ANN ARBOR - SenSound, sponsored by TechTown, Creative Byline, sponsored by the West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative, and Biotectix, sponsored by Ann Arbor SPARK, all received funding in January from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, which has done 30 deals so far. The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund is an equity investment fund and, as
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. on Tuesday, meeting a Congressional deadline to report on its progress restructuring, said it will need as much as $16.6 billion in additional federal aid and could run out of money next month if it doesn't receive at least some of that funding immediately. The No. 2 world automaker, surviving
ANN ARBOR - New Enterprise Forum and MiTechNews.Com will roll out a new podcast channel that will provide audio interviews with speakers, starting Thursday at the NEF Annual Awards Show in Ann Arbor. The new NEF podcasting channel will provide easy access to interviews and elevator pitches from the speakers and presenters that are showcased
LANSING - As many as 109,000 people in Michigan could get jobs under the federal stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday. Shortly after Obama signed the legislation at a ceremony in Denver, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the legislation will help give Michigan's economy a jumpstart. "This program will provide help
LANSING - House Democrats announced Tuesday they will push legislation creating a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures. In order to participate in the moratorium, a homeowner would have to work with his or her mortgage lender and a housing counselor. The moratorium would start when the homeowner receives a notice the lender is beginning the
ANN ARBOR - Twenty-seven University of Michigan student lead teams of entrepreneurs split $60,000 in grants awarded by the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. The students were winners of the 2009 Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Grant and 2009 Michigan Business
DALLAS - Comerica Bank's Michigan Tourism Index fell in the fourth quarter to its lowest reading in 16 years. Over the four quarters of 2008, our index declined 11 percent, similar to the 12 percent decline recorded in the 2001 recession. "Similar to so many other measures of economic activity, the decline in our tourism
AUBURN HILLS - Plexus Systems is no more. The company has changed its name to just Plex Systems to reflect its Internet domain name, Plex.Com. The SaaS ERP provider to the manufacturers has also renamed its ERP product, Plexus Online, to Plex Online. In this interview, Plex Systems CEO and President Mark Symonds talks about
ANN ARBOR - Early-stage healthcare and life sciences company investor Arboretum Ventures on Monday announced the final closing of its second investment fund, with commitments totaling $73 million. The latest fund is three-times bigger than Arboretum's $24 million debut fund, which closed in 2005. As with the first fund, Arboretum Ventures II is operated by
LANSING - A day after Gov. Jennifer Granholm outlined her proposed 2009-10 budget two contrasting events demonstrated the odd duality of the document: on the one hand Congress began action on the final version of the stimulus plan which could flood the state with money and a top university warned of significant negative effects if