Press

Space technology is all the rage these days. But when most people think about it, they picture giant rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, designed to take astronauts to the moon and Mars. It’s one of many amazing breakthroughs for certain. Yet Brad King, CEO and co-founder of Orbion Space Technology, will tell you that’s only a tiny part of what’s coming when it comes to space innovations.

Orbion is a propulsion technology start-up based in Houghton, Michigan. Founded in 2017, the company raised $10 million in funding in its Series A round this past October. They think they’re jumping into the market at just the right time, with potential market opportunities growing substantially. “It’s not inconceivable that in seven years, the business just for small propulsion units will reach the $1 billion mark for annual sales,” he said. “Just last year, Morgan Stanley and Merrell Lynch said that space is the next trillion-dollar economic opportunity.”

The Orbion 20 thruster is designed for small satellite propulsion

Orbion - which was just this week named Up- and-Coming Company of the Year by the Michigan Venture Capital Association - is focused on serving what King says will soon be an enormous market in small satellites. “Framing our whole business and reason for being is ‘New Space,’” he explained. “For the last four

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—

Provider of popular savings app, Plinqit, taps industry expert in response to rapid growth after institutions see strong customer engagement and significant deposit growth

HT Mobile Apps (HTMA), an innovative FinTech company serving banks and credit unions across the country to easily and cost-effectively introduce new services for attracting and retaining customers, announced Scott Stein as Senior Vice President of Sales to support the growing consumer demand for its solutions, including its popular Plinqit savings platform.

Stein brings more than 30 years of corporate strategy, sales, marketing and operations experience to HTMA. Formerly a founding member of Silicon Valley-based Rasna Corporation (later purchased by Parametric Technology Corporation), Stein has proven experience rapidly growing start-ups, increasing his previous company’s revenues to $20 million within a

DETROIT—(BUSINESS WIRE)—

Detroit-based fintech recognized for transforming small business banking services

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 named one of two winners of Forbes’ Under 30 Summit Startup Pitch Competition.

As Forbes’ largest annual event, the 2019 Forbes Under 30 Summit hit record attendance with more than 9,000 people joining together in Detroit from Oct. 27th to 30th. Partners, analysts, and associates from 33 venture firms heard pitches from the 154 startups that competed, before selecting the top five to compete for the chance to win a $250,000 media package. Autobooks’ Kyle Bazzy competed on the mainstage during a five-minute pitch competition followed by a Q&A in front of ThirdLove’s co-founder and CEO Heidi Zak, Rock Ventures’ executive vice president Dhani Jones, Shutterstock’s founder and CEO Jon Oringer, and Yale University’s Sterling Professor of economics Robert J. Shiller.

Powered by 

Genomenon® announced the release of Mastermind® version 2.0 today. The Genomic Search Engine now includes the ability to search the entirety of the genomic literature by phenotypes (symptoms). This new functionality will further accelerate diagnosis of patients with genetic and rare diseases.

Patients, particularly those with rare diseases, don’t always have a name for their condition. This makes it very difficult to diagnose and treat their disease. The ability to search the genetic literature by symptoms (following the Human Phenotype Ontology, or HPO) helps clinicians narrow their diagnosis to the appropriate disease and treatment.

Genomenon’s Mastermind Genomic Search Engine is the world’s largest and most complete source of genomic evidence. Doctors and researchers use Mastermind to find the scientific evidence relevant to their patients’ DNA profile for diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations. The new release of Mastermind includes a more streamlined search function to help doctors more quickly scour through the millions of research articles to find cases that match their patients’ genomic profile and symptoms.

The ability to search by phenotype was the top feature requested by the children’s hospitals and genetic testing labs that use Mastermind

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The Milford Bank announced today that it will offer Plinqit, a brandable, savings app and the only savings tool that pays users for engaging with content, helping customers save money and increase financial wellness.

“With Plinqit, we can provide customers a digital experience that helps them save while also providing them with The Milford Bank’s personalized customer service”

Established in 1872, The Milford Bank was formed to serve the financial needs of its customers and its community. Since the beginning, the bank’s goals have not changed. When The Milford Bank wanted to provide a cost effective, simple way for customers to

Novel Akadeum microbubble technology can be the answer to improved quality and reduced costs across multiple fields of testing.

October 30, 2019, Ann Arbor, MI – Akadeum Life Sciences, Inc., an Ann Arbor-based biotechnology company, announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Agilent Technologies, Inc. to work toward a new method of isolating target molecules for detection. Akadeum aims to disrupt the status quo in isolation technology with their buoyant microbubbles. Notably, Akadeum is the first company to commercialize buoyancy-based cell isolation with their growing portfolio of human and mouse cell enrichment kits for immunology researchers. In addition, the same technology can be leveraged to improve isolation workflows and capabilities for target molecules such as DNA, protein, microbes, and others; which, Akadeum is developing through strategic partnerships.

“Sample preparation is a critical, yet often undervalued, step in most analytical assays. Often, the task of sample preparation employs decades old technology that is manual, time-consuming, and resource-intensive,” said Brandon McNaughton, CEO of Akadeum Life Sciences. “Akadeum was founded to bring simple and superior isolation solutions to a variety of industries through our buoyancy-based microbubble technology and we are excited to be starting work with Agilent to explore new applications.”

Agilent, an early investor in Akadeum, has engaged in this collaboration with the

Fusion Coolant Systems, manufacturer of an advanced coolant and lubrication system called “Pure-Cut™,” has seen some of the largest automotive, aerospace and medical device manufacturers around the world come through their doors. The global emphasis on sustainable development has played a dynamic role in Fusion’s recent success, with companies looking for a cleaner, safer and more efficient alternative to traditional cutting fluids. With multiple customer visits scheduled every week, Fusion has expanded their facility and capabilities to set them up for long term success.

Expanded Customer Center

With a rapid increase in customer demand, Fusion has responded by expanding their Customer Center in Canton, Michigan. “We have added more machining capacity, doubled the size of our facility and expanded our research efforts into different materials and operations” said Brian Ahlborn, President and CEO of Fusion. “We also installed a larger recycled CO2 tank to support the additional machine tools. It’s large enough to provide for future expansion as well” The additional infrastructure will support both customer test applications and internal research development.

In the last year, Fusion has seen their Customer Center grow to three machine tools, and a fully integrated, advanced CO2 unit that can handle up to 10 Pure-Cut™ boxes. “The CO2 infrastructure we installed at our own facility is very similar to what our customers install at their sites” said Scott Jones,

ONL Therapeutics Announces First Patient Treated in Phase I Study with ONL1204

ONL Therapeutics transformed into a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with first-in-human study

ANN ARBOR, MI – October 23, 2019

ONL Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for protecting the vision of patients with retinal disease, today announced that the first patient has been treated in the company’s First-in-Human trial with its lead drug candidate ONL1204. The study is being conducted in Australia at leading clinical research centers in Sydney and Melbourne. The study will assess four different doses of ONL1204 and is designed to demonstrate safety and tolerability of the investigational drug in patients with a macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

“This is a transformational step for our company with the announcement of our first patient being treated with ONL1204,” commented David Esposito, CEO of ONL Therapeutics. “I want to thank our dedicated team, our investors, and retinal surgeons around the world who have been seeking a therapeutic intervention to support improving the outcome of the current standard of care surgery for macula-off RRD. We look forward to working with retinal specialists to utilize our Fas inhibition platform to protect the vision of patients with retinal disease.”

ONL1204 has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of retinal detachment by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company is

This press release is submitted and shown here in its original form, unedited by Furniture Today.

After Generating Millions in Incremental Revenue for its Furniture Clients, Expands into Store and Outbound Channels

This press release is submitted and shown here in its original form, unedited by Furniture Today.

After Generating Millions in Incremental Revenue for its Furniture Clients, Expands into Store and Outbound Channels

ANN ARBOR, MI – October 16, 2019 – Shoptelligence announced today that its AI-Powered platform has consistently proven its ability to increase revenue per buyer by over 30% and has delivered millions in incremental revenue for its Top 100 furniture retail clients. This milestone is an important one for Shoptelligence as the platform officially launched at the October 2018 High Point Furniture Market and is now expanding its offerings to deliver similar results in-store and via outbound marketing.

The SaaS platform provides the assistance of an interior designer at every customer touchpoint, helping the shopper find the right item then reasoning like a designer to curate interactive cross-category room assortments specific to that shopper’s style and the room they are furnishing. Shoptelligence’s unique ability to combine inspiration and assistive selling has increased its clients’ online revenue by 2.7%, with purchases that result from the interactions accounting for 13% of total client online revenue. In an era where retail traffic is down, retailers must

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (PRWEB) OCTOBER 16, 2019

Ripple Science, a SaaS company accelerating clinical research, will attend the SaaS CXO summit in San Antonio, Texas. The SaaS CXO Summit is an opportunity for executives, venture capitalists, corporates, and sponsors to network, matchup and share best practices.

Ripple Science CEO Peter Falzon explains, “Attending the largest gathering of SaaS ecosystem participants in the Midwest further expands the opportunity for Ripple to achieve fundraising goals in less than the anticipated timeframe.”

Ripple Science is currently seeking a lead investor for a two-million-dollar seed round. The CXO Summit begins on October 22.

About Ripple Science:
Ripple Science accelerates clinical research with its secure, HIPAA-compliant suite of tools. By adapting sales and marketing automation to the process of patient recruitment, Ripple helps our customers recruit more participants, faster and reduces patients lost to follow-up.
Ripple Science’s flagship product, Ripple, is currently being used by research investigators at more than 100 academic and research centers around the world, including Johns Hopkins University, Pennsylvania State University, University of California Los Angeles, the Brain Research Foundation Canada, University of East Anglia (UK), Cognito Therapeutics (Boston, MA) and the University of Michigan.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.ripplescience.com

Orbion appoints Greg Orndorff as Vice President of Business Development

HOUGHTON, Mich., Oct. 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orbion Space Technology, developer of next-generation smallsat propulsion systems, today announced the appointment of Greg Orndorff, Vice President of Business Development.

Greg is an aerospace industry veteran with over 30 years of experience across various leadership roles in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Most recently, Greg was Vice President, Government Systems at Vector Launch—responsible for developing a New Space commercial launch initiative for the United States Government. Prior to Vector Launch, Greg held executive and senior management roles at SGT, Inc., the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (Space department), Northrop Grumman, and Orbital Sciences Corporation. Greg is a former United States Air Force Officer where he performed tours in operations and acquisition of space systems.

“Until Orbion instantiated electric propulsion for the New Space architectures, small satellite developers were limited on system choices, had to wait forever, and paid an arm and leg for them,” said Greg Orndorff, Vice President of Business Development, Orbion Space Technology. “I am excited to join the Orbion team to help deliver its vision of cheaper, faster, and better access to space for the next generation of