Walk into the new offices of Detroit Labs and there is a good chance your jaw will drop.
The mobile app firm recently moved into its new space at 1520 Woodward, a half block south of its first home in the M@dison Building. The move is necessary because
Detroit Labs CEO Paul Glomski says his firm was "bursting at the seams" in its old space after making 20 hires in its second year of business.
"We have essentially doubled in size," Glomski says. He adds the staff now stands at a little more than 40 employees and a handful of interns.
Detroit Labs creates custom mobile apps for some large corporations, including Domino’s Pizza, Chevrolet, Quicken Loans and DTE Energy. The 2-year-old tech firm is a part of the Quicken Loans family of companies and was one of the early investments made by
Detroit Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm based in the M@dison Building.
Detroit Labs was one of the first companies to move into the M@dison when it opened two years ago. It recently moved into a bi-level office space in a building recently acquired by Rock Ventures, the property acquisition arm of Quicken Loans, and renovated by Bedrock Real Estate Services, the property management arm of Quicken Loans. The
new space accentuates the historic building’s character with exposed steel structural beams, brick walls and period windows. It is also open with only a few walls and conference rooms. There are no individual offices so even the co-founders man desks next to everyday employees. The idea is to create an open and accessible workspace.
"It gave our whole team an energizing boost," Glomski says. "Having a creative space like this really fuels our team."
Source: Paul Glomski, co-founder & CEO of Detroit Labs
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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