Press

MARQUETTE — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday announced appointments to the Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees and the Michigan Tech University Board of Trustees as well as the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents and the boards of trustees of Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Western Michigan universities.

Named to the NMU Board of Trustees was Gregory J. Seppanen of Marquette, a retired teacher who taught U.S. history, government, world history and economics in the Marquette Area Public Schools for 24 years. Seppanen has also served as a Marquette County commissioner, supervisor of Chocolay Township and as a member of the U.S. Army Presidential Honor Guard. He remains an active member of both the Marquette County Planning Commission and the Central U.

Michigan spent $135.3 million on masks, gloves and other gear during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, when officials were racing against time — and other states — to protect medical personnel and other essential workers, an Associated Press analysis found.

The nationwide analysis found that states paid more than $7 billion for personal protective equipment and crucial medical devices such as ventilators and infrared thermometers between early 2020, when COVID-19 first emerged in the U.S., and late spring.

View source version on crainsdetroit.com: https://www.crainsdetroit.com/coronavirus/ap-michigan-spent-135-million-medical-gear-e

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

There was one plant that became a true shining star of 2020, and nope—it wasn’t the monstera or fiddle leaf fig. According to Bloomscape, the most gifted plant of the year was the Mini Money Tree. (Something we actually 

This is an article about portfolio company, SpellBound.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, SpellBound founder and CEO Christina York was concerned that her company might not survive. Ann Arbor-based SpellBound creates interactive augmented reality experiences, delivered via mobile device, to distract and motivate young patients in health care settings. York knew her health care industry clients had to focus on combating the virus, but she and her team found a new need for SpellBound's technology: helping pediatric patients in recovery and isolation.

View source version on secondwavemedia.com: https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/features/s

TEPCO will deliver SkySpecs' autonomous drone inspections, blade asset management software, and predictive maintenance planning to the Japanese wind market

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SkySpecs, leading provider of Operations & Maintenance solutions for the wind energy industry, today announces a signed partnership agreement with TEPCO Ventures, to deliver SkySpecs' solutions to the Japanese wind energy market.

"We are excited to be partnering with TEPCO and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship. Japan is expected to acco

This is an article about portfolio company, DNASTAR®

DNASTAR® has announced the integration of the Mastermind database from Genomenon into the Lasergene Genomics software with the release of Lasergene® 17.2.

With this integration, Lasergene users can now search and cross-reference NGS variant data from millions of PubMed publications. This searching and filtering capability is complemented by DNASTAR’s robust visualization and analysis tools for resequencing and human variant detection. Mastermind literature citations are included in the DNASTAR Variant Annotation Database and are available with every Lasergene Genomics license.

View source version on selectscience.net:

This is an article about portfolio company, Genomenon.

Ladderworks is a publishing platform of diverse stories with the mission to inspire kids and youth around the world to become empathetic entrepreneurs. This series features interviews with founders working on SDG 3 – Good Health & Wellbeing by a character named Spiffy. Health is on a lot of our minds these days, so let’s see what’s being done!

Hi everyone! What a weekend! I’m Spiffy, the interplanetary journalist reporting from Planet Earth. It’s great to be back interviewing entrepreneurs making a difference in healthcare for all of us around the world. Today it is my privilege to talk to Mike Klein from Genomenon.

View source version on nasdaq.com:

This is an article about portfolio company, Shoulder Innovations.

HOLLAND — Raising nearly $21.6 million gives Shoulder Innovations Inc. the capital needed to scale up operations and bring new products to market.

The Holland-based company — which developed a new generation orthopedic shoulder implant — raised the Series C capital round from 24 investors. They include mostly existing shareholders as well as two California-based venture firms U.S. Venture Partners and Lightstone Ventures, which co-led the round and invested in Shoulder Innovations for the first time.

View source version on mibiz.com: https://mibiz.com/secti

Study shows significant cognitive improvement in domains related to language and caregivers reported improved language and daily functioning 

Lead drug candidate continues to be safe and well-tolerated

Grand Rapids, MI, November 2, 2020 (Business Wire) – Tetra Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shionogi & Co. Ltd.,  today announced positive topline results from its Phase 2 exploratory study in adult patients with Fragile X Syndrome (FXS).  The study evaluated its lead candidate, BPN14770, a first-in-class phosphodiesterase‐4D (PDE4D) allosteric inhibitor. In this single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover study, BPN14770 demonstrated excellent safety a

HOLLAND, Mich., November 2, 2020 – Shoulder Innovations (SI), an emerging leader in the development of shoulder replacement systems, announced today that it has closed an oversubscribed $21.6 million equity financing.

The fundraising, led by US Venture Partners together with Lightstone Ventures, also included participation by Alumni Venture Partners, Wakestream Ventures, Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center of Western Michigan University, Invest Michigan, and the Michigan Angel Fund, among others.

Founded in 2009 by Stephen B. Gunther, MD, and Mike DeVries of EDF Ventures, Shoulder Innovations set out to develop a glenoid technology fixation solution for anatomic shoulder arthroplasty

This is an article about portfolio company, Shoulder Innovations.

HOLLAND, Mich., Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shoulder Innovations (SI), an emerging leader in the development of shoulder replacement systems, announced today that it has closed an oversubscribed $21.6 million equity financing. The fundraising, led by US Venture Partners together with Lightstone Ventures, also included participation by Alumni Venture Partners, Wakestream Ventures, Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center of Western Michigan University, Invest Michigan, and the Michigan Angel Fund, among others.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Movellus announced today it has joined the GLOBALFOUNDRIES® (GF®) GLOBALSOLUTIONS® ecosystem program. Movellus’ fully synthesizable and quickly customizable PLLs/DLLs are available to GF customers around the world with the goal of further enabling their designs and ultimately reducing their time-to-market.

GF, the world’s leading specialty foundry, provides differentiated feature-rich solutions that enable customers to develop innovative products for high-growth market segments including IoT, 5G, AI, automotive, and satellite communications.

Movellus’ technology is well-suited for GF’s customers based on the ability to customize its PLLs, DLLs, and clocking solutions for speci

When it comes to credit cards and banks, consumers are spoiled for choice—in fact, there are so many options it can be difficult to know where to start. Finding the financial institution or product that matches your unique needs can make a big difference in saving—and earning—you money, so it pays to do some homework when it’s time to set up a bank account or choose a credit card.

View source version on forbescom: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2020/11/02/10-pro-tips-to-find-the-credit-or-banking-solution-for-your-needs/

This is an article about portfolio company, MaxOne.

By Joe Lemire
September 17, 2020

The youth sports management platform SportsEngine will integrate virtual coaching platform MaxOne into its registration and rostering system and offer a three-month free trial to all of its customers.

SportsEngine, which NBC Sports Group acquired in 2016, has 16 million users and 50,000 youth sports organizations among its clients.

View the source version at SportTechie: https://www.sporttechie.com/sport

October 14, 2020 02:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ann Arbor Entrepreneurs Fund (A2EF) supports entrepreneurs and investors by connecting them with their peers and the community and provides a platform for them to give back to Washtenaw County through equity donations. A2EF is excited to recognize the leadership and generosity of Jen Baird, Kathleen Craig, Marianna Kerppola and Evan Ufer, in pledging 1% of their equity to the A2EF endowment fund at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.

“It is critical that the local venture capital ecosystem participates in this growing culture of giving - especially in 2020 - and what a fantastic opportunity to do so by partnering with

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/

The Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine (RCIGM) and Genomenon, Inc. today announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate the diagnosis of critically-ill newborns with rare genetic disorders. The collaboration combines the Institute's genomic resea

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Movellus announced today that Everactive has adopted Movellus’ ultra-low power clocking solution for its batteryless Machine Health Monitoring (MHM) IoT product. Everactive’s core SoC is clocked by Movellus ultra low power PLL.

Everactive MHM’s core SoC is clocked by Movellus’ 700-nanowatt phase-locked loop (PLL) IP. Everactive is also using Movellus PLLs in multiple next generations of their SoCs.

“Movellus’ clocking solution had the smallest area for the frequency and process combination – no other vendor came close,” said Dr. Nathan Roberts, Vice President of Engineering at Everactive. “Their unique synthesizable technology enabled them to deliver a clocking solut

This is a video about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Yahoo Finance Video
October 6, 2020

Bloomscape CEO Justin Mast joins Yahoo Finance's On The Move panel to discuss the surge in plant purchases amid the pandemic.

Video Transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: A lot of people as lockdowns were taking place went and got pets, but you don't have to walk a houseplant. So let's bring back to the stream Justin Mast. He is the CEO of Bloomscape, which is revolutionizing the way that a lot of us get houseplants. It's good to have you back, Justin.

View video and transcript source version at Yahoo News:&nbsp

This is a podcast about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

By Pierre Bienaimé
October 1, 2020

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify | RSS

Some DTC founders pick a sector just because they spy

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

Sarah Perez@sarahintampa
September 30, 2020

If you thought to invest in more plants or started growing a small garden during 2020’s coronavirus lockdowns, you weren’t alone. According to Bloomscape, a company that ships live plants straight from greenhouses to customers’ homes, a number of people become interested in plants this year, increasing demand for its already growing service. Today, 

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Ripple Science today announced the availability of new communication features in Ripple. These features better enable clinical research teams to work remotely and support virtual trials during this time of COVID-19. It is also timely as decentralized clinical trials (DCTs), in general, are gaining a foothold in industry.

The new communication features include bulk emails, calendar integrations for Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar, and text messaging. These features provide significant time savings for study teams. The calendar integration enables teams to sync scheduled Ripple Events with an existing external calendar allowing seamless participant scheduling. Amanda Zimmerman, Sr. Clinical Research Coordinator at Tula

This is an article about portfolio company, Bloomscape.

By Samantha Daly – September 21, 2020

Bloomscape’s resident “Plant Mom,” AKA horticulturalist Joyce Mast, gives us the scoop on how to prep your plant buddies for their dormant season.

After a long  summer of sun and growth, it might be time to check in on your houseplants. We talked to direct-to-consumer plant shop Bloomscape to get their expertise on keeping your blooms in tip-top shape as they settle down for the colder months.

View source version at Dwell: 

This is an article about portfolio company,  Bloomscape.

By LISA BOONE

STAFF WRITER SEP. 15, 202012:25 PM

A longtime bohemian standard during the 1970s, hanging houseplants have returned in a big way as demand for plants has skyrocketed in the pandemic and Instagram influencers flaunt their indoor jungles.

Plant parents love to dote on their houseplants, especially now that everyone is 

Northville, MI (September 22, 2020). Invest Michigan announced today that Jim Tenzillo has been named a Vice President and corporate officer.

Tenzillo joined Invest Michigan in April 2016 as an associate and quickly made his mark completing 50 investments as well as taking an active role as the lead investment manager with 20 portfolio client companies.  Since initiating its investment fund in 2014, Invest Michigan has completed 114 investments in 52 companies.  Nearly one third of Invest Michigan’s client companies are women-led. 

“Invest Michigan has been exceedingly active in making capital available to a diverse group of high-tech companies” said Charles Moret, president, “and Jim’s significant assistance to

 ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HT Mobile Apps, (HTMA), a fintech company serving banks across the country with cost-effective services to help community banks attract and retain customers, recently joined the 

Genomenon announced today that Elizabeth Varga has joined the company’s leadership team as Director of Customer Success. In this newly created role, Varga will lead the company’s client development strategy, using insights to provide input for product marketing and direction for both clinical and Pharma customers.

“Having spent most of my career on the front lines as a genetic counselor advising families and clinicians on the impact of genomic variants for their health, family planning and therapeutic management, I fully appreciate the need for comprehensive and efficient tools to facilitate direct translation into the clinic,” said Varga. &l

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Movellus today announced that Fred Weber has joined its Board of Advisors. Mr. Weber will help with Movellus’ mission to deliver architectural innovations, initially in the areas of clock generation and distribution, to the high performance SoC, processor, and AI markets.

Fred Weber is well-known for his contributions at AMD, where he served as Chief Technical Officer and Corporate Vice President. During his tenure at AMD, Mr. Weber led the development and delivery of the industry’s first x86-compatible 64-bit processors, the Opteron and the Athlon 64. Mr. Weber has also served as a board director at Lattice Semiconductor, MIPS, NetSpeed (now Intel), and SeaMicro; he is currently an advisor to Samsung and Cerebras Sy

This is an article about portfolio company, TD Online Accounting.

Collaboration with Autobooks aims to improve small business cash flow

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Aug. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, today announced that it is launching 

This is an article about portfolio company, Genomenon.

An accomplished businessman, a strategic thinker and an excellent leader, Mike Klein has been responsible for raising over $50 million in private equity and venture capital financing over the years. He has drawn on a unique blend of vision, tactical thinking, communication and, execution skills in the last 25 years of his career. Mike’s technical and financial backgrounds have helped him bolster businesses and meet their objectives while driving revenue growth. Excerpts from an interview with Mike Klein, CEO, Genomenon:

View source version on tech-ceos.com: https://www.tech-ceos.com/genomenon/

Genomenon announced today that CEO Mike Klein has been named to TechCEOs list of “Top 25 Biotechnology CEOs of 2020”. Klein was recognized for leading Genomenon, one of the most innovative health IT companies in genomics. Genomenon’s AI-powered genomic search engine is used by nearly 10,000 clinicians across 118 countries to diagnose rare disease patients from their DNA.

Genomenon provides unique and powerful solutions that transform hidden genetic data and evidence into actionable intelligence for clinical laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. The use of Mastermind has led to numerous breakthroughs, where the information required to diagnose and treat patients with a rare

This is an article about portfolio company,  Akadeum Life Sciences.

CLEMSON, S.C. – A collaborative team of undergraduate students recently took first place in the Clemson COVID Challenge, a summer virtual research and design opportunity that involved 86 teams and more than 500 participants.

The event provided an opportunity for undergraduates to work on problems related to the current COVID-19 situation as well as future possible pandemics.

View source version on newsstand.clemson.edu: https://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/winning-undergraduate-team-in-re