Startup News

Growth and change are two words that have become commonplace at Atwater Brewery. Change from its freshly redone brand logo and plans to expand into distilling. Growth from its expanding production facility, beer sales, workforce and a new brew pub.

It has been growing aggressively the last two years. It has upped its brewing capacity from 7,000 barrels to 30,000 barrels. Last year it brewed 12,000 barrels of beer and is on track to brew another 22,000 barrels. The brewery's beers are currently in 15 states and its overall goal is to hit 100,000 barrels by 2015.

"The demand for our brand is hot," says Mark Rieth, owner of Atwater Brewery. "Plus local sales. About 60 percent of our sales are from Michigan."

That growth has allowed the company to hire six people over the last year, including workers in production, management and sales. It is currently accepting applications and expects to hire 15-20 people over the next two years. "We're always looking for good people," Rieth says.

The riverfront-based craft brewery (its located at the corner of Atwater and Jos Campau streets) got its start in 1997 as Atwater Block Brewery. Reith took control of it 2005 and started laying the groundwork for a large expansion. The brewery redid its logo last year to emphasize its Detroit roots.

"We have the Detroit skyline on our packaging," Rieth says. "Brewed in Detroit is on all of our logos."

Atwater Brewery is also working toward expanding its reach. The company is renovating a church in Grosse Pointe Park into a brewpub. Reith expects the biergarten portion to open by July and the overall facility to be done by the end of the year. The brewery is also looking at expanding its current production facility to a new building on the riverfront and opening a tap room in the downtown area, however, both projects are still in the preliminary planning stages.

What is for sure is Atwater Brewery's expansion into liquor production. The brewing is aiming to begin distilling its Dirty Blonde Vodka in the fourth quarter this year and a whiskey not long after it.

"We will be doing a full-range of spirits, including a white whiskey," Rieth says. "It's a whiskey that doesn't have the color. It's clear in color."

Source: Mark Rieth, owner of Atwater Brewery
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

MitoStem is growing its executive ranks in an effort to grow the startup overall.

The TechTown-based firm, which is working on technology that turns regular cells into stem cells, recently hired a new CEO. Audrey Hutter formerly worked as a vice president at Aastrom Biosciences in Ann Arbor during the early 2000s. She will help MitoStem's team of three employees and four interns raise $1 million in angel investor funding this year.

"We need further investment to move onto the next step, which would include getting our products to market," says Jim Eliason, president & chief scientist for MitoStem.

MitoStem was spun out of Wayne State University in 2009. Its developing technology specializes in turning human adult cells into "pluripotent" cells that can be used to replace damaged tissue cells in that same individual. The startup won a $100,000 top prize at last year's Great Lakes Entrepreneurs Quest competition that money and the seed round it is raising will help the startup commercialize its technology over the next year.

"I would like to see us come out with a kit for this technology that can be sold globally," Eliason says.

Source: Jim Eliason, president & chief scientist for MitoStem
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Superior Capital Partners is gearing up to begin fundraising for its second fund, a move that could spur a sizable growth in the downtown Detroit-based firm.

"We're hoping to at least double in size," says Mark Carroll, managing partner of Superior Capital Partners.

The private-equity firm got its start in 2007 with two people focused on turning around lower middle market companies. Superior Capital Partners raised $60 million and expanded its staff to five. Its first investment was in two companies in 2009 that became XanEdu, an Ann Arbor-based firm that made the transition from printing educational materials, like college course packs, to digitizing them for tablet computers. It is now the largest provider of custom, digital course packs for higher-education markets.

The move won awards, including Small Deal of the Year in 2009 from Crain's Detroit Business. Carroll will also be speaking about the deal and its impact at this week's Michigan Growth Capital Symposium in Ann Arbor, one of the top investment conferences in the Midwest.

"It was worthy of being saved," Carroll says.

Superior Capital Partners has invested in 13 companies across five platforms in its first fund. Those companies represent 2,000 employees and $230 million in revenue. Carroll and his team are planning to begin laying the groundwork for raising a second fund worth $120 next year, which should allow Superior Capital Partners to hire three more people.

Source: Mark Carroll, managing partner of Superior Capital Partners
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A group of four have turned the practice of improving Detroit into a business that helps get that job done called New Solutions Group.

The Green Garage-based consultancy works with a number of nonprofits that advocate for the Motor City and Michigan, such as Let's Save Michigan, Michigan Future Schools, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Community Development Advocates of Detroit and Global Detroit. New Solutions Group helps handle project management and membership expansion for those groups.

"Part of the reason we work together is we want to make Detroit a better place," says Francis Grunow, partner with New Solutions Group.

Grunow is one of the four partners of the company. Steve Tobocman started New Solutions Group a few years ago with his work with Global Detroit, an immigration initiative aiming at helping reinvigorate Detroit. Two years ago New Solutions Group expanded to four partners (Sloan Herrick and Sarah Szurpicki are the other two partners).

The company grew its workload to the point it can help pay its partners its full-time pay and benefits, signed a lease at Green Garage and has added three more people to its team.

"We're striving to be a business in Detroit that offers benefits and is a good place to work," Szurpicki says.

Source: Sloan Herrick, Sarah Szurpicki, Steve Tobocman and Francis Grunow, partners at New Solutions Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

D:hive is celebrating its first year anniversary this month and is making plans to continue helping connect more people with jobs, entrepreneurial resources, housing and the City of Detroit itself.

D:hive was created in early 2012 as a hub for people who want to learn more about Detroit and stake a claim in the Motor City. It merged with Inside Detroit, the downtown-based tourism nonprofit, in May of last year. Since the merger D:hive has opened a welcome center, launched a jobs portal, opened its entrepreneur education BUILD program, and continued Inside Detroit's tours of the city. In that time it has taken 7,500 people on tours, graduated more than 100 people from BUILD and helped connect 1,000 job seekers with 500 companies in its network.

"We have been doing a pretty good job of connecting supply and demand in the city," says Jeff Aronoff, executive director of D:hive.

He adds that D:hive plans to drill down more in the employment connections to go beyond just connecting people with jobs. The idea is to make quality connections that serve both parties for years. D:hive is also working on a pilot program that will help educate aspiring retailers so they get access to as many resources as technology entrepreneurs.

D:hive currently employs 13 people. Aronoff expects that number to remain stable even as the nonprofit continues to expand its service offerings.

"Our staff will fluctuate a little bit but it will always be 10-15 people," Aronoff says.

Source: Jeff Aronoff, executive director of D:hive
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Meijer has begun the process of hiring 400 people for its new store in Detroit at the southeast corner of Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road.

The Grand Rapids-based big-box retailer is anchoring the Gateway Marketplace development on 36 acres near the State Fairgrounds. The Meijer Supercenter will offer the company's normal retail and grocery options, making it one of the first big, brand-name supermarkets to open a full-size store in the Motor City in years.

"This is basically our standard, full-size supercenter," says Frank Guglielmi, director of public relations for Meijer. He adds the 190,000-square-foot store will also offer a gas station, drive-thru pharmacy and a garden center. It will be open between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., which is the normal hours for its urban locations.

Meijer will employ about 400 people at the store with about 30-40 percent of them working on a full-time basis. The hiring of those employees will begin this spring and continue through the summer. It is set to open late this summer. Meijer is working with Detroit Employment Solutions Corp through Michigan Works!, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (commonly known as ACCESS), Second Ebenezer Church in partnership with Perfecting Church and the Arab American and Chaldean Council.

"We're talking about everything from cashiers to cake decorators to meat cutters," Guglielmi says. "The level of pay depends on their level of experience."

For information on applying for those job, click here.

Source: Frank Guglielmi, director of public relations for Meijer
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

TubeMgual is opening an office in the M@dison Building, bringing three more jobs to downtown Detroit.

The Silicon Valley-based business specializes in programmatic branding. It runs video advertising campaigns for all of Michigan’s top automotive brands. The company's first Metro Detroit hires met in coffee shops and worked virtually before taking the advice of representatives of Twitter, which also has an office in the M@dison Building, and considering Detroit's Central Business District.

"We wanted to find a place where we could work with more people in the tech community," says Jennifer Dawson, director of sales Midwest for TubeMogul. She adds that "the minute we walked in and looked around we decided this is where we wanted to be."

The M@dison Building opened two years ago as a center for tech startups and early stage investors. Detroit Venture Partners, the most aggressive venture capital firm in the state, is one of the building's anchor tenants. It invests in young tech startups, many of which are based in the M@dison Building. That sort of atmosphere is what attracted TubeMogul.

"We didn't think being in one of those confined spaces would help us interact with people," Dawson says.

TubeMogal will have a staff of three people in the M@dison Building. It currently has two open positions.

Source: Jennifer Dawson, director of sales Midwest for TubeMogul
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A couple of Wayne State University students are inventing a better light bulb and turning that idea into a new startup, Signal Techtronics.

Tom Kim and Christopher Attar are developing a next-generation LED light bulb that last longer. The 6-month-old startup's design simplifies the bulb's circuity so it runs cooler and last longer. It also utilizes a vegetable glycerine that replaces an aluminum, making the manufacture of the bulb cheaper.

"It's more effective in cooling and is much cheaper to manufacture," Kim says.

Signal Techtronics launched out of the Blackstone LaunchPad incubator in Wayne State University last fall. The startup and its team of five people have received $2,000 in seed capital earlier this year. It it currently participating in TechTown's Venture Accelerator program where it is developing its first production-ready prototype.

"We should have the prototype done by the end of the summer," Kim says.

Source: Tom Kim, co-founder & inventor of Signal Techtronics
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Jack and Pamela McGrath see an achievement gap in the educational system so they decided to do something about it. That something is Zerebral.

"We're trying to increase student engagement by using technology to drive academic success," says Jack McGrath, CEO of Zerebral.

The husband-and-wife team are from Oxford and have been incubating the company in the Flint area for the last year. It is now participating in TechTown's Venture Accelerator to develop its tech platform that incorporates new technology like cloud computing and mobile apps.

Part of the Zerebral's platform also reorganizes how teachers tackle the education process. For instance, it breaks down the grading process from a quarterly exercise to weekly basis because the reward takes too long to achieve. It also places a premium on attendance and participation.

"We want to reward all of those efforts that go into the learning process," McGrath says.

Zerebral is developing its technology platform this summer and hopes to launch its Beta version by this fall.

Source: Jack McGrath, CEO of Zerebral
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Canadians are coming. Well, make that their tech firms have. Red Piston, a Windsor-based mobile app firm, has opened an office in downtown Detroit.

"The tunnel is still a hassle to cross," says Jakub Koter, co-founder of Red Piston. "It's a big hassle for our clients to come here for a meeting."

The 2.5-year-old tech firm's name is a combination of Red Wings and Pistons. It services a number of different clients in Metro Detroit, doing work with the likes of Organic and Digitas. The company had a desk at the M@dison Building but has since opened up is own office in the Michigan Theater building.

The small office houses one of the company's 18 employees (it also has an intern). Koter plans to expand its Metro Detroit presence to a couple of full-time people over the next year. It also hopes the office will help it tap into downtown Detroit's growing tech and IT scene.

"There is a vibe over in downtown Detroit that we want to be a part of," Koter says.

Source: Jakub Koter, co-founder of Red Piston
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Hudson Editorial is making a splash with its move to downtown Detroit, taking space in one of the Central Business District's iconic structures, the Wright Kay Building.

The creative agency, which specializes in everything from graphics to audio finishing for films, is bringing seven people from its temporary office in Troy this spring. It plans to expand its staff to 16 shortly after the move. The firm will take up 6,400 square feet of post-production studio space on the 5th and 6th floors of the Wright Kay Building.

"We feel that once we're downtown then that is the time to grow," says Kristin Redman, executive producer at Hudson Editorial. "We have had to turn down work because we are in such a small space. We feel being downtown will attract more work."

Hudson Editorial was launched in January and is a sister company of Royal Oak-based Avalon Films, which will also open an office in the Wright Kay Building. Hudson Editorial handles post-production work for a number of advertising agencies, including Campbell-Ewald, Team Detroit, and Leo Burnett. The young company jumped at the chance to take up space in one of downtown Detroit's most striking historic buildings.

The Wright Kay Building is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Detroit, opening in 1891. The 6-story office building is made of brick and brownstone trim with a large turret overlooking the corner of Woodward Avenue and John R Street. It originally served as the home of Schwankovsky Temple of Music and then became the home of Wright Kay Jewelry (for which it is named) for most of the 20th Century.

Rock Ventures, the real-estate umbrella company for Quicken Loans, acquired the building last year and began renovations to turn it into a home for creatively inclined firms. The building's grand architecture was a big selling point in Hudson Editorial's decision to set up shop there.

"That building is so beautiful," Redman says. "Every time I describe that building everybody knows exactly what we're talking about."

Source: Kristin Redman, executive producer at Hudson Editorial
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Corridor Sausage Co has gone mobile, launching a food truck called The Grindhouse in Eastern Market last weekend.

The new side venture is one of a handful of milestones the slow-food startup is achieving this spring. Corridor Sausage Co has doubled its production of its artisan sausages in the last six months and received USDA approval to begin selling them in large quantities in more markets. It is also making plans to expand its offerings to include more foods.

Making all of this possible is the Corridor Sausage Co's new home in Eastern Market. The 4-year-old company moved into its first permanent home late last year, allowing it to buy bigger equipment so it can ramp up production. Since then it has doubled its revenue and hired four people to its staff of seven by expanding the firm's client list, landing some big accounts like The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village.

"It has opened up a lot of doors for us," says Will Branch, co-owner of Corridor Sausage Co. "We have gone from seven hours a week in a rented kitchen to 40-50 hours a week in our own space."

That new production capability also allowed the firm to outfit its own food truck. Branch and his co-founder, Zachary Klein, spun off the food truck with Gjon Camaj, who owns a tech firm called Image Space in Ann Arbor. The Grindhouse will sell Corridor Sausage Co's sausages along with its own home-made ingredients, such as mustard. Other ingredients, like kraut, will be sourced from The Brinery in Ann Arbor.

Branch and Klein are making plans to expand Corridor Sausage Co's product portfolio. The partners are experimenting with mustard recipes and making salumi and charcuterie and other aged meats.

"We have been thinking about that for a few years now," Branch says.

Corridor Sausage Co's product could also start to become ubiquitous in the U.S. The firm recently received USDA approval for its sausages, a long and arduous approval process. That approval will allow Corridor Sausage Co to wholesale its sausages and market them in other states, which Branch expects will set the stage for an even bigger growth spurt for the firm.

Source: Will Branch, co-owner of Corridor Sausage Co
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Meet Savvy Languages, the latest startup born in Ann Arbor that has moved to Detroit.

The online language company is the latest in a growing handful of tech firms to make the leap east over I-275 and land in Detroit's greater downtown area. Other recent transplants include, Are You A Human (a Detroit Venture Partners portfolio firm in the M@dison Building) and Fusion Coolant Systems (Focus:HOPE).

Savvy Languages is one of the first startups to take part in TechTown's Venture Accelerator Program. It is in its first month of the three-month program and its leadership is looking at making the move to TechTown permanent this summer.

"They set us up with funding, coaching, office space," says Michael Frye, co-founder & CEO of Savvy Languages. "We have been meeting with local CEOs and entrepreneurs. The networking is great."

Frye and his co-founders started the company one year ago after becoming frustrated with the difficulty in learning a second language and lack of effective educational options for overcoming that hardship. Savvy Languages is creating online and mobile platforms that offer language-learning tools that are both entertaining and motivational.

Savvy Language is running some private user tests right now. Its team of four people expects to launch a Beta version of its software this summer.

Source: Michael Frye, co-founder & CEO of Savvy Languages
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Igniteless isn't Orlando Robinson's first ticket to the invention/entrepreneurial rodeo.

The Palmer Woods resident has been inventing gadgets to help make life simpler since he was in the Marine Corps in the early 1990s. In 1991, he says he came up with an early version of camelback to help he and his fellow leathernecks avoid losing their canteens and make it easier to drink. His squad used it and it never made it beyond there, but he started to notice camelbacks on the commercial market not long after.

Since then he has come up with three more inventions.

This is not the first time the D&D Innovations CEO has been inspired to create a life-saving or problem-solving product. A decade ago, Robinson invented the Seat Belt Shifter Lock system and the Door Pal, which helps secure foreclosed properties from break-ins. Door Pal made its way to $1.6 million in revenue thanks to landing some big clients like Bank of America, Chase Bank, Comerica Bank and Wells Fargo.

"I have been tearing stuff apart and putting it back together all my life," Robinson says. "If you come to my house you will see gadgets all over that help me solve problems. All my life I have been coming up with technology solutions."

His latest invention is Igniteless, a device that would automatically turn off a stove that was left on unattended. Robinson's 8-year-old son inspired him to create it after watching a news story about a family of children that died in a house fire.

"It shuts the gas off before it has a chance to ignite," Robinson says. "That's why we call it Igniteless."

Robinson and his team of four people have developed a working prototype and are currently in the process of obtaining certification for the technology. In the meantime, Robinson is pushing forward with an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the first manufacturing run. He hopes to raise $150,000 so he can manufacture 5,000 units this fall and sell them at $150 each.

Source: Orlando Robinson, inventor Igniteless
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

TechTown, Detroit's business accelerator, is partnering with Silicon Valley-based NewME Accelerator for a pop-up event at the end of the month that is more than what it seems on the surface.

The NewME Accelerator bills itself as "a residential technology start-up accelerator/incubator for businesses that are led by under-represented minorities in the technology industry." Its partners include tech-giant Google. It will be hosting an intensive version of its program over three nights in TechTown in an effort to help find more startups for its incubator. It's an event organizers from both California and Detroit see less about stealing startups than sharing opportunities.

"Some startups relocate (to Silicon Valley) but a lot of startups end up going back to where they are from," says Angela Benton, founder & CEO of the NewME Accelerator. "These startups become go-to people in their communities."

A couple of Detroit-based startups have already made gone through one of the NewME Accelerator's 12-week cycles. Ubi Video took part in the program last year and Rippld, a Detroit Creative Corridor Center graduate, is currently going through the program.

"We try to look at start-up ideas and their ideas were very good," Benton says.

Leslie Smith, CEO of TechTown, says this is a healthy exchange of entrepreneurs and ideas across entrepreneurial ecosystems. She thinks the connections and ideas that come from this sort of cooperation will help broaden the Motor City's start-up community by increasing opportunities for investment.

"We need to get away from the 'us-vs-them' mindset and into an 'us' mindset," Smith says.

Source: Angela Benton, founder & CEO of the NewME Accelerator
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.