Source: John Stout, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System Writer: Natalie Burg

The Little Seedling is growing bigger. The maternity and baby retailer has outgrown its Zeeb Rd. location and will soon move to a new storefront on W. Stadium near Goldfish Swim School.  "We're really excited," says owner Molly Ging. "Here, we have the store and warehouse, and we'll be able to combine them there, which will save us time and money." The Little Seedling specializes in cloth diapers and unique maternity and baby gear. When Ging first opened, she says it was important to be so near the Zeeb Rd. exit because, as one of the only diapering retailers in the Midwest, many of her customers drove from out of town to see her. Though her clientele is more local now, she is still growing, running out of space in her 3,200 square foot location. The W. Stadium space will offer about 6,000 square feet of combined showroom and storage, which will provide plenty of space for her shoppers and their busy companions.  "A lot of our customers enjoy that we're extremely family friendly," says Ging. "Our kids can touch things here. Moms can shop while their kids play. Sometimes it's like a built-in play date." The larger space will also come with expanded hours and staff. In order to better serve the clients to Goldfish Swim School, she'll open an hour earlier and stay open an hour later each day, and anticipates hiring an additional two employees to grow her staff to ten. The Little Seedling will also expand the age range of her inventory to serve parents with older toddlers. Work on the new location is now underway. After approximately eight years of vacancy, the space requires significant renovation. Ging hopes to open the new store on or before April 1.  Source: Molly Ging, The Little Seedling Writer: Natalie Burg

Ever been in a meeting and wonder where the time went? Wish you could take back that rambling story that sparked a side debate that ate up 30 extra minutes? NewFoundry thinks it has an answer for you. The Ann Arbor-based firm, it's based just north of downtown overlooking the Huron River, just release Ramblehook, a mobile app that helps organizers take back control of meetings. It allows the user to list the agenda items, presenters, and time allotted for each topic. "We're trying to reign in all of the side discussions that eat up meetings," says Richard Chang, partner & CEO of NewFoundry. Chang is a alumnus of Mobiata, a software startup that made travel-oriented apps that was acquired by Expedia. He helped launched NewFoundry a year ago. Today it employs a dozen people who handle a variety of work ranging from mobile app development to industrial design. NewFoundry's came up with the idea for Ramblehook to help keep its own internal meetings on track. It is currently working on a couple of other ideas for apps. "We are looking at launching a few more apps in the next six months," Chang says. Source: Richard Chang, partner & CEO of NewFoundry Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Visualization Network has been around for five years making mobile apps, and the Ann Arbor-based company is now starting to hit its stride. "Business is great," says Tom Crawford, owner & founder of Visualization Network. "Last year was the best year of the five years we have been doing this." Visualization network makes custom apps and normal retail apps. Its custom and consulting work has doubled over the last year as the firm helps other businesses with strategic planning. It also has its own apps for sale. They include Happy Hour Deals, which tells the user what the happy hour specials are at bars near them. It was launched on iPhone a year ago and for Andriod recently. It now covers bars all across southeast Michigan and other major cities in Michigan, like Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. "It's starting to grow outside of Michigan," Crawford says, adding its is appearing in big cities like Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Crawford is looking to hire a sale professional now to help deal with the demand created by the app. Another app is Return2Play. The app is used by coaches and athletes dealing with concussions. “If you have any symptom at all it tells you to take a step back,” Crawford says. Visualization Network it core team of four people (it’s also looking for an intern) is currently fully booked for the first quarter of this year and nearly booked for the second quarter. "If this continues this year we should double last year," Crawford says. "I don't see anything that indicates it will change." Source: Tom Crawford, owner & founder of Visualization Network Writer: Jon Zemke

Flagship Ventures opened an office in downtown Ann Arbor a year ago and it has already starting to make some moves. The Massachusetts-based venture capital firm participated in a Series B round for Tangent Medical Technologies about a year ago. It co-led the $8.6 million round of investment with Arboretum Ventures. Tangent Medical Technologies is developing its NovaCath Integrated IV Catheter System, which is designed to address IV therapy challenges including catheter stabilization, healthcare worker safety, tubing management and patient comfort. NovaCath's passive needle shielding technology and closed system design is meant to minimize risk of needlestick injuries and occupational exposure to blood to the lowest feasible extent. The startup is led by Jeff Williams who also served as the CEO of bio-tech startups HandyLab and Accuri Cytometers, which were both acquired. "Tangent has a great team," says Mike Johnson, associate with Flagship Ventures. "Its IV catheter is a novel technology with FDA clearance." Johnson is optimistic that Flagship Ventures will make another one or two similar investments this year. "We're enthusiastic about the opportunities in Michigan," Johnson says. "We are evaluating a number of different companies." Source: Mike Johnson, associate with Flagship Ventures Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.