Monarch Antenna: Using Michigan’s Support to Spread the Word

Ann Arbor-based Monarch Antenna, Inc. has found Michigan to be a great place to launch and grow. “We thought that this technology might not be something that Michigan would understand,” said CEO Randy Dence. “While it certainly took a greater effort to build and spread the message, we found that Michigan gets it.”

Monarch helps improve wireless connection reliability. The company’s signature antenna adapts to the environment and provides numerous benefits for smartphone and tablet users, as well as wireless carrier companies. “Smartphone users will see an increase in reception, fewer dropped calls, fewer dead zones, longer battery life and faster data downloads,” said Dence. “Phone carrier companies could save billions of dollars by avoiding the installation of more cell towers if they had just a kilometer more range.”

Dence noted that while Michigan’s growth capital community isn’t as large as San Diego or Silicon Valley, it is open to new technology ideas. “Michigan is receptive to new ideas and new technologies without letting location being a deterrent to something new,” he said. “The community, the state and the Midwest will embrace new technologies, but you have to go out and spread the word.”

Monarch has valued its participation at the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium. “We’ve gotten great exposure and feedback, and we’ve made a lot of contacts through the Symposium,” said Dence. “The 10-minute presentation format is a challenge for technology companies, but I think that forces the presenters to focus and craft their main messages.”

Blaze Medical Devices Developing Groundbreaking Blood Technology

Ann Arbor-based Blaze Medical Devices LLC is developing a tabletop blood analyzer measuring how much each unit of blood in the blood bank’s inventory is degrading as an indicator of quality. This will allow them to shuffle the inventory to use up the blood units degrading the fastest. Currently, hospitals have not had means to know the quality of each unit and can only estimate it based on age from the date of donation, knowing all blood does degrade over time. This can be costly to patients, possibly leading to organ failure or death. With Blaze’s new technology and metrics, hospitals will be able to treat their patients more effectively. “We want everyone to get the best blood possible delivered to them for their particular needs,” said CEO David Weaver. Currently the company has hospitals around the world signed up to test the new devices.

Every year, 15 million units of red blood cells are transfused in the United States, and 85 million units are transfused worldwide. The current standardized way to determine blood quality is based on storage time. The assumption is that as blood ages, quality decreases. However there is another variable in assessing blood quality that is unrelated to age, which depends on the donor, processing methods and other factors. Blaze’s new blood technology will factor this variable in the determination of blood quality for each individual patient.

Blaze Medical Devices’ first significant funding came in a microloan from Ann Arbor SPARK. With this funding, the company was able to conduct a clinical study with Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital. Collaborating with transfusion medicine clinicians, Blaze is researching transfusion for particular units of blood. This will provide clinicians and blood bankers with newly enhanced tools to make more informed decisions for individual patients.

Weaver presented at the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium in 2011 and 2012, and plans to present in 2013. “One of the benefits of presenting at the MGCS is the mixed audience of investors,” he said. While he notes that his company has made a lot of progress over the past two years and has gained valuable exposure through the MGCS, he advocates more medical devices education in the investor community. “Investors don’t understand the medical device sector,” he said. “I think it would be helpful to educate angel investors on life sciences and devices so that they understand timetables for success and the capital these businesses need.”

Blaze Medical Devices has been featured in publications such as Crain’s Detroit Business, The Wall Street Journal, Science Daily and NPR.

MGCS Now Accepting Applications for Presenting Companies

The Michigan Growth Capital Symposium today announced that it is now accepting applications for presenting companies for its 32nd annual equity event, happening May 21-22, 2013 in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Companies interested in presenting must submit their applications no later than Thursday, March 7, and selected applicants will be able to deliver a 10-minute pitch on their companies at the Symposium and take part in the company showcase throughout both days of the event.

More than 400 entrepreneurs, researchers, investment professionals and business executives are expected to attend the two-day event and nearly 100 regional and top national venture capital firms will be represented. The event will also host dozens of speakers and the most promising of early to later stage Midwest, high growth companies seeking institutional investment within the next year of $500,000 to tens of millions in funding.

For more information, please refer to the press release embedded below, or check out the website.

 

Michigan Growth Capital Symposium Opens Application Process for High-Growth Early and Later Stage Midwest Companies

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Jan. 22, 2013 – The Michigan Growth Capital Symposium today announced the call for presenting companies for the 32nd annual Midwest equity event. Being held May 21-22, 2013 at the Marriott Resort in Ypsilanti, Mich., the Symposium is the premier Midwest networking event for leaders in venture capital investment to connect with emerging growth companies actively searching for partners and funding. Early applications are due Tuesday, Feb. 26 and the final deadline is Thursday, March 7.

More than 400 entrepreneurs, researchers, investment professionals and business executives are expected to attend and nearly 100 regional and top national venture capital firms will be represented. The two day event will host dozens of luminary speakers as well as showcase the most promising of early to later stage Midwest, high growth companies seeking institutional investment within the next 12 months of $500,000 to tens of millions in funding. Since the Growth Capital Symposium’s inception in 1980, the event has helped more than 800 companies raise funding and has forged countless valuable relationships that continue to foster growth in the region’s startup community.

Dayton, Ohio-based Commuter Advertising presented at the 2012 Symposium, and Founder Katie Hill found the Symposium to be especially impactful for companies based in the Midwest. “We don’t have quite as large of a venture community as other areas across the United States,” she said. “It’s a great way to let the investors in the marketplace know what kind of opportunities are here in our region. If we want to keep innovation growing in the Midwest, these kinds of formats and opportunities are critical in keeping us competitive with other parts of the country.”

Selected companies will be invited to deliver a 10-minute pitch on their companies at the Symposium and will have the opportunity to participate in the company showcase with dedicated exhibit space throughout both days of the event. In addition, a dedicated team of coaches from the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (MI-SBTDC) as well the greater Michigan community of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs will provide coaching and assist companies with their presentations.

The final deadline for application submissions is Thursday, March 7. For more information or to submit an application, visit http://www.MichiganGCS.com Selected companies will be notified by early April.

About the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium (MGCS)
MGCS is the original university-based venture fair. This nationally attended two-day event provides an opportunity for financiers to connect with up-and-coming Midwest businesses and learn about emerging technologies. The Symposium offers the opportunity to build relationships with an unparalleled business network of distinguished private equity industry leaders, leading university research faculty, and entrepreneurial business professionals. Entering its 32nd year, MGCS continues to draw top investors from coast to coast. MGCS is presented by the Center for Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with support from the Michigan Venture Capital Association and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
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U-M Professors Develop New Minimally Invasive Surgery Tech

By Jon Zemke

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Minimally invasive surgery done with robotics isn’t as simple and cheap as it sounds. It’s a quandary the co-founders behind FlexDex are looking to help solve with their new surgical technology.

The University of Michigan spin-out is developing a surgical tool that provides high dexterity, intuitive control and natural force feedback while emphasizing ergonomics and affordability. Its claim to fame is delivering enhanced functionality through a simple mechanical hand-held tool that is significantly more cost effective than the complex, multi-million dollar robotic tools that can work at a similar level of precision.

“FlexDex is a minimally invasive surgical technology that provides enhanced dexterity and surgical control at an affordable price,” says Shorya Awtar, who co-founded FlexDex with James Geiger.

The Ann Arbor-based start-up has recently hired a CEO to expand its staff to three people and is starting to raise seed capital to commercialize it technology. It has a prototype but is aiming to have a finished market prototype and begin clinical trials within the next year.

FlexDex recently pitched its technology at the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium. There its executive team also boasted that the new technology leads to less pain in patients, fewer infections and shorter hospital stays.

“The benefits to the patient are significant,” Awtar says.

3D Biomatrix CEO Offers Fundraising Tips

Ann Arbor-based 3D Biomatrix was launched to fill a niche in the drug discovery and bio-testing market. Its offerings include three-dimensional cell culture products that provide better, more biologically relevant results than standard two-dimensional systems. The company sought local investment during its early startup phase, and has widened its net in its current Series A round of funding. CEO Laura Schrader has found Michigan to be a great place to launch a startup. “It has both the mechanisms and the active desire in place to make startups happen with funding opportunities and networking events,” she said. “It is impressive at the state and local levels.”

Schrader offers the following tips to other entrepreneurs seeking a Series A round:

• Know what you need funding for, and practice asking for it. This may sound obvious, but it is key to showing investors that you know where you want to take the company, and how you’re going to do it.
• Get an understanding of what dilution scenarios will look like on the capitalization table, so you can best negotiate the terms of the investment round.
• Get your hands on a typical due diligence list and get your documents organized.
• Line up interested investors and stay actively in front of them. These are busy people, and you want the process to move as quickly as possible so you can direct your focus on building a successful company.
• Network, network, network.

Schrader notes that the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium is a great networking tool. “MGCS is a well-organized event for entrepreneurs and investors to network,” she said. “It’s nice because there is no secret why a startup company is at the event – it’s to raise awareness and get connected with funds to move the company forward.”