It can't be a bad sign for a restaurant if customers love your food so much they are always asking where they can buy the ingredients to make it at home. Rather than continuing to send his customers elsewhere for grocery items Zamaan Cafe owner Ali Hijazi decided to cater to them himself. Beginning in early February, fans will be able to shop right next door at Reena Market.  "They ask for some Mediterranean food items, and we thought this would be a great place for our customers and the neighbors to come and buy whatever they need," says Hijazi. The pair of businesses in the Colonnade Shopping Center on Eisenhower aren't entirely unlike another pair of businesses Hijazi co-owns. The TMAZ Taqueria on Packard is also neighbors with a grocery market featuring ingredients used in its dishes.  The 1,300 square foot Reena Market will also be stocked with convenience store items, such as refreshments and snacks that Hijazi says will come in handy for employees of nearby businesses and the neighboring apartment complexes.  "The neighbors are so excited for us to be coming here," he says.  "We've started selling a few things when people come knocking, even though we're not quite open yet.  Hijazi has been working to renovate the space, a former health food store, for about a month. The store is set to open in early February with a staff of about two employees. Hijazi owns a number of businesses in the area, and his next forthcoming project will be a Mexican and hamburger restaurant on Plymouth Rd.  Source: Ali Hijazi, Reena Market Writer: Natalie Burg

Source: Dennis Serras, Main Street Ventures Writer: Natalie Burg

First FarmLogs developed its agriculture technology. Then the Ann Arbor-based startup landed the seed capital. Now the up-and-coming firm is starting to hire. FarmLogs recently landed $4 million in venture capital. The Series A round was led by Drive Capital, a Columbus-based venture capital firm with roots in Silicon Valley VC titan Sequoia Capital. A couple of local investment organizations also participated in the round, including Ann Arbor-based Huron River Ventures and Detroit-based First Step Fund. That cash infusion, along with a $1 million seed round it raised last year, has allowed FarmLogs to exponentially grow its staff. The firm has hired five people over the last year, hires that consisted of software engineers and designers. It now employs nine people and is looking to add interns this summer. FarmLogs is also in the process of trying to hire another six people, primarily software engineers. "We will double the team this year," says Jesse Vollmar, CEO of FarmLogs. FarmLogs makes online-based, farm-management software that enables farmers make better business decisions by providing real-time analytics and other strategic information. Vollmar and Brad Koch, who grew up in rural areas in Michigan's thumb region, came up with the idea in Silicon Valley's Y Combinator but moved the startup to Ann Arbor. The idea behind the move was to be closer to agriculture business while also calling an emerging tech hub like Ann Arbor home. The startup has taken off in its first year since it launched its product. Today farms in each of the U.S. 50 states and 130 other countries are using it. Vollmar says that 5 percent of row-crop farms (think traditional crops like corn) in the U.S. are using FarmLogs big-data technology and that number is growing rapidly. "It all boils down to delivering more value to our customers," Vollmar says. Source: Jesse Vollmar, CEO of FarmLogs Writer: Jon Zemke

The team behind Sight Machine saw an opportunity when it noticed that  most cutting edge manufacturing inspection technology ran on 1990s-era software. The Ann Arbor-based startup, which calls Maker Works home, decided to bring that software up to date (and speed) with its new inspection technology. "We wanted to make a product that filled the inspection service but took advantage of modern software," says Nathan Oostendrop, chief product officer of Sight Machine. The 3-year-old company began selling its first products a year ago. That technology could do everything from measure tool integrity to whether a certain finish was added to a product as it rumbled down the line. "As we have done more we have solidified how we do things," Oostendrop says. That experience has allowed Sight Machine to add six new employees. The new positions include graphic design, product management and software developers. The firm currently employs 15 people.  Sight Machine has focused on manufacturing in the automotive sector but its leadership is looking to expand its reach in 2014. "I'd like to branch out beyond automotive, like medical devices or alternative energy," Oostendrop says. Source: Nathan Oostendrop, chief product officer of Sight Machine Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Alan Mond was on his way to Ann Arbor SPARK's Entrepreneurs Boot Camp when serendipity hit him. Actually, it drove by him. Mond was working on growing his other startup, 1000 Tools, at the boot camp. 1000 Tools is based in the sharing economy where people who own expensive or niche tools can put them up as rentable online. Mond was trying to think of other market segments he could grow 1000 Tools when a municipal heavy truck rumbled by hauling a big piece of machinery. "It just popped into my head," Mond says. "What about municipalities? They have a lot of unused equipment." That’s how MuniRent got its start three months ago. The Ann Arbor-based startup helps local municipalities put their heavy or niche equipment up for rent to other nearby municipalities. Mond recently signed up the city of Milan to the service and is working on getting another 20 municipalities in the Ann Arbor area and Oakland County to sign on. Mond points out that large cities like Ann Arbor often have a fleet of heavy construction equipment that spend large amounts of time sitting idle in work yards and warehouses. He adds that small municipalities often can’t afford to own a fleet of heavy equipment and have to rent it at a premium from traditional commercial rental houses. "We thought why don't we fill the gap for these municipalities," Mond says. "The idea is to have every municipality in Michigan to have access to this large pool of equipment we have paid for as taxpayers." Mond currently has one city signed up. He aims to have half a dozen using the service by July and 20 by the end of the year. Source: Alan Mond, CEO of MuniRent Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.