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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Complete trial enrollment anticipated in early 2020 with topline results projected Q2 2020

Hispanics represent nearly 65% of early patient enrollment

Novel PDE4D Mechanism of Action is designed to improve cognition and memory

Just ahead of 

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

First and only savings app of its kind, Plinqit pays users for engaging with content

Plinqit, a brandable, savings app and the only savings tool that pays users for engaging with content, was selected as a finalist for Bank Director’s 

Genomenon today announced a partnership with rare disease advocacy group BPAN Warriors, with the goal of providing resources to assist researchers and encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in finding efficacious treatments for Beta-Propeller Protein-Associated Neurodegeneration (BPAN), a progressive disease causing abnormal iron deposits in the brain.

BPAN Warriors is an international com

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Though crowd-sourced delivery is often painted as a result of the kind of on-demand culture that lightning-fast fulfillment operations and technologies are enabling, Deliv founder and CEO Daphne Carmeli sees a value proposition for both consumer and businesses elsewhere.

"Predictability trumps speed," she said at GroceryShop in Las Vegas Sunday.

Deliv, she explained, is not a consumer-facing service, but a 'back-end service" — an "asset-free UPS."

Deliv, which runs on gig workers for the most part, is not an on-demand provider — it's a "scheduled delivery provider," said Carmeli.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- While the Quinceañera industry is growing rapidly, one recent trend is that of the Quinceañero. Quince Años events have normally been for Hispanic families to celebrate the 15th birthdays of their girls and their transitions to becoming women, but in the past few years, we have seen m

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Missouri credit union launches Plinqit to create a fun way for members to save and engage with the institution

O’Fallon, Mo.-based West Community Credit Union announced today that it will offer 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 9, 2019--

New preclinical research suggests the ability of BPN14770, an investigational drug under development by Tetra Therapeutics to protect against memory loss and neuronal atrophy induced by amyloid beta1-42, a hallmark protein of Alzheimer’s disease. In a humanized mouse model of amyloid beta1-42 neurotoxicity, BPN14770, a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase-4D (PDE4D), was shown to trigger multiple compensatory mechanisms in the brain that reduced memory impairment, damage to nerve morphology, deficits in synaptic proteins, and impaired neurological signaling. Tetra is cur

In April, we announced the winners of the Bio-IT World Best of Show Awards during the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo. These awards are given with the goal of recognizing the best of the innovative product solutions for the life sciences industry on display at the conference. We wanted to highlight these products as they measurably improve workflow and capacity, enabling better research. – The Editors

Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) has ushered in a new era of high-throughput genomic

While we’re primarily focused on the Twin Cities innovation economy, we also have our eyes on all of the startup and tech activity happening throughout the entire Midwest. Here are the major tech fundings, acquisitions, mergers, moves and IPOs that went down in the region in August. See all Midwest Reports here.

8/1: Detroit-based Bloomscape, a direct-to-consumer plant company, raised a $7.5 million Series A from Revolution Ventures, with participation from Endeavor.

Detroit-based e-commerce and delivery company Bloomscape has secured $7.5 million in Series A funding, according to company database 

Ann Arbor’s HT Mobile Apps has acquired Hip Pocket, a platform that uses social influence and personalized consultation to generate qualified mortgage and retirement leads. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ann Arbor’s HT Mobile Apps has acquired Hip Pocket, a platform that uses social influence and personalized consultation to generate qualified mortgage and retirement leads. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“HTMA was created from a passion for technology and financial literacy,” says Kathleen Craig, founder, and CEO of HT Mobile Apps. “Hip Pocket

LANSING, Mich. — The Lansing region and Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem was well represented at the Aug. 13 Manu-Tech Night pitch competition hosted by Lean Rocket Labs in Jackson, Michigan. Top players in the Michigan startup accelerator ecosystem including PROTO Accelerator, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), 100k Ideas, Ann Arbor SPARK and Centrepolis/LTU were in attendance to evaluate high-tech manufacturing startups as they pitched their products in the hopes of securing additional funding. Among the night’s winners was a 2018 graduate of LEAP’s PROTO Accelerator physical products progra

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ONL Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for protecting the vision of patients with retinal disease, today announced it recently raised $3 million in a convertible note financing. Participation in the financing was a balance of current investors, ONL management, and new investors. Current investors included Invest Michigan, the University of Michigan’s Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS) program, Invest Michigan, the Biosc

DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Autobooks is a small business payment and accounting platform integrated within a financial institution’s digital banking experience. Today, the company announced that it has been recognized as a finalist for the inaugural Finovate Awards along with ChoiceOne Bank, a subsidiary of ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (OTCBB: COFS).

.@Autobooks and @ChoiceOneBank recognized as finalists for @Finovate's inaugural award in the SMB/SME Banking

ANN ARBOR, MI — ONL Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for preserving vision in a range of retinal diseases, today announced a key leadership appointment as part of its evolution into a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. David A. Esposito has been appointed chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors, bringing with him a wealth of leadership experience in building life science companies. The appointment of a new CEO

Canton Township-based Fusion Coolant Systems Inc., a spinoff from the University of Michigan that uses supercooled carbon dioxide to lubricate cutting tools used in manufacturing, has wasted no time putting a funding round of $8 million it raised last October to good use.

Fusion Coolant uses the liquid CO2 to replace the traditional mix of water and oil used to cool industrial cutting tools, hitting the surface of the tool at between minus-20 and minus-60 degrees Celsius.

The CO2 speeds up machining time, increases tool longevity, sharply reduces the cost of cleaning up waste created by the oil and water and the associated he

When Stephen Gunther, M.D., of Charlottesville, VA, began to dream up a design for a revolutionary new glenoid, even he didn’t foresee how successful his unique design could be in solving total shoulder arthroplasty’s number one problem, glenoid loosening.

It’s now been nearly a decade since his first InSet Glenoid designs were implanted and Dr. Gunther was able to follow-up with 21 of the 24 patients. He recently wrote a paper detailing the long-term results of his InSet Glenoid implant which were recently published in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery (JSES), a peer-reviewed publication for e

Grand Rapids, MI — Tetra Discovery Partners, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, today announced the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial (PICASSO AD) of BPN14770 in patients diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). BPN14770, a novel agent that selectively inhibits phosphodiesterase-4D (PDE4D), is designed to enhance early and late stages of memory formation and to potentially improve cognition and memory in central nervous system (CNS) disorders including AD.

“Recent estimates cite AD as t

Genomenon Inc., the leading genomic search company, today announced that Bio-IT World has awarded them Best of Show for the Mastermind Genomic Search Engine. Mastermind was one of 31 products considered for this prestigious award at last week’s Bio-IT World Conference & Expo in Boston.

Bio-IT World’s Best of Show Awards Program recognizes the best of the innovative product solutions for the life sciences industry, as judged by a panel of experts from academia, industry, pharma and biotech. Winners are judged based on the pr

Fifth Eye, an Ann Arbor-based medical software startup spun out of technology developed at the University of Michigan, today announced that it has raised $9 million in new investment capital, bringing its total venture backing to date to $11.5 million.

The round was led by Arboretum Ventures and Cultivation Capital, with participation from Invest Michigan, U-M’s MINTS program, and a bevy of angel investors. Founder and CEO Jen Baird says Fifth Eye will use the new capital to complete clinical studies at several hospital systems as it initiates the FDA approval process in preparation for a commercial launch.

Fifth Eye&rs

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 rais

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

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 integr

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-

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 Il

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 inv

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 Masterm

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 I

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, Pres

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, s

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,

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 s

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, gathe

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, release

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 H

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 cytomet

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.

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - 10/19/2018 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Mastermind Genomic Search Engine Allows Rare Genomics Team to More Quickly Analyze Patient Data for Diagnosing Rare Diseases.

Genomenon announced today that they will donate Mastermind Genomic Search Engine licenses to the entire team of clinical scientists at Rare Genomics Institute to accelerate their work for patients with rare diseases.

Rare Genomics Institute (RG) is a nonprofit (EIN: 45-3624709) organization that has been at the forefront of providing direct support to undiagnosed rare disease patients and their families since 2011. RG helps patients find a diagn