Ann Arbor USA Blog » Press Release

HookLogic Awarded $9.5M in Funding

Jenn Cornell — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:36:55 +0000

HookLogic, the leader in e-commerce media, announced this week that it has been awarded a $9.5 million round of financing from Bain Capital Ventures. HookLogic will use the funding to further develop its unique Software-as-a-Service (Saas) platform and expand its business across the retail, travel and automotive sectors in North America and Europe.

HookLogic is headquartered in New York. Its office in Ann Arbor is focused on developing software for the company’s SaaS platform. Ann Arbor SPARK assisted HookLogic in finding its Ann Arbor office space. Additionally, HookLogic has taken advantage of Ann Arbor SPARK’s talent services, including the job portal, Hot Shots and networking.

“HookLogic has worked with SPARK since we opened our Ann Arbor office in 2008,” said Gary Evans, HookLogic general manager. “We have attended several networking/recruiting events, and have leveraged their knowledge of the local market in other ways as well, including identifying options for where to locate our new office when we outgrew our existing space.” For more on this exciting news, read HookLogic’s press release.

For more on this exciting news, read HookLogic’s press release.

Ann Arbor SPARK Hosts White House Business Council Roundtable!

Maricat Eggenberger — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:57:50 +0000

Last week we hosted a White House Business Council Roundtable at our very own SPARK East facility in Ypsilanti. The roundtable is a part of an ongoing series of roundtables that are hosted all over the country with the goal to bring together business leaders to hear about what is going on with the administration at a national level. Our guest of honor was Dr. Rebecca Blank, Acting Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Returning to familiar territory as Dr. Blank was formerly the Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, she was an honor for us to host.

Check out our press release!

Check out pictures from the event!

4th Shifting Gears Program Beginning Soon!

Maricat Eggenberger — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:00:30 +0000

Applications for the 4th Shifting Gears Program are due on September 3rd. Shifting Gears is a 5 month intensive program with 3 phases that help to transition experienced worker’s skills to a small business environment.

The purpose of “Shifting Gears” is to increase the success of individuals who want to leverage their career experiences and education to help small businesses grow.

Check out SPARK’s first Social Media Press Release for video and photos from past Shifting Gears Programs!

Micro loans becoming very popular

Skip Simms — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:05:31 +0000

Six months ago there was no such thing as a loan for a pre-revenue, innovative start-up company. Today, if you are in Washtenaw county there are three sources for loans. There has been a lot of press about these micro loans the past few weeks. Expect a lot more. We have made four loans to companies around the state through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund program totalling $137,500 in just three months. Applicants for the Ann Arbor and Eastern Washtenaw loan funds are lining up.

The first loan was to RealBio in Kalamazoo. They make a disposable cell bio reactor. Advanced Battery Concepts of Midland, winner of the GLEQ business plan competion, received the second loan. FreeStride Therapeutics in Ann Arbor received the other loan. View the press release.

Here’s yet another tool to help accelerate high growth companies that will be the job creators in a diverse 21st century economy.

Pre-Seed Fund Makes 3 More Investments

Skip Simms — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:38:08 +0000

3 start-ups receive $680,000 from state fund

The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund has made three more investments. They are:
Creative Byline of Holland
SenSound in Detroit
Biotectix in Ann Arbor

These investments are 29, 30 and 31 for the fund. It’s pretty impressive this little fund can make 31 investments in two years.
Yes there is still capital that can be deployed. More than $1million. There are currently 7 companies under review. Demand is not decreasing. Ann Arbor SPARK is applying for several million dollars more. Let us know if you want to give us a letter of support.

Biotectix web site
Company overview

SenSound web site
Business description

Pre-Seed Fund Press Release
Announcement of these 3 investments