Press

Invest Michigan announced today it has completed its 100th investment deal since the inception of the fund four years ago. The 100th investment was made in Fifth Eye Inc, an innovative healthcare IT company. This woman-led company improves quality of healthcare with real-time early warning systems by utilizing vital signs resulting in improved patient outcomes and reduced costs.

“Invest Michigan was instrumental in helping Fifth Eye launch in 2018 and build up the value required to raise its Series A financing round this spring,” said Jen Baird, Founder, CEO and director of Fifth Eye Inc. “The entire Fifth Eye team is excited to have the support of such great investors like Arboretum Ventures, Cultivation Capital and Invest Michigan as we take our medical device software through the FDA-clearance process and launch our product to help save patient lives.”

Supported by the Michigan Strategic Fund, Invest Michigan is the fund manager for the Michigan Pre-Seed Fund II, a statewide investment fund that aims to assist high-tech early stage pre-revenue companies and diversify Michigan’s economy. In the last year, Invest Michigan has completed 23 investments in both existing and new companies, which now totals 51 companies. More than one in three of these recent investments were made to women-led companies.

“Invest Michigan is proud to play such an integral role in the future

Fifth Eye Inc., a health care spinoff from the University of Michigan, will announce Monday that it has closed on a Series A venture-capital round of $11.5 million.

The funding was led by two new investors, Ann Arbor-based Arboretum Ventures LLC and St. Louis-based Cultivation Capital LLC. It was joined by Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS), a direct investment program of UM’s endowment, and by some of those who invested in the company’s seed round of $2.5 million last year, including Detroit-based Invest Michigan and 15 angel investors, including some from the Lansing-based Capital Community Angels.

Fifth Eye has developed software that monitors hospital patients for warning signs of post-operative distress before they can become life-threatening, promising to improve patient outcomes, limit hospital stays and lower health care costs.

Jen Baird, the company’s CEO, said the company will begin human trials on at least 100 patients at three Michigan hospitals later this month. One will be Michigan Medicine, formerly called the University of Michigan Health System. She said she doesn’t have permission to name the other two but that they are major health care systems in the state.

She said she hopes to have trials concluded by the end of fall and, if they are successful, to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration early next year to go to market.

Fifth Eye, which was founded in 2017 and based on research at UM, uses noninvasive electrocardiograms to continuously monitor post-operative patients for what is

ANN ARBOR, MI and LEUVEN, BELGIUM (February 19, 2019) — Diploid, leading AI-based software provider for rare disease diagnostics, and Genomenon® , the genomic search company, announced today that they have entered into a partnership to improve genome interpretation for rare disease diagnostics.

With its Moon software, Diploid provides the most efficient workflow for rare disease diagnostics. Moon allows its users to go from VCF to causal variant in just minutes thanks to advanced machine learning and deep phenotype integration. As a result, the software was selected by Dr. Stephen Kingsmore at Rady Children’s Hospital to establish a new world record for fastest genome interpretation in the NICU.

“Moon returns a very short list of variants that might be relevant for the patient’s phenotype: typically about 4-8 variants for exome or whole genome data” says Peter Schols, Diploid’s founder and CEO. “This breakthrough saves clinical laboratory scientists a lot of time compared to manually filtering and curating hundreds or even thousands of variants.

“Cyrielle Kint, Diploid’s CSO, adds: “We wanted to make the process of evaluating the handful of remaining variants reported by Moon even more efficient, and that’s why we are integrating with Genomenon’s Mastermind® , the clear leader in genomic search engines.”

Genomenon’s Mastermind Genomic Search Engine filters and prioritizes millions of genomic articles to find the most

Genomenon, the Ann Arbor, MI-based genomics search engine startup, has raised $2.5 million in what the company calls a “seed extension” round.

The equity financing included investments by IrishAngels, a group founded by Notre Dame alumni; H.W. Kaufman Group; Invest Michigan; and all previous investors, including Genomenon CEO Mike Klein. He says the company will use the new capital to beef up commercial development, sales, and marketing. It also plans to add at least three employees, bringing its headcount to approximately 20 by the end of the year.

Genomenon is the maker of Mastermind, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine that combs scientific publications for information on gene variants to help guide doctors to faster and more accurate diagnoses for patients with cancer or rare diseases.

Klein says Mastermind is now used by more than 2,200 clinicians in 35 countries and 200 labs. “We’ve been able to demonstrate we got the business model right, now it’s time to add fire with more investment in sales and marketing,” he says. “We’re at the precipice of three key technologies: big data, A.I., and cloud computing. Our mission is to find every mutation in publications and put it at the fingertips of doctors. We couldn’t have done that even five years ago.”

Klein says that Genomenon’s client base started as mostly cancer and genetics labs but now has expanded to pharmaceutical companies seeking to “leverage data in drug discovery. We can surface any mutation and

ANN ARBOR, MI (February 4, 2019) — Genomenon®, the leading genomic search company, announced today that industry veteran David Anstey has joined the executive team as the company’s Vice President of Sales. Anstey was most recently the Vice President of Sales at Fabric Genomics, which provides bioinformatics solutions to clinical labs.

In his new role at Genomenon, Anstey is responsible for building out and leading the company’s sales and business development efforts. Prior to his position at Fabric Genomics, Anstey held positions at Illumina, YarcData, and IDBS, selling informatics solutions to genomics labs and pharmaceutical companies. His background and experience align well with Genomenon’s focus on those markets.

“What I found most compelling about Genomenon is its leadership position in genomic search for clinical decision support and its role in advancing pharmaceutical research and development” said Anstey. “Much of the genomic data that is critical to precision medicine has been buried deep inside millions of scientific publications. Genomenon unlocks this data and provides a comprehensive genomic landscape that accelerates patient diagnosis and drug discovery.”

Last month, Genomenon announced a $2.5 million equity financing round to fund the acceleration of its commercial efforts. Anstey is actively recruiting sales talent to drive that acceleration.

“Dave brings 20 years of experience selling into

One and done: That’s the story of Micro-LAM’s equity fundraising.

Most tech startups go out to the funding market for a seed round, then a larger A round and, more often than not, subsequent B and C rounds that keep the company alive but dilute the equity of earlier investors.

The goal is eventually be able to fund growth out of cash flow.

Micro-LAM’s early investors haven’t had to worry about their equity being diluted. Nor will they, based on revenue and employee growth curves. Unlike many other early stage CEOs, founder Deepak Ravindra doesn’t have to worry about spending time on new PowerPoint presentations for investors or going on road shows to try to get venture capitalists to write him checks.

Soon after he sold his first machine in 2016, cash flow has been all the capital he’s needed for his fast-growing company. Revenue was $1.7 million in 2017 and $4.6 million last year, with projections of almost $9 million in 2019.

Micro-LAM’s formal name is Micro-Laser Assisted Machining Technologies Inc. The company makes laser-based tools to improve machining for ceramics, silicon and metal. The lasers generate heat of about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit at a tiny point a tenth the width of a human hair, softening the target and greatly reducing cutting time and decreasing cutting tool wear.

The advantage for customers is they can retrofit Micro-LAM’s laser tools into their existing CNC machines, a retrofit that can be done in about two hours. Systems range between $175,000 to $235,000. Ravindra said the company shipped 11 systems in

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN (January 8, 2019) — Genomenon® announced that it has completed a $2.5M equity financing round. The financing will expand the company’s commercial reach with clinical diagnostic labs, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies.

Genomenon connects patient DNA with the evidence in scientific literature to help doctors provide faster and better treatment decisions for patients with rare diseases and cancer. In the last year, over 2,000 clinicians and researchers from 35 countries started using Genomenon’s Mastermind® Genomic Search Engine - which is quickly becoming the gold standard for genomic interpretation.

Investors in this round include IrishAngels, H. W. Kaufman Group, and all of Genomenon’s earlier investors including the company’s CEO, Mike Klein. The company initially set out to raise $2.0M in new financing, but with strong interest from both current and new investors, the round was oversubscribed.

“IrishAngels is happy to join Genomenon as an investor” said Kaitlyn Doyle, Director of IrishAngels. “The revolutionary technology behind Genomenon’s Mastermind Genomic Search Engine will have a huge impact on the interpretation of genomic data, and this team has the requisite experience to scale the company to its potential.”

“We’ve seen strong demand from clinical labs desiring to accelerate their genomic interpretation process, and from pharmaceutical companies who want

Invest Michigan, an investment fund supported by the state-backed Michigan Strategic Fund, hit a major milestone at the end of 2018: it invested in its fiftieth company in four years.

Ann Arbor’s Spellbound, which has developed a therapeutic tool to help kids cope with illness and engage in treatment through augmented reality technology, received the funding. (The amount was not disclosed.)

Invest Michigan, which does early-stage investing and manages the Michigan Pre-Seed Fund II, has made a total of 93 investments since 2014 in those 50 companies, including follow-on funding.

“I believe the quality of early stage companies is better now than in 2014,” says Charlie Moret, CEO of Invest Michigan. “Companies seem to have more innovative approaches and technologies.”

In the years since the fund began, Moret says angel, private, and foundation capital have helped to create a more robust entrepreneurial sector locally. “Much of the investments and ecosystem participation are driven much more by early-stage companies,” he says.

When he moved to Michigan five years ago from Connecticut, he says there was more startup activity in Michigan than his home state, and that trend has continued. “Usually, you see more startups when the economy is down as an alternative [career path]. We’ve had a good economy now for eight years, yet we’re still

LANSING, Mich. – The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), together with key industry leaders Delta Dental and Farm Bureau Insurance have launched a new insurtech accelerator program, PROTO InsurTech, to inspire and stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in the insurance industry.

“PROTO InsurTech is the first and only startup accelerator program in the state of Michigan focused on insurance technology and the digital transformation of the industry,” said Bob Trezise, President and CEO of LEAP. “We are eager to leverage this new program in support of Michigan’s insurance industry and its rapidly growing Lansing hub.”

Two major insurance companies, Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan and Delta Dental of Michigan, join LEAP as significant investors and founders in launching PROTO InsurTech. Both companies are headquartered in the Lansing area and share a passion for insurance industry innovation. PROTO InsurTech has been built to help them and other insurance carriers in Michigan understand and leverage opportunities with insurtech companies.

For Don Simon, CEO of Farm Bureau Insurance, the mentorship opportunities offered through PROTO Accelerator are a key reason for supporting the efforts, “Talent is our most valuable asset at Farm Bureau, and a program such as PROTO Insurtech provides our staff opportunities to engage with products and startups that they would

The humble cell has been getting a lot of attention in the medical world lately, and Ann Arbor, MI-based biotech startup Celsee wants to make it easier to study them.

As precision medicine and genomic analysis become more sophisticated, clinicians are taking biotech research down to the level of single cells in search of breakthroughs that might not be visible when studying a large population of cells or tissues.

Researchers say much can be gleaned about the progression of diseases like cancer and potential treatments by studying individual cells. By accessing a cell’s genomic or proteomic content and examining cell cycles, scientists can find critical information that can lead to a more complete understanding of disease progression or treatment response, Celsee says. In order to do that, researchers need the cells to be intact and viable, but some methods of cellular manipulation and analysis can damage them.

Over the past few years, a number of methods relying on isolating cells and cell sorting have been used to successfully analyze genomic data from bulk samples, but these methods can miss contextual information regarding a cell’s behavior.

To overcome those challenges, Celsee has developed a patented technology called Genesis that uses a gravity-based method to find and isolate individual cells while maintaining their viability and structural integrity, says CEO John Stark. It does this by eliminating fluidics or droplet encapsulation that can cause cellular stress. The platform can be used with blood and tissue samples, and he says

Oils, pastes, gels and emulsions – traditional machining fluids come in many forms. But they all have something in common in that they pose a risk to worker health and the environment. Steve Skerlos of Seco Tools’ new partner Fusion Coolant Systems has come up with a sound alternative.

THE DEVELOPMENT of cutting tools that shape, drill, grind and plane metals has made modern manufacturing possible. But the progress that these tools have helped achieve would not have been possible without machining fluids for cooling, lubrication and chip evacuation. The list of materials used as machining fluids is long and includes oil, pastes and gels, emulsions and synthetics, to name a few. But their use comes with a few problems.

Steve Skerlos knows this better than anyone. A world-renowned expert in machining fluids, he is a tenured professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan in the US, Director of the Center for Socially Engaged Design in the university’s College of Engineering, and Founder and Chairman of the Board of Fusion Coolant Systems, Seco Tools’ new partner.

Skerlos has seen the problems of traditional machining fluids firsthand, having worked with emulsions as a PhD student for five years. “These fluids made me and the machining colleagues I got to know over time suffer a variety of health problems,” he says. “The health risks to workers exposed to traditional machining fluids have been known for decades. It’s an antiquated way of doing things.” The fluids themselves are a

HOLLAND, Mich., Nov. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shoulder Innovations announced today that they have received FDA clearance for their InSet Humeral Short Stem System. This is a key addition to their expanding shoulder portfolio and another milestone for their vision to offer a complete leading technology shoulder arthroplasty product line.

The clearance covers products used for partial or total shoulder arthroplasty used in the treatment of degenerative, rheumatoid or traumatic arthritis in the shoulder. The new InSet Shoulder system provides innovative features and solutions to address potential problems encountered with current total shoulder replacement systems.

Peter Johnston, M.D. of Southern Maryland Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine said, “The strengths of the InSet Shoulder System are its streamlined instrumentation, proprietary coating technology for implant fixation with bone preservation and ability to reproduce native humeral anatomy. The system is game-changing.”

Robert Tashjian, M.D. of the University of Utah added, “The combination of the InSet Humeral Stem and Shoulder Innovation’s unique InSet glenoid implant affords a surgically simple, bone sparing option for many types of humeral or glenoid deformities associated with arthritis.”

Rob Ball, Executive Chairman of Shoulder Innovations said, “We are excited to see the fast-paced progress and results made by the team. Genesis Innovation Group has moved rapidly in developing this highly innovative new product line. It plays a pivotal role in the Shoulder Innovations strategy, and

LANSING — Black Pine Engineering, a manufacturer of advanced compressor engines, has been accepted into the Proto Accelerator phyiscal product program run by the capital region’s economic development agency, the Lansing Economic Area Partnership.

Black Pine will receive investment and comprehensive business guidance through the Proto program.

Zack Hoyle, CEO of Black Pine, says Proto’s access to and assistance with prototyping will help fine tune engine design and find new market opportunities.

“LEAP’s Proto Accelerator investment allows us to complete our prototype and test it on potential customer sites, gathering the data needed to get to first sales while also identifying other promising applications including low-cost turbines for power generation and electric turbo props for next generation aircraft,” Hoyle said.

Black Pine’s compressor contains several innovations, including MSU-licensed technology, which allows Black Pine to produce a smaller, more efficient and lightweight turbine. The company anticipates it will be used in numerous industries such as oil and gas, along with other industrial and commercial applications, including boiler and kiln feed, central vacuum, pneumatic conveying, wastewater aeration, and more.

Joe Carr, Proto vice president, emphasized the competitive startup landscape in the region and the opportunity Proto Accelerator offers startup companies as they seek to innovate.

“Black Pine Engineering is representative of the talent and innovation that calls Lansing home,” Carr said.

At the Seco ‘Inspiration Through Innovation 2017 event’ Scott from Fusion Cooling Systems explains how their process works and the benefits to using this method. Also the partnership between them and Willemin-Macodel and especially on the new 508S2 high speed machine shown at the event. Kyal Machine Tools are distributors for Willemin-Macodel in the UK.

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genomenon and GenomOncology announced today that they have formed a partnership to incorporate Genomenon’s Mastermind search engine into GenomOncology’s Molecular Tumor Board software, in order to help oncologists make more informed clinical decisions.

Cleveland-based GenomOncology will use the Mastermind search capability to deliver the most current genomic research to oncologists as they review next-generation sequencing panels. This will help clinicians easily determine if there is any relevant literature related to each patient’s specific mutation, the firm said. The latest version of Mastermind, released in September, indexes approximately 500,000 new genomic variants from supplemental data found in scientific publications.

“Precision medicine is about putting the best tools, information, and knowledge about the patient’s tumor into the hands of the experts to provide the best medical treatment for cancer patients,” Genomenon CEO Mike Klein said in a statement.

“We know oncologists need to make timely decisions for patients, but are extremely pressed for time and overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. Providing them tools to make that easier is critical, especially as the field of oncology continues to change rapidly,” added GenomOncology Founder and CEO Manuel Glynias. “Integrating Genomenon’s Mastermind is one of the ways we are doing this.”.

Less than two weeks ago, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Genomenon signed a deal with Fabric Genomics to integrate their respective genomic interpretation

Over $6 million awarded in funding extensions; greater access to funding, services and support for university researchers

LANSING, Mich. – October 23, 2018 – Targeting high-tech Michigan start-up companies and innovative technologies at the university level, the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), approved funding extensions and amended guidelines of programs designed to create greater access to support for technologies to reach the commercial market. This includes the creation of a Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Statewide Innovation Hub for Advanced Computing Technologies, which will provide substantial economic growth opportunities for the state of Michigan.

Funding and amended guidelines approved by MSF include:

Invest Michigan Pre-Seed II Fund ($3,000,000)

Technology Transfer Talent Network (T3N) ($1,175,000) Michigan Corporate Relations Network (MCRN) ($1,310,000) Addition of MTRAC Statewide Innovation Hub for Advanced Computing technologies Converting the university match investment required for MTRAC Innovation Hub technologies to a tier structure

“To support the growth of high-tech startups and companies throughout the state, we have to go where the talent is, and the amendments to the MTRAC program, in tandem with continued investment in the T3N and MCRN programs, is how we can support the great talent we have at our universities, assisting them to get their research into the commercial market,” said Fred Molnar, vice president

Innovation unlocks previously inaccessible cellular information and makes more experiments feasible in proteogenomics, immune monitoring, and single-cell genomics

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Celsee, Inc., today launched its first product, the Genesis system, designed to overcome the limitations of other tools for single-cell analysis. The Genesis system provides a robust, scalable, and flexible way for scientists to analyze and interpret cellular behavior and collect critical cell-based information that was previously undetectable. Initial applications include proteogenomics; immune monitoring as an alternative to flow cytometry; and expansion and scale of next-generation sequencing library preparation.

The importance of analyzing individual cells, rather than relying on bulk populations or tissue-based assessment, is now well understood in fields such as oncology, stem cell research, and immunology. For many medical conditions, the cell is the fundamental unit from which to determine disease onset, progression, and potential treatment matches. Access to the genomic or proteomic content in a cell, as well as to cell cycle or state, can provide critical information that can drive a more complete understanding of disease progression and potential response to treatment. In order to obtain the most meaningful information, scientists need intact and viable cells that have not been damaged by harsh cellular analysis and manipulation processes.

“Commonly used single-cell analysis technologies lack the capture efficiency, cell viability, and

HOLLAND, Mich., Oct. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shoulder Innovations, an emerging leader in the development of shoulder replacement systems, announced today it has closed a $2.5 million round of Series A equity funding led by Ann Arbor-based Michigan Angel Fund, Grand Rapids-based Wakestream Ventures, Genesis Innovation Group, cultivate(MD) and other equity holders.

“It is impressive that the team at Shoulder Innovations has developed truly cutting-edge and disruptive products in the orthopedic space, and they have done so in a capital efficient manner, which we love to see,” said Skip Simms, Managing Director Michigan Angel Fund.

More than 100,000 patients receive shoulder replacement surgery each year, with demand increasing ten percent annually. An increasing prevalence of shoulder arthritis, combined with the aging Baby Boomer population is driving the growth of the global shoulder arthroplasty market, which is valued at more than $1 billion and is expected to double by 2023.

Shoulder Innovations is positioned advantageously within the market with a straightforward surgical technique, highly stable implant, and streamlined instrumentation, which provides opportunity for improved operating room performance.

The $2.5 million investment will be used to fuel new product development, and to acquire inventory and assets to accelerate growth of its current Inset platform technology, which serves as a foundational platform on which many future products and systems are in development. The long-term vision of Shoulder Innovations is to offer a complete