Why Zingerman’s stays in Ann Arbor
Much has been written of Zingerman's – both locally and nationally. But few have bothered to ask why co-founder Ari Weinzweig chose and continues to choose Ann Arbor as the business's home. Until now. Excerpt: "Despite all this fame, you’ve had tussles with the city about expanding the deli. [Laughs] The town is very engaged, with highly educated and opinionated people. They’re good to sell specialty foods to, and... [Read More...]
Tech Brewery’s Deal Savant to relaunch with more options
Deal Savant launched last year with the idea of leveraging a new bit of technology, QR codes, to connect retail businesses with their best customers for the best deals. Today the Tech Brewery-based start-up is broadening that connection. Joe Minock and Kyle Mulka developed a smartphone application that uses a QR code (think a checkerboard-like bar code that can appear on a touch screen) so people can claim discounts on purchases. Those codes tell... [Read More...]
ParknParty turns U-M football Saturdays into Internet biz
Taylor Bond and Jason Kapica enjoy their football Saturdays in Ann Arbor, but they never look forward to the scramble of finding a parking space and meeting up to tailgate. That's not an issue anymore with their new Internet start-up, ParknParty. The downtown Ann Arbor-based website allows those attending a Michigan Football game to reserve a parking space online beforehand for the price of the spot and a $5-$7 convenience fee. It eliminates... [Read More...]
LectureTools adds 7 jobs in prep for product launch this fall
If the mother of invention is necessity, then it might also be the surrogate parent of start-ups. LectureTools, a University of Michigan spin-out that is reinventing educational materials, makes a good argument for it. The 1-year-old start-up got its start late in 2009 when a small group of graduate students approached U-M Prof. Perry Samson, co-founder of Weather Underground, about reinventing the software program for educational materials, such as... [Read More...]
SPARK Central incubator tenant Hygieia, Inc. receives 510(k) clearance from FDA
Hygieia, Inc., a tenant at the SPARK Central business incubator, recently received official 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its BaseSens I Blood Glucose Monitoring System. Hygieia, Inc. is a start‐up that is developing a proprietary hybrid medical device that combines state‐of‐the‐art blood glucose monitoring capability with a physician‐initiated self‐adjusting insulin dose calculator. Of the news,... [Read More...]
Vote for Michelle Crumm, for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year
Michelle Crumm, co-founder and chief business officer, of Ann Arbor-based Adaptive Materials, is a finalist for Entrepreneur magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. The award recognizes entrepreneurial leadership and excellence; Crumm is one of four finalists for the national award. To qualify as a finalist, Crumm had to submit written essays on entrepreneurial challenges as well as her approach and outlook on start-up success. Crumm also... [Read More...]
