iRule rolls out new software platforms, hires 4 people

The shinning star in the portfolio of Compuware’s venture capital arm, iRule, continues to grow by rolling out new versions of its app technology and hiring more staff in downtown Detroit.

The 3-year-old start-up moved from Oakland County to Compuware’s downtown headquarters last fall. It has since tripled its space there, expanding its staff to nine employees thanks to four new hires in the last six months. The company has watched its revenue grow 50 percent in the last six months.

“Really our growth is across the board,” says Itai Ben-Gal, CEO of iRule. “It’s more people, more customers, more growth.”

iRule has developed an app that allows users to turn their smart phones into a universal remote for their home theater. It launched in early 2010 as a side project for Itai Ben-Gal and Victor Nemirovsky, focusing on iPhones. Last year they quit their jobs to pursue iRule full-time and began raising seed capital. Compuware’s newly launched venture capital arm led the seed round, coming on as an investor and strategic partner offering inexpensive office space in a growing tech cluster.

Since then iRule has come out with not only an updated version for the iPhone but also Android phones and tablet computers. Ben-Gal points out that his start-up is working to be a technology agnostic as possible to maximize its potential client base.

“The approach for us is we don’t have a preference,” Ben-Gal says. “Our customers have a preference.”

Source: Itai Ben-Gal, CEO of iRule
Writer: Jon Zemke

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