H2bid expands reach, staff in Midtown

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

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