Startup News

Giffels-Webster moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit last year with plans on expanding its presence in the Motor City's Central Business District. The planning and engineering firm hasn't disappointed.

Giffels-Webster had about half a dozen people at what was then a satellite office. Today 26 people work downtown out of a staff of 60 employees and an intern. Three of the firm's last four hires from this year have been at the Detroit office.

"It has tripled in size and it is now the largest of our three offices," says Scott Clein, president of Giffels-Webster.

The 60-year-old company also has offices in Oakland and Macomb County, and still expects to keep hiring in the not-too-distant future. Clein expects many of the new hires will go in the regional satellite offices.

Source: Scott Clein, president of Giffels-Webster.
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

An angel investor group with ties to Silicon Valley is opening a Detroit chapter called TiE Detroit Angels.

TiE is a global, not-for-profit, non-political, and non-religious organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurs around the world. When TiE first started it stood for The Indus Entrepreneurs, which signifies the ethnic South Asian or Indus roots of the founders. Today TiE stands for Talent, Ideas and Enterprise.

TiD Detroit Angels will focus on forming an investment consortium of wealthy individuals willing to provide seed capital to promising startups in Metro Detroit. The group expects to grow to a size of about 30 members within its first year and will look at the pitches from dozens of local startups from a number of different sectors.

"The idea is to get all of this activity under one umbrella," says Sonali Vijayavargiya, chair of TiE Detroit Angels. "That way it will be more impactful and we can build on it."

TiE Detroit Angels is also looking to connect, support and develop Detroit's entrepreneurial ecosystem and connect it with other opportunities around the world. It plans to help provide these sorts of top-tier emerging companies with early stage investment and talent support. TiE Detroit Angels will start accepting business plans in January.

Source: Sonali Vijayavargiya, chair of TiE Detroit Angels
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Shinola, the Detroit-centric brand for bicycles and watches, is not only taking root in the greater downtown Detroit area but starting to show signs of blooming this spring.

Tom Kartsotis, the founder of the Fossil watch brand, is launching Shinola out of Detroit so he can leverage the city's storied brand for making things. Shinola plans to make a line of watches, bicycles and leather goods from its new facilities in Midtown and New Center. So far Shinola has hired 20 people and could employ as many as 160 when it hits it production goals.

Shinola is opening a 30,000-square-foot factory of the College of Creative Studies' A. Alfred Taubman Center in New Center. The factory will produce watches and the brand has set a goal of producing 500,000 watches per year. Production is set to begin within 60 days.

"Today it's just for watches," says Heath Carr, principal of Bedrock, which is the parent company of Shinola. The bicycles will be produced just in Midtown."

The bicycles will be produced in Shinola's first storefront, which is being built out in the ground floor of Willy's Overland Lofts. The store is set to open this spring. "We will open a store in Tribeca (a neighborhood in Manhattan) after the Detroit store opens," Carr says.

Source: Heath Carr, principal of Bedrock Brands
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Canine To Five is growing both in and outside of Detroit these days. The dog boarding and pet grooming business is expanding its footprint in Midtown and opening a new space in Ferndale.

The 7.5-year-old company has grown its revenue 20 percent in the last year. That allowed the firm to hire nine people in the last year, including three new groomers and five new dog handlers.

"Some really important things happened this year," says Liz Blondy, owner of Canine To Five. "The managers I have at Canine To Five are so good that I can leave the business in their hands while I grow the business elsewhere."

Elsewhere includes a new dog daycare and boarding facility at 2141 Hilton St in Ferndale. The new location is expected to open this winter. The new location is set up to help facilitate the Canine To Five's growing suburban clientele. For the company's first five years its customer base was evenly split between Detroiters who lived nearby and suburanites who commuted downtown for work. In the last two years the percentage of suburban clients has grown to 60 percent.

"Quicken Loans has been a blessing for our business," Blondy says. "The average Quicken employee is young, excited about being here and they love Detroit. They are in their 20s so they will get a dog. It's like a starter baby."

Canine To Five is also growing its original location on Cass Avenue. The business has expanded its play yard to 12,000 square feet and now has separate areas for small and big dogs. The old play yard on the north side of the building has been turned into employee parking. In 2013, Blondy is looking at further expanding the Detroit location, getting the new Ferndale space running smoothly and aiming at opening a third location.

Source: Liz Blondy, owner of Canine To Five
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Avison Young, one of Canada's largest commercial real-estate firms, is looking at opening a new office in Detroit and has its sights set on the Motor City's downtown.

"I think it's important to be part of that community," says Jim Becker, principal and managing director of Avison Young.

Becker is the primary reason why Avison Young is opening a Detroit office. The firm recruited Becker, a 28-year veteran of commercial real-estate, worked as a international director and president of the Canadian practice for Jones Lang LaSalle before coming to Avison Young.

Becker is in charge of growing Avison Young's Detroit practice and expanding the brand throughout the Midwest to states like Ohio and Minnesota. Becker is working to grow the Detroit office immediately, potentially through acquiring a Detroit-based operation.

Source: Jim Becker, principal and managing director of Avison Young
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Challenge Detroit has received a $230,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp to help the nonprofit to continue to help innovative young people stake a claim in the Motor City.

"This will close a huge gap for us this year," says Deirdre Greene Grove, executive director of Challenge Detroit.

Challenge Detroit brings in a couple dozen recent college graduates to Detroit each year, giving them jobs and coordinating opportunities for them to live, work and play in the city. The nonprofit pairs the fellows from each class with local employers and provides them with a living stipend.

This year, Challenge Detroit's first, welcomed 29 fellows who are working for the likes of Compuware, Quicken Loans and DTE Energy. The $230,000 from the MEDC will fill the funding gap for this year's class and help begin the recruitment of next year's class, which is expected to be the same size.

"We feel that this is a perfect size for a level of intimacy for a group this size," Greene Grove says.

Recruitment for next year's class is expected to kick off in 2013. For information, click here www.challengedetroit.org.

Source: Deirdre Greene Grove, executive director of Challenge Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan has scored a piece of a $2.19M federal grant to help spur more job creation in advanced manufacturing.

Advanced manufacturing is another way of saying custom manufacturing, which means short runs of products done on spec.

"We will be working with small-to-medium-sized manufacturers in southeast Michigan and help them be ready for more custom manufacturing," says Lisa Katz, executive director of Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan. "So instead of long runs of tens of thousands of parts they can do smaller runs of custom parts."

The Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan will partner with the Detroit Regional Chamber, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, and National Center for Manufacturing Sciences to leverage the grant over the next three years. The funding will support development of the Innovation Realization Cluster of Southeast Michigan and connect local businesses with new opportunities in an effort to foster growth and development of the region's custom-manufacturing base

"This will help companies meet that demand," Katz says. "We can become a destination for contract manufacturing."

The money is coming from the U.S. Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge for Advanced Manufacturing.

Source: Lisa Katz, executive director of Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Darryl C. Davis knows he wants to start a theater company, but he began to understand the challenge involved with undertaking such a venture this year when he started to put together the SideBar Black Art Theatre. To help make that happen he participated in D:hive's BUILD program.

The BUILD program helps teach aspiring entrepreneurs the basics of starting a business or launching a project. The skills include how to put together a business plan or balance an organization's books.

"Putting a company together takes time," says Davis, founder & executive artistic director of SideBar Black Art Theatre. "It's daunting but it's doable. The BUILD program took this behemoth and made it manageable."

SideBar Black Art Theatre will be performing pop-up scenes of a performance on Oct. 23 and Oct. 25. The theater company will focus on performance material that deals with socially aware subjects like race and class. Davis hopes to find a permanent home for SideBar Black Art Theatre by next spring so it can host full performance with full artistic freedom.

"The goal is to have a permanent space," Davis says.

Source: Darryl C. Davis, founder & executive artistic director of SideBar Black Art Theatre
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Flagstar Bank has renovated and expanded its branch in Woodbridge, and is setting up a new branch in downtown Detroit and making plans to open another new branch in Midtown.

The Troy-based bank expects to employ more than a dozen people when all three branches are up and running. Four of those will be working at the branch inside the University Foods branch in Woodbridge and another six in the downtown Detroit branch.

"We feel like there are a lot of vibrant areas in the City of Detroit," says Mike Tierney, president of Flagstar Bank. "There is not a lot of banking competition so that makes it even more attractive."

Flagstar Bank has renovated and expanded its branch at University Foods, 1131 W Warren. It now costs of 1,450 square feet and has a drive-up window and ATM. It opened in late September. The 25-year-old bank is also opening a new branch in downtown Detroit in the One Detroit Center office building. That branch measures 3,400-square-feet and features a safe deposit facility, teller stations and an ATM. It is slated to open in late 2012. Flagstar Bank is also working to announce the pending opening of a third branch in Midtown within 30 days.

Source: Mike Tierney, president of Flagstar Bank
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Kraemer Design Group moved into its home in downtown Detroit a few years ago with the idea of growing into the space. This year the architecture firm grew into the office space and it's even starting to get snug.

"We have grown tremendously," says Bob Kraemer, principal of Kraemer Design Group. "In a two-year period we have gone from 13 employees to 27 people. We have physically run out of room. We had a five-year plan that we hit a year early."

Driving the growth for the 17-year-old firm are two factors. The first is the growth of the development in the greater downtown area. Kraemer Design Group has done the architecture work for some big name projects that have come to fruition, such as The Auburn in Midtown and the Broderick Tower in downtown Detroit. It is also working on the David Whitney Building redevelopment.

Kraemer Design Group has also expanded its reach beyond Michigan. It developed a national presence when the recession hit and found a niche working on projects in the hospitality industry across the U.S.

"We had projects in about a dozen states," Kraemer says.

Source: Bob Kraemer, principal of Kraemer Design Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Lovio George Communications + Design is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, a milestone that leaves the Midtown-based business with a staff of a dozen employees and an intern.

The boutique communications and design agency has hired three people over the last year and is looking for an intern now. Those hires are thanks to a 20 percent jump in revenue growth, which is coming from a growing interest in Detroit.

"There has definitely been an uptick this last year," says John George, vice president & creative director for Lovio George Communications + Design. "There has been an interest in Detroit from the local and the national level."

Lovio George Communications + Design was one of the earliest adopters to the Midtown area, setting up shop in the Wayne State University area by Christina Lovio-George. The creative agency has done work for a number of Detroit-centric causes, including winning Emmys for work in Detroit's Super Bowl and Detroit 300.

Source: John George, vice president & creative director for Lovio George
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

A little more than a year ago, Sarah Cox started Curbed Detroit from her laptop in Hamtramck and began to stake her first claim here with a blog about buildings, architecture and art. Today, the Virginia native via New York City transplant has become one of Detroit's more recognizable editorial voices and the homeowner of a Detroit building worth writing about.

Curbed Detroit, the Motor City-version of the national Curbed brand that started in New York City, has become a go-to newsite for local information about what's being built, razed, sold, rented, neglected, painted and redesigned in southeast Michigan. And it comes with its own unique brand of snark that has helped drive the website's traffic to 350,000 page views per month.

"A few months in I was like, 'What sort of tone do I want?'" Cox says. "Honestly, this is what comes out of my brain. I don't have to try that hard."

Curbed Detroit's tone isn't the only thing that attracts readership. Cox has led the coverage of a number of controversial local stories over the last year, ranging from the political incorrectness of the language in local start-up PicketReport to the city's plans to buy the Lafayette Towers to the scrapping of one of the historic mansions in West Village. That led to Curbed Detroit's regular coverage of the city's Historic District Commission meetings, a beat that hasn't had a lot of writers in recent decades.

Combing through coverage of those meetings isn't exactly where Cox saw herself while earning her formal education. She has a bachelors from the University of Virginia and a Masters in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Those degrees helped her decide what she didn't want to do.

But they did lead her to Detroit. She spent the better part of a year here working on her MFA thesis about urban redevelopment, traveling back and forth. She saw Detroit as a place filled with opportunity for people in her field to do new things. Not long after that she saw the void in the local media landscape for a newsite like Curbed Detroit and talked the national brand into letting her set up a Detroit office. Since then she has lived in Hamtramck, set up an office in Corktown filled with graffiti and bought a partially renovated house in Midtown (a gated Victorian at West Alexandrine and Third streets) that she and her partner plan to turn it into their living space and a couple of apartments.

"I wouldn't be able to buy this building in any other city," Cox says. "It's an extremely unique piece of property."

It's also Cox's latest claim she has staked in Detroit. It doesn't look like it will be her last.

Source: Sarah Cox, editor of Curbed Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Danell Wilkerson sees a need for fitness and wellness education in Detroit. The Livonia resident wants to move to the greater downtown area by next year to open his new business, Modern Health and Fitness.

"Detroit is a city with a high percentage of people with chronic, preventable diseases," Wilkerson says. "My company wants to educate people to live active, healthy lifestyles."

The 26-year-old recently completed the BUILD program at the D:hive facility in downtown Detroit. He hopes to leverage those basic entrepreneurship lessons to launch his business with his team of three people.

The business will have a physical location for a fitness center that offers room for exercise and personal training. It is also planning on offering outreach services and education.

"We will offer a lot of different services that extend beyond the physical location," Wilkerson says.

Source: Danell Wilkerson, founder & CEO of Modern Health and Fitness
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Downtown Detroit-based iRule is starting to make the transition from small start-up to second-stage company as the firm's home theater software gains more and more traction in the market.

The 3-year-old company creates and sells an app that turns a smartphone into a universal remote for a home theater. Itai Ben-Gal and Victor Nemirovsky launched it as a side project which grew to the point where it garnered an investment from Compuware's venture capital arm. That prompted the partners to quit their day jobs and move the business to the Compuware Building in downtown Detroit.

That was a little more than a year ago. Since then the company has hired seven people and is about to hire an eighth. Prompting all of this growth is the increasing demand for iRule's universal remote app. The company has gone from its high-end installations for the wealthy and consumer electronics nerds to more of a mainstream acceptance from bigger customers.

"The shift has been in one major direction," says Ben-Gal, CEO of iRule. "The growth has come from the professional installer market. The guys we are talking to now are at the top of their business sector."

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

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

San Diego-based Flud is gearing up to grow its downtown Detroit office this year, hiring as many as four people within the next few months.

The Detroit Venture Partners portfolio start-up creates a social news reader that allows users to discover, consume and amplify interesting news content. It is looking to hire a director of business development for its new office in the M@dison Building and another 2-3 sales professionals for the office not long after that.

Flud recently launched its enterprise product to 50 prominent companies, which enables the employees of these companies to read personal news alongside private company news. The companies have access to Flud's dashboard, which includes a vast array of analytical data to help businesses measure the performance of their content.

"We collect a wealth of data with this platform," says Bobby Ghoshal, co-founder & CEO of Flud. "It's all interesting data that businesses never had before."

The startup plans to turn this into a monthly per-seat subscription. Consumers will still be able to use the app for personal news reading regardless of whether or not their company uses it internally.

"We want to find a platform play that people will want to pay for," Ghoshal says.

Source: Bobby Ghoshal, co-founder & CEO of Flud
Writer: Jon Zemke

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