Innovation & Job News

Relume Technologies is in the midst of what its leaders are calling a "steady, continual growth," which should allow the LED manufacturer to continue adding jobs.

These last two years, the Oxford-based company has hired close to 20 people, including 10 last year. It now employs 65 people and expects to add to that number this year.

"We're on a significant growth curve that will takes us to 250 jobs within the next two years," says Curt McIntosh, product development manager for Relume Technologies.

Relume Technologies develops and manufactures LED technology and smart-grid systems. LEDs and smart-grid technology are seen as the leaders in energy conservation for lighting technologies. Communities and businesses across the country are adopting strategies such as putting LED streetlights in downtown Ann Arbor.

"There is a severe need on the energy conservation side of the industry," McIntosh says.

Relume Technologies recently received a venture capital investment worth $7 million with Farmington Hills-based VC Beringea leading the round.

Source: Curt McIntosh, product development manager for Relume Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Birdhouse is wrapping up its first year of providing a mobile/web solution for parents and caregivers of autistic children.

The West Bloomfield-based start-up is creating software that tracks the behavior of autistic children and helps the loved ones of autistic children manage the disorder. It is also looking to find news ways to leverage the data it's collecting to help further the fight against autism.

"We'd like to be working with organizations from around the country to use the data Birdhouse is collecting to better understand autism, and to give us more answers and better understanding of the disorder," says Ben Chutz, founder of Birdhouse.

Chutz was inspired to start the company las year because his girlfriend has a daughter with autism, exposing him to the trials and tribulations that come with it. Chutz is now hoping the data gathered from his technology, still in private Beta until this summer, will be able to help shed some light on whether nature (barometric pressure or tides) factors into the impact of autism.

"We're looking to crowd source the idea of collecting info on kids with autism," Chutz says.

Birdhouse currently has a team of three people and is looking to add two software developers to help bring its technology to market.

Source: Ben Chutz, founder of Birdhouse
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

DotSign, a digital marketing firm, has watched the number of projects it has been tackling go up by 30 percent over the last year.

New international business has played a key role in this bump in business for the West Bloomfield-based firm. Some of that new business has come from as far away as southeast Asia and Australia.

"We worked in Europe a lot, especially in the Netherlands and Germany," says Henry Joshua, president of DotSign.

The 10-year-old company has relied on the staples of digital marketing, SEO (search engine optimization) and social media, to help its business grow. It now has a dozen employees and one intern and is looking at adding another intern or two. Joshua expects to turn one or two of the company's former interns into new employees later this year when they finish school.

DotSign is looking to score more work in mobile and QR codes this year to help keep its growth steady. "The web and e-commerce work are more or less steady," Joshua says. "We always keep getting that work."

Source: Henry Joshua, president of DotSign
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

RetailCapital, a relatively new finance firm, is reinventing the financing options for small businesses in Metro Detroit.

Lending options for small businesses largely dried up in the wake of the Great Recession, leaving mom-and-pop companies with few, if any, options to replace broken equipment or fund expansions. RetailCapital is filling that gap by offering financing options (with an average advance of about $20,000) where the principal is paid back through a portion of that business' credit card receipts.

"We are essentially factoring future receivables for mom-and-pop businesses," says Erik Stamell, managing director of RetailCapital.

The 2-year-old business has grown to 60 employees and an intern after hiring 40 new people over the last year. The firm closed 140 deals in the last month from not only Metro Detroit but also across the U.S. It expects to continue hiring as its business revenues climb.

"Our business has grown tremendously," Stamell says. "The industry has grown exponentially as well."

Source: Erik Stamell, managing director of RetailCapital
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

P3 Group hasn't stopped growing since it opened as the U.S. arm of the P3 Group in Troy in 2005.

The automotive supplier has gone from a handful of employees to more than 100 today. It hired about more than two dozen people in 2012 after it notched an 18 percent revenue increase that year.

"We have had steady growth, even throughout the recession," says Samit Ghosh, president & CEO of P3 Group in North America. "We took full advantage of the upswing in 2010."

P3 Group focuses primarily on providing consulting services and engineering solutions in the automotive and aerospace industries. In the auto sector it specializes in areas such as infotainment and alternative powertrain work for hybrid and electric vehicles. The company expects to grow in 2013 through new opportunities and additional work from its existing customer base, which should allow it to notch another year of double-digit revenue growth and hiring.

"We're excited about the anticipated growth for this year," Ghosh says.

Source: Samit Ghosh, president of P3 Group in North America
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Delphinus Medical Technologies has begun raising a Series B round of fundraising, setting a goal of scoring $17 million by this summer.

The Plymouth-based start-up that calls the Michigan Life Science Innovation Center home is spinning out technology for an alternative test to mammography from the Karmanos Cancer Institute. It has already raised $12 million in a Series A round.

"Our current investors are willing to put in a substantive portion of this round," says Bill Greenway, CEO of Delphinus Medical Technologies.

The 2-year-old start-up's principal product is SoftVue, which works to effectively differentiate between benign and malignant masses in breasts. The idea is to help eliminate false positives and reduce unnecessary biopsies. It can also accurately measure breast density, a known risk factor for developing breast cancer, as well as detect many early stages of cancer in women with dense breast tissue, which is often not picked up by mammography.

SoftVue works by surrounding a breast submerged in warm water with an ultrasound ring that captures detailed, three-dimensional images with sound waves. The results are similar to an MRI, but the procedure takes only a few minutes and costs much less. The procedure was the inspiration for the company's name, which is Latin for dolphins.

The first prototype of the technology is currently being used at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Greenway expects to ramp up commercialization and sales of SoftVue by the end of this year. He points out that St. Mary's Hospital at the University of Toronto is also in line to receive the second one. "We have a number of sites that are interested in a system," Greenway says.

Delphinus Medical Technologies currently employs 19 people after hiring five people in 2012. He expects to hire another five or six people this year.

Source: Bill Greenway, CEO of Delphinus Medical Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Plastic Surgery of Michigan has made the move from Southfield to downtown Birmingham, taking a suite at 640 N. Old Woodward Ave.

"It was a good opportunity to be in a nice area," says Dr. Andrew Lofman, president of Plastic Surgery of Michigan. "It's close to my home and in a beautiful office."

The 3-year-old company has watched its revenues grow by 50 percent over the last year, allowing it to expand its staff to two employees. The demand for a broad range of plastic surgery has pushed that growth, but Lofman says he has seen a jump in breast augmentation. He adds that his firm's new marketing efforts online and in social media have helped buffet its growth.

"My goal is to be the premiere plastic surgery center in Birmingham within a few years," Lofman says.

Source: Dr. Andrew Lofman, president of Plastic Surgery of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Paul Johnston and Kris Wenzel don't always measure the success of their start-up, ParseNIP, by its bottom line. Sometimes success can be defined in how people use the New Hudson-based company's name.

"If our customers start using our products as a verb then I know we have that snowball rolling down the hill," Johnston says, adding he wants his customers to say "just ParseNIP it" when it comes to data migration and management.

ParseNIP has created software that can easily convert data from one format to another, effectively removing the language barrier between some operating systems so databases can be combined and easily accessed.

Johnston and Wenzel have spent years developing the technology and recently launched a public Beta. They are getting ready to transfer the software to a 10-day trial period and focus on creating the best possible user experience for their customers, which they want to expand to a broad range of users outside of the traditional software crowd.

"We want to target this to the accountant or the human resources representative," Wenzel says.

ParseNIP is currently a two-person operation but Johnston and Wenzel hope to grow their team this year as their technology becomes more widely adopted.

Source: Paul Johnston and Kris Wenzel, co-founders of ParseNIP
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Climate Technologies Corp. is continuing to enjoy the fruits of an economic rebound as the Farmington Hills-based company pushes forward its transformation from auto-focused firm to green-tech business.

The company's revenue is up modestly over the last year as it continues to develop projects that help its climate-control technology, which captures toxic gases and concentrates them so they can be used in things like fuel cells. It is also working in co-generation CHP in heavy industry and some alternative energy projects.

"It turned out to be a solid foundation to build on," says Walt Zimmerman, CEO of Climate Technologies Corp. "We have made a lot of strides over the last couple of years to do clean-and-green projects."

That has allowed Climate Technologies Corp to make a hire over the last year and bring on a few more independent contractors. It now has a staff of six employees, one intern and three independent contractors. Zimmerman expects to see significant growth in 2013 because of the prospects of more work for his company in the near future.

"There are a number of projects that are at a proposal point," Zimmerman says. "We believe our customers are ready to go forward."

Source: Walt Zimmerman, CEO of Climate Technologies Corp
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Aimee Spencer spent a decade working in the radio industry. She held a number of different positions, ranging from marketing director to event organization to creative director.

A few years ago she noticed radio was heading in a different direction and knew she wanted to do something else. That led to the creation of Spencer Management Group, a downtown Royal Oak-based public relations agency. What sets the 2-year-old company apart is it leverages both traditional public relations and working that into events to help build client brands.

"I appreciate people who do traditional PR in Metro Detroit," Spencer says. "I am definitely not traditional."

That approach has allowed Spencer to expand her company from just herself to four people within the last year. That new team is helping Spencer Management Group do more public relations work that focuses on not only telling stories but doing so through visual, music and video experiences.

Source: Aimee Spencer, president of Spencer Management Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

David Mamo once worked as an electrical contractor at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford. It was a job that required everyone to leave their camera phones at the door due to corporate espionage concerns. Mamo found a middle ground and turned it into a business, PICpatch.

"It (cell phones that happen to have cameras in them) is an important tool," says Mamo, president of PICpatch. "There needed to be a solution to take your camera phone to work."

PICpatch is small red sticker users can put over the lense of their camera phone. The patch makes sure any photo, accidental or otherwise, becomes a red screen. It has a residue-free adhesive and becomes crumpled and easily detectable if it has been removed and reapplied.

Mamo created the prototype of PICpatch about five years ago and shortly after General Motors became his first customer. Today it has 200 customers, including some of the world's largest corporations. Sales have doubled each year and Mamo notes that "half of our customers are abroad."

The Milford-based company now has a team of seven people after adding one new person over the last year. That team is now working on a new iteration of its sticker technology called PICpatch Chaperone Seals, a small strip that parents and chaperones can put on the hotel room doors of children to make sure they stay put. Many adults do this with masking tape but Mamo notes its is easily defeatable and PICpatch Chaperone Seals will solve those inadequacies. The product launched a few months ago and Mamo expects it to gain traction this year.

Source: David Mamo, president of PICpatch
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Small-to-medium-sized businesses are the bread and butter for Cygnus Systems. That remains true for the IT firm both last year and in 2013.

The Taylor-based company hit revenue growth of just under 20 percent in 2012, which has allowed it to hire four people. It now employs 30 people and has three more job openings for sales and engineering professionals.

"We have an aggressive growth plan," says Alex Burkulas, president of Cygnus Systems. "We expect to grow by 25 percent in the next year."

The 24-year-old firm has watched a lot of its growth from a couple a different areas, including companies switching their IT infrastructure to the cloud and firms looking for fixed-costs IT services. Another factor is that companies that put off servicing their IT needs during the recession are starting to invest in their digital infrastructure again with the rebound of the economy.

"Companies that didn't invest in IT are coming around," Burkulas says.

Source: Alex Burkulas, president of Cygnus Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Bettyanne Molitor started her business four years ago offering audio conferencing services. Today the recently rebranded firm of ALC Hosted Technologies has grown to include offerings in visual conferencing, automated messaging and hold-music/advertising among other services.

"Everything we do is hosted so it's not onsite," says Molitor, owner of ALC Hosted Technologies. "That way you don't get stuck with equipment that becomes outdated quickly."

The Chesterfield Township-based firm has leveraged this steady expansion of service offerings to grow its staff to a core of four people. It has also been cash-flow positive for most of its existence as it has grown its customer base and revenues each year.

Molitor hopes to continue to establish her business' new brand in 2013 by adding more Metro Detroit customers. She can see an continued expansion leading to a fifth member of her team that would focus on marketing.

Source: Bettyanne Molitor, owner of ALC Hosted Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Blue Filament Intellectual Property got its start a year ago when Mary Margaret O'Donnell struck out on her own and launched her firm in downtown Birmingham. Today the intellectual property law firm has grown to five people - adding staff in its first year.

O'Donnell spent a decade working in large law firms and boutique intellectual property law practices. Today O'Donnell and her team have prosecuted and managed thousands of trademarks throughout the world.

"For me it was about building something from the ground up," O'Donnell says.

Establishing Blue Filament Intellectual Property proved to be the biggest challenge in the firm's first year, O'Donnell says. However, she adds that she was able to start with a large portfolio of clients from around the world that helped ease that transition. That was far from easy, but it was not something O'Donnell would advise other entrepreneurial attorneys from doing.

"I would tell them to have a strong heart and a strong mind to work very hard," O'Donnell says.

Source: Mary Margaret O'Donnell, owner of Blue Filament Intellectual Property
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

OPS Solutions is making the move from Northville to Novi to make room for its growing staff. The industrial-automation company also recently struck a deal with the Michigan Economic Development Corp to expand its office by 25 people within three years.

The 6-year-old firm has hired four people in the last year, expanding its staff to six. The company expects to continue hiring in 2013.

"We're growing aggressively," says Chris Bala, vice president of sales & marketing for OPS Solutions. "We certainly expect our growth to beat that goal by a healthy margin."

OPS Solutions is launching a new visual guiding system that directs workers using visual display features anywhere on a work station surface. The intention is to improve quality, productivity, and training efficiency.

"We call it a visual work-flow system," Bala says. "It's applicable to many different industries in Metro Detroit."

OPS Solutions is investing approximately $268,000 and, as a result, has been awarded a Michigan Business Development performance-based grant of $400,000. The city of Novi is offering support to the project including city and county staff time, use of public facilities for meetings and other support.

Source: Chris Bala, vice president of sales & marketing for OPS Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

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