrouck, CEO of Ginkgotree
Writer: Jon Zemke

Nestled in downtown's Ford Building, the year-old startup and its team of seven people launched its iPhone app last fall and is working on an Android version. The company raised $500,000 in angel funding in 2012 and plans to close a Series A round of investments in 2013.

Now this, a nicely-timed mention in the Wall Street Journal:

With a partner, (Mike Vichich) launched Glyph at the App Store in November, after attracting $500,000 in seed capital from local investors earlier in the year: "I'm by no means a developer now, but at least I can speak the language," he says.

Read more here.

In the crowded media market that is Detroit, Deadline Detroit has carved out enough room to grow its fledgling staff.

The Internet news source based in downtown Detroit (it calls the Compuware Building home) is looking to add a web developer intern and a news intern. The 1-year-old publication currently employs six full-time workers (four journalists and two advertising account executives) after hiring its first intern earlier this year.

Deadline Detroit publishes a combination of aggregated news content and its own original stories. Its stories range from hard news pieces covering the latest in the Motor City's fiscal calamity to providing opinion space for some of the region's up-and-coming editorial voices, such as Jeff Wattrick and Darrell Dawsey.

"Our commentary has been fairly sharp," says Bill McGraw, co-founder of Deadline Detroit. "We have experienced journalists. What we do is kind of edgy. We try to be lively and interesting. Our motto is never be boring."

McGraw, a longtime staffer at the Detroit Free Press, co-founded Deadline Detroit with Al Lengel. Lengel wrote for The Detroit News for more than a decade before jumping to the Washington Post to cover law enforcement in 1990s during Detroit's newspaper strike. Lengel started TickleTheWire.com, an online news aggregator for the law enforcement community, and was looking to raise funds for it when the idea for Deadline Detroit was born.

Compuware Ventures, the venture capital arm of its namesake parent, led the first round of seed funding for Deadline Detroit. McGraw expects to raise another round of venture capital later this year and hopes to grow Deadline Detroit's staff to close to a dozen people. These are goals that don't seem out of reach in a news town that is never boring.

"The rest of the world finds Detroit interesting and that's good for us," McGraw says.

Source: Bill McGraw, co-founder of Deadline Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke

McClure's Pickles made the move from Oakland County to Detroit last year to help it meet the demand for its artisan eats. A year into filling out its new home, the 6-year-old company is finding that new production capabilities bring new challenges.

"We used to be backlogged on product, and sales came easy," says Joe McClure, co-owner of McClure's Pickles. "That's now shifting so we are spending less time on production and more time on sales."

McClure's Pickles moved to a 20,000-square-foot industrial space in Detroit near Hamtramck. The new space allowed the company to modernize its manufacturing capabilities and double its production to 3,000 jars of pickles per day.

"We can make more product and get it out the door faster," McClure says. "We have more time now so we can play around with more ideas."

McClure's Pickles principal product is its signature pickles, but it has grown its product offerings to include potato chips, blood mary mix, relish and brine water. It is based in Detroit but also has a 5-person office in Brooklyn, New York City. The company overall employs 20 people and has hired one new person over the last year.

Source: Joe McClure, co-founder of McClure's Pickles
Writer: Jon Zemke

GSTV, the downtown Birmingham-based company that brought us TVs on gas pumps, is expanding into the mobile space with its new spinoff, Dmedia.

Dmedia will serve as a sister company of GSTV (formerly Gas Station TV), providing a built-in marketing partner to reach consumers and drive app interaction. The spin-off got started last fall with a handful of GSTV employees eager to take on the mobile space, leveraging their media experiences, technology and previous client relations.

"GSTV is the support system," says Carly Gordon, director of business operations for Dmedia. "It's the spark that helped us get started in the mobile space."

Dmedia currently has a staff of five people and expects to grow this year. It currently has four job openings: for director of business development, communications professionals, and web developers. It is currently working on making three custom apps for businesses. The apps under construction include,:BigNoiz (a local music and concert discovery app), Chitney (a customizable offer delivery platform) and gogo (a location-aware point of interaction app).

"Right now the long-term plan is to do these three apps really well and take that to the next level," Gordon says. "We want to grow with them."

Source: Carly Gordon, director of business operations for Dmedia
Writer: Jon Zemke

If you're looking for a success story in the wake of Pfizer closing its operations in Ann Arbor five years ago, look no farther than Velesco Pharma.

The Plymouth-based company, it calls the Ann Arbor SPARK-managed Michigan Life Science Innovation Center home, offers pharmaceutical consulting and laboratory services. It also operates a plant in Kalamazoo that makes dosage forms for clinical trials. Each year since its start, the company has experienced sustained growth.

"Velesco Pharma continues to have significant growth," says Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharma, former Velesco Pharmaceuticals. "We continue to work with ore than 75 different clients."

Velesco Pharma currently has 17 people and a few summer interns between its facilities in Plymouth and Kalamazoo. It has hired two people over the last year as it's clinical trial products and services continue to gain traction in the market. Cox expects to spend 2013 strengthening the firm's branding and business development resources to sustain its growth pattern.

"There has been significant demand," Cox says. "There has also been a lot of repeat business from existing clientele."

Source: Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharma
Writer: Jon Zemke

Interested in start-ups? How about becoming a serial entrepreneur? Does mentoring from some of Metro Detroit's top business people sound good? Does a $60,000 annual stipend pique your interest?

If so then you will want to check out the Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship Program, an initiative serviced through Automation Alley to place up-and-coming business people (think recent college grads) with local start-ups and established entrepreneurs and investors. It is currently taking applications for the 2013-14 class, which will consist of four people, through April 1.

"The mission is to place these Adams Fellows in an intensive entrepreneurial environment with a lot of mentoring," says Terry Cross, managing director of Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship Program.

Adams Fellows will have daily job responsibilities and will be encouraged to participate in local entrepreneurial, business development and leadership events. Participants will be given opportunities to network with one another and with other young emerging leaders in the region.

For information, click here.

Source: Terry Cross, managing director of Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship Program
Writer: Jon Zemke

The Renaissance Venture Capital Fund is making its first investments in its second investment vehicle, worth $60 million, over the last year.

The downtown Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm also has an office in downtown Detroit, has invested $3 million of it second fund so far. The first recipient is Allos Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

"They have been pretty active in looking for deals in Michigan," says Chris Rizik, CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital Fund.

Renaissance Venture Capital Fund is a fund of funds, which is primarily used to invest in other venture capital funds that will in turn invest in individual companies. The Renaissance Venture Capital Fund invests in VCs that are looking to invest in Michigan-based start-ups. The 5-year-old fund of funds, which has derived its capital from private sources, launched with a $50 million fund. It closed on a $60 million fund last year.

When the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund launched it deployed its capital relatively quickly to meet pent up demand. Rizik expects the deal flow to even out a little more in coming years with his company making $15 million to $20 million investments

"Now it's sort of a steady flow," Rizik says. "There is no backlog. We will invest this in a steady fashion."

Source: Chris Rizik, CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital Fund
Writer: Jon Zemke

Ingenex Digital Marketing's recent growth curve might rest on the new economy of website design and Internet marketing, but it's building its company on some age-old business ideas, like word-of-mouth referrals.

It has tackled website redesigns in the last year for some major players in Michigan, including Cranbrook.edu and Aiag.org. The downtown Ann Arbor-based company wants to continue taking on some more major institutions in the Great Lakes State as clients, but it's going to be choosy.

"We don't want too many clients," says Derek Mehraban, CEO of Ingenex Digital Marketing. "We want clients that are progressive and want to do smart things online." He adds the idea behind this line of thinking is to take on more clients who are interested in long-term work in building their online brands.

Ingenex Digital Marketing has also grown its staff to seven employees and four interns. The 7-year-old company has hired four people in the last year, including a new client-experience manager, account manager, social media director and Google search specialist. The firm is also looking to hire a web developer right now.

"We just do a lot of websites," Mehraban says. "We need more people."

Source: Derek Mehraban, CEO of Ingenex Digital Marketing
Writer: Jon Zemke