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13 plants that are actually easy to keep alive, according to experts

April 5, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Spring is here, and there’s nothing like celebrating the season with a brand new plant. If you want to add a little green to your living space, there are tons of plants that are easy to take care of, so even if you’ve never owned a plant before or think you have a black thumb, there’s still hope.

We know it can be a little intimidating choosing what to buy, especially if you’re inexperienced, which is why we reached out to plant expe

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Small business is in a digital crisis and financial institutions could be their hero

April 2, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Autobooks.

It’s no secret that the pandemic has put an extraordinary strain on small businesses. Primarily, it’s growing pains. Small businesses were forced to grow into digital enterprises essentially overnight. Accepting online payments and facilitating sales digitally switched from niceties to necessities. According to McKinsey & Company, the global average share of digital customer interactions increased from 36% to 58% between December 2019 and July 2020. This signifies an incredible acceleration in digitalizati

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Ripple Science Board of Directors Welcomes Jeanne Hecht, Clinical Trial Services Industry Veteran

March 30, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Ripple Science.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 30, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ripple Science, an emerging eClinical company servicing the clinical research site, life sciences and pharmaceutical services markets, announced today the appointment of Jeanne Hecht as a Non-Executive Director to the company effective immediately.

As CEO of JTH Consulting, LLC., Jeanne commands broad knowledge and deep expertise in the Life Sciences arena. She has dedicated much of her career to guiding international companies through healthy growth – thoughtfully, strategically, and with unyielding integrity. In addition to running her consulting practice, she serves as NED for a publicly-traded company out of the UK, Vectura Group

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Six Lessons Entrepreneurs can learn from the six championships of the 90’s Bulls

Jim Tenzillo / March 30, 2021

As a kid growing up in the Chicago area in the 90’s, the Bulls weren’t just a huge part of my childhood — they were my childhood. Going to the Chicago Stadium, and later the United Center, to watch the Bulls was better than Christmas and Birthdays combined. I spent hours in my driveway working on the MJ fadeaway and the ‘switching hands’ lay-up, dreaming of someday playing in the NBA.

Unfortunately, due to my height and overall skill level, the NBA never called. Years later, however, I was given the gift of re-living these ‘glory days’ of my childhood v

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Long-living, easy succulents: Gifts for Easter and Mother’s Day

March 30, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Succulents are supremely popular and come in an abundance of shapes and captivating colors — think pink Flaming Katy Kalanchoe, Aeonium ‘Sunburst’ (Copper Pinwheel) and Red Velvet Echeveria.

Most important, they are hardy and low maintenance. Imagine

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Small Business Spotlight: Planting seeds to harvest healthy growth

March 28, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Seek out investors: It's not always necessary, but investors can provide capital to start and grow a business, assist with business planning and work to ensure capital is invested in the right way. Maintain high level of customer service: Customers come to expect a high level of service no matter...

View source version on crainsdetroit.com: https://www.crainsdetroit.com/small-business/small-business-spotlight-planting-seeds-harvest-healthy-growth

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Genomenon Completes $5.3 Million Financing Round

March 26, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Genomenon.

ANN-ARBOR—Genomenon, the genetics informatics company, has completed a $5.3 million financing round, company officials announced.  The financing will enable the company to expand its commercial operations, which serve genetic testing labs, hospitals, pharmaceutical and biopharma companies.

New investors in this round of financing included BroadOak Capital Partners LLC of Bethesda, Md., Green Park & Golf Ventures of Dallas, Red Cedar Ventures of East Lansing, and the East Lansing pre-seed firm Michigan Rise, with continued support from existing investors Invest Detroit Ventures, IrishAngels of South Bend, Ind., Michigan Angel Fund, Invest Michigan, and Atain Specialty Insurance Co. of Farmington Hills.

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From dressing up to masking up: How an Ann Arbor quinceañera-planning business survived the pandemic

March 24, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Mi Padrino.

This story is part of a series about Washtenaw County businesses' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Support for this series is provided by Ann Arbor SPARK.

What's a girl to do when she has the dress, but no party to wear it to? This was the question facing Kim Gamez, CEO and founder of Mi Padrino, an online party planning platform for quinceañeras and other traditional Hispanic celebrations. Days into the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, one of the wholesalers who sells products on Mi Padrino let Gamez know it had ceased making dresses and switched to masks instead. 

View source

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Spruce Up Your Space with These 5 Metro Detroit Plant Shops

March 24, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Bloomscape sells dozens of classic and exotic plants in sleek, stylish pots. Shop the online retailer’s Indoor Plants section to pick up a heartleaf philodendron or a fiddle-leaf fig for your space, or check out the new Outdoor Plant section to add a Persian shield bloom kit or helichrysum bloom kit to your balcony or patio. Bloomscape plants ship directly from a greenhouse straight to your door. This helps keep your plant healthy and safe on its way to you. Bloomscape’s website is packed with information — including how difficult it is to take care of each plant and whether they’re safe for pets — to help you choose the best plant and hone your growing skills. The company also runs an app calle

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VCs fuel payment innovations at small businesses

March 24, 2021

Small businesses can no longer cling to paper billing ou of inertia, opening a route for financial technology to each a new audience of proprietors.

View source version on paymentssource.com: https://www.paymentssource.com/news/vcs-fuel-payment-innovations-at-small-businesses

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Experts Recommend The Air-Purifying Plants That Will Work Overtime In Your Small Space

March 23, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

2020 was the year of the great indoors. And, since we couldn’t recreate misty ocean breezes or the Santa Ana winds inside our apartments, many of us relied on houseplants to refresh the air inside our spaces. Now, we’re back in the swing of spring and it’s time to give that air-purifying 

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Achronix Adopts Movellus Maestro Clock Network for Its Speedster7t FPGAs

March 23, 2021

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Movellus, Inc. today announced that Achronix, a leader in high-performance FPGAs and embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP, has adopted Movellus' Maestro intelligent clocking solution for its Speedster®7t FPGAs. Speedster®7t FPGAs are used in high-performance communications, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automotive driver assistance, compute acceleration, industrial and military applications.

"We were impressed by the increased performance and power-efficiency our system design team was able to achieve using the TrueDigital™ Module within the Movellus Maestro int

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Innovative patient stability technology developed at MCIRCC gets FDA market approval

March 22, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Fifth Eye Inc.

A medical device that works to detect if a patient will become unstable earlier than traditional vital signs received the green light to be marketed to U.S. hospitals.

Fifth Eye Inc., a Michigan Medicine spinoff medical device software company founded in 2017, was recently granted FDA De Novo classification for its Analytic for Hemodynamic Instability (AHI). The noninvasive device continuously monitors electrocardiogram (ECG) signals to identify signs of hemodynamic decline.

View source version on uofmhealth.org: https://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/202103/innovative-

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‘Embedded fintech works in the inverse direction’: Why banks should integrate SaaS with Autobooks’ Derik Sutton

March 22, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Fintech.

The following was produced by Tearsheet Studios. We worked with fintech software provider Autobooks to create a four part podcast series on the evolution of business banking and how banks can better service SMBs through a changing mindset, partnerships and integrations. Listen / read our first installment of the series here and here

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Entrepreneurs Tap Into Answers With Givitas

March 22, 2021

I met Cheryl and Wayne Baker in 2005 when I was President of the Ann Arbor IT Zone. We set up a Reciprocity Ring to spur collaboration among our tech ventures. I was amazed at how well it worked.
 
The Reciprocity Ring is a great exercise that teaches everyone why it’s important to ask for help and how to do it effectively. The exercise then gives everyone the chance to practice. After everyone makes a request, people in the same group meet those requests for help. I saw first-hand how powerful it was for founders and leaders to connect in this way.

Then the Bakers met Adam Grant, author of the bestseller Give and Take when Adam was getti

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Best places to buy plants online for 2021

March 19, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

A lush potted fern or two is the easiest way to lift any space. These are the best places to buy your plants online.

View source version on cnet.com: https://www.cnet.com/news/best-place-to-buy-plants-online/

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Shoptelligence Design Discovery Platform Experiences Rapid Growth in Home Furnishings Industry

March 18, 2021

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/

Shoptelligence announces rapid growth across the last two quarters – with five top 100 home furnishings companies, as well as leading regional independent furniture retailers, selecting the Shoptelligence solutions to improve shopper experience with digital cross-category merchandising that can lift order size by up to 49 percent.

"We want to provide all of our customers with an excellent furniture shopping experience whether they connect with us online or in-store," explained Scott Perry, EVP of Digital Marketing at Jerome's Furniture. "Shoptelligence's platform adds value to that experience above and beyond our first-class furniture assortment and provides our consumers and sales associates a rich m

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New Partnership: Adadapted and IRI to Provide Increased Attribution for Mobile Grocery List Advertising Tool

March 18, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, AdAdapted.

 AdAdapted, a mobile advertising platform that specializes in Add-to-List media for CPG, has partnered with IRI and its shopper marketing solution, Ansa, which automatically delivers unbiased insights into campaign sales performance.

The partnership will help AdAdapted prove out the real-time effectiveness of campaigns designed to drive shoppers to add promoted CPG products to their mobile grocery lists. IRI will be providing AdAdapted with daily store-level analytics and insights on campaign performance at major retailers. Through this exciting partnership, CPG brands and agencies will be able to further refine targeting, optimize current programs, and strategize for future campaigns.  

View

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Commodore Perry Federal Credit Union Offers Plinqit Savings App

March 18, 2021

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Commodore Perry Federal Credit Union is excited to announce a partnership with HT Mobile Apps (HTMA) to offer a new digital solution, Plinqit. Plinqit is the only savings tool that pays users for learning about personal finances.

The addition of Plinqit supports the credit union's strategy of providing safe, secure, and use

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Tetra Therapeutics’ Shionogi deal builds resources of large pharmaceutical company

March 18, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Tetra Therapeutics.

After years of raising millions in capital and federal grant funding for Tetra Therapeutics Inc. — which was developing a new drug that could potentially treat Alzheimer’s disease and a form of autism — Mark Gurney in 2020 finally found the big money he needed to get to the end.

The Grand Rapids-based Tetra Therapeutics last spring sold to Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi & Co. Ltd. in a deal that could reach $500 million. Under the agreement, Shionogi & Co. acquired Tetra and its portfolio of drug compounds for treating Alzheimer’s disease, Fragile X syndrome, and other brain disorders associated with cognitive or memory conditions

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REV-1 robot takes on snow for last-mile delivery

March 17, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Refraction AI.

Refraction AI entered into the $80 billion robotics market in 2019 with a mission to bring a practical, economical and deployable robot to the last-mile delivery space. 

While working at the University of Michigan’s Robotics Program, co-founders Matthew Johnson-Roberson and Ram Vasudevan noticed a gap in autonomous vehicle (AV) mobility: extreme weather conditions. The pair developed their “Goldilocks of autonomous vehicles,” REV-1, a last-mile delivery robot that could handle the harsh weather a majority of the country experie

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‘SMBs are stuck in a banking problem that they need help solving’: Autobooks’ Steve Robert

March 16, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Autobooks.

The following was produced by Tearsheet Studios. We worked with fintech software provider Autobooks to create a four part podcast series on the evolution of business banking and how banks can better service SMBs through a changing mindset, partnerships and integrations. Listen / read our other installments of the series here and 

[read more]

Genomenon Raises $5.3M in Financing Round

March 16, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Genomenon

NEW YORK – Genomenon said on Tuesday that it has raised $5.3 million in a financing round.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based firm will use the funding to expand its global commercial operations, which serves genetic testing labs, hospitals, pharmaceutical, and biopharma companies. 

New investors include BroadOak Capital Partners, Green Park & Golf Ventures, Red Cedar Ventures, and Michigan Rise. Current investors, including Invest Detroit Ventures, IrishAngels, Michigan Angel Fund, Invest Michigan, and Atain Specialty Insurance, also participated in the round. 

View source version on genomeweb.com:

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Autobooks Raises $25M in Series B Funding

March 11, 2021

Autobooks, the small business payment and accounting services platform, today announced that they have raised $25 million in Series B financing, led by MissionOG.  The round also includes participation from other investors including Renaissance Venture Capital, Detroit Venture Partners and Draper Triangle, along with TD Bank Group [NYSE: TD]. 

The Detroit-based fintech enables small businesses to send digital invoices and accept online payments directly from their financial institution’s existing online and mobile banking channels. The Detroit-based fintech works directly with banks and credit unions to unlock potential within small and micro-businesses, which has been historically difficult to do profitably, at scale. The co

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Last-mile delivery robotics company Refraction AI raises $4.2M

March 8, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Refraction AI.

Ann Arbor-based Refraction AI announced today that it has raised a $4.2 million seed round. The startup, which debuted on the TechCrunch Sessions: Mobility stage back in 2019, was founded by a pair of University of Michigan professors (Matthew Johnson-Roberson — now CTO — and Ram Vasudevan) seeking to solve a number of issues posed by many delivery robots.

View source version on techcrunch.com: https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/08/last-mile-delivery-robot

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FDA Grants De Novo to ML-based, Real-time Indicator of Patient Deterioration

March 2, 2021

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth EyeTM, a provider of intuitive real-time clinical analytics, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted De Novo classification for its Analytic for Hemodynamic Instability (AHI). AHI can continuously monitor any patient with an electrocardiogram (ECG) for hemodynamic instability — a leading cause of death for critically ill or injured patients. This clinically validated technology enables hemodynamic

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How Bloomscape is upending traditional garden centers

March 1, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Bloomscape Founder and CEO Justin Mast joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down how Bloomscape is upending traditional garden centers.

Video Transcript

- Demand for home plants, they certainly have exploded since the start of the pandemic. Now Bloomscape, it's one company that's benefited from this. They're expanding as a result of what we've seen over the past year. We want to bring in Justin Mast. He's Bloomscape's founder and CEO. Justin, it's great to have you on the program.

View source version on yahoo.com: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/bloomscape-upending-traditional-garden-center

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Genomenon Partners with Swiss-based BC Platforms to Advance Personalized Medicine

March 1, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Genomenon.

Ann Arbor-based Genomenon, an artificial intelligence-driven genomics (a genome is an organism’s set of DNA) company, has entered into a collaboration with BC Platforms, a health care data management, analytics, and access company in Switzerland.

Genomenon organizes genomic knowledge to connect patient DNA to scientific research. This helps health care professionals diagnose and develop treatments for patients with rare genetic diseases and cancer.

View source version on dbusiness.com: https://www.dbusiness.com/tech-mobility-news/genomenon-partners-with-swiss-ba

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High schools, tech companies launch virtual options during atypical sports seasons

February 28, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, MaxOne LLC.

Even as a small northern Kent County school with an enrollment shy of 400 students, Kent City High School has viewers from all over the country tune in and watch its sports teams in action.

The Sparta-area school, like an overwhelming number of others, has dabbled in the live streaming of games during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person attendance has been severely limited. 

With a variety of streaming services available, Athletic Director Jason Vogel and his team at Kent City have taken a DIY approach, streaming choice games via YouTube with cameras installed at its football field and gymnasium. 

View source version on mibiz.com:

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The Best New Launches From Bloomscape, Everlane and More

February 26, 2021

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Bloom Kits: If you’re an avid gardener getting ready for spring, Bloomscape has just the thing. The brand has created outdoor bloom kits, complete with everything you need to grow a beautiful array of flowers outdoors. Best of all, they won’t ship to you until the last frost passes in your area. Choose between 

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