Covaron Advanced Materials took second place in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition last month, a win that put $100,000 in cash into the startup's kitty. That money will go toward its seed capital round. The firm raised a total of $300,000 in seed capital and also landed a $250,000 loan from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund prior to the win last month. Covaron Advanced Materials is also looking to raise a $5 million Series A. "We're just starting to solicit that now," says Dave Hatfield, CEO of Covaron Advanced Materials.? The Ann Arbor-based start-up, formerly Kymeira Advanced Materials, is developing a new chemistry for ceramics, which brings the benefits of existing advanced ceramics to new parts and markets. The 1-year-old company won the student portion of the Accelerate Michigan competition last year. This year the startup and its team of six people (it just hired one of its interns) leveraged that experience to turn in another winning effort. "We had a good story," Hatfield says. "To win both of those competitions and through the vetting for the business loan from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund means you have a pretty good business plan. It’s a great confirmation for us." Source: Dave Hatfield, CEO of Covaron Advanced Materials Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

TurtleCell is quickly becoming a popular startup in Michigan and the proof is in the pudding at business plan competitions. The iPhone accessory startup made the semifinals of this year's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition and then scored the People's Choice award and $10,000 in seed capital at the competition in Detroit last month. The Ann Arbor-based firm is using that cash along with some other seed capital it has raised to make a few hundred prototypes of its iPhone cases this winter. TurtleCell has created an iPhone case that comes with retractable earbuds. The case would allow full access to the smartphone’s buttons and have a four-foot-long headphone that easily retracts back into the case when not being used. The earbuds will be higher-quality, comparable to Beats by Dre. "We have pretty much completed the prototype stage," says Paul Schrems, CTO of TurtleCell. "We’re getting ready to start our Beta testing with 500 users." TurleCell's team of five people will put out those first prototypes will go out in early 2014. It will then take that experience to help spearhead a crowdfunding campaign next spring. The company tried to crowdfund $50,000 earlier this year. It only hit $20,000 but the startup’s team took a lot away from the experience. "That was the best thing for us," says Nick Turnbull, CEO of TurtleCell. "We used that time we would have used to ship orders to finalize the product’s design and do some fundraising." Source: Paul Schrems, CTO of TurtleCell and Nick Turnbull, CEO of TurtleCell Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Pillar Technology Group has hired dozen people in Ann Arbor over 2013 and the software firm expects to double that number in the next year. "We have a big backlog of work and we're looking to grow the team here," says Charles Fry, Great Lakes Regional Vice President of Pillar Technology Group. The 19-year-old company provides software and consulting services for a broad range of companies in the automotive, financial, insurance, agriculture machinery, manufacturing, telecommunications, food service, banking and publishing. Those firms are mainly located in the in major metro areas in the Great Lakes Region, such as Toronto and Chicago. Pillar Technology Group currently has a staff of 150 employees and six interns. It currently has six open positions for experience software developers that specialize in Java and .NET programing. The company expects to hire another 20-25 people in 2014. The company has an office in Tech Brewery on the city's near north side. Earlier this fall, it received a $350,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant from the state of Michigan. The firm plans to invest $1.43 million and create 45 jobs. "The Tech Brewery is a great location to organize and launch a dedicated group of people," Fry says. Pillar Technology Group expects to outgrow its digs in Tech Brewery within the next few years. Fry expects to move to a bigger office in downtown Ann Arbor in either the second or third quarter of 2014. Source: Charles Fry, Great Lakes Regional Vice President of Pillar Technology Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Nankin Hobby is a family business now in its third generation, and the business' development has been as gradual and organic as families often grow. Beginning as as Westland hardware store, co-owner Chris Wrigley's grandparents added hobby supplies to the mix in the 1960. About seven years ago, Wrigley opened a second location of the business in Farmington with an exclusive focus on hobbies. Now, the family is preparing to grow again with the opening of Nankin Hobby on Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti.  "We wanted to expand and we wanted to go out west," says Wrigley. "Ypsi and Ann Arbor are both locations that are getting bigger and bigger, and there is only one hobby shop that I know of in either. It's an untapped resource." The 6,800 square foot Nankin Hobby store began cosmetic renovations in September and now the business is busy stocking shelves and preparing to open. Wrigley hopes to be open in a couple of weeks, in time to cater to holiday shoppers. The store will carry a variety of remote control gadgets, model-building and craft supplies. Wrigley and co-owners Robert Rates and Gary Wrigley plan to continue the growth of the business with additional locations, but Wrigley says they're in no rush to expand too quickly.  "We're just going one step at a time," he says. "But we do look to be opening more locations in the future." Nankin Hobby will open with a staff of four to five employees. Source: Chris Wrigley, Nankin Hobby Writer: Natalie Burg

A much-needed $2.9 million rebuilding project on Manchester's Main Street Bridge is an exciting enough investment for the village, but as it comes on the heels of two other recent development projects, Manchester is set to look and feel like a rejuvenated community.  "We have a number of projects that are moving foward," says Manchester Village Manager Jeff Wallace. "We're hoping they will make it attractive for people to come shop here and come visit." The recently announced MDOT grant will replace the critical bridge at the center of downtown Manchester. Though the village has applied for the grant in previous years, deterioration that has caused the village to limit use of the key bridge gave the project urgency. Though the grant is approved for 2016, Wallace says he will appeal to the state for a 2015 start date, armed with an expedited construction schedule from their engineer.  "[The bridge is] very important because river bisects the village through the middle," Wallace says. "It's important for transportation, but also health and safety, and economic commerce."  The new bridge will follow a $750,000 streetscape improvement project last year, which resulted in new sidewalks, bump-outs, seating areas and LED streetlights in Manchester's downtown. After the streetscape, but before the bridge project, Mancheter has a $500,000 maintenance project scheduled for 2014 that will replace ramps to enable ADA accessibility in downtown intersections.  Wallace says the village doesn't plan to end their revitalization efforts there. They are working with community partners to create a trail through the village, invest in the millpond and create a Safe Routes to Schools program.  Source: Jeffery Wallace, Village of Manchester Writer: Natalie Burg

Blaze Medical Devices is more than halfway to its goal of raising $2 million worth of seed capital, raking in $1.1 million as of this fall. "My goal is to close on all of that before the end of the year," says David Weaver, CEO of Blaze Medical Devices, adding it might take until early 2014 to hit the target. The 7-year-old company originally had a goal of raising $1.5 million in seed capital but bumped that number up to $2 million after encountering higher demand from investors than expected. The Ann Arbor-based startup, which made the semi-finals of this year's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, is developing blood transfusion technology that will enable medical professionals to better control and optimize blood banking and transfusions. Its clinical tests help assess the quality of stored blood and its laboratory instruments help facilitate blood research. The company has finalized the design of its product this year and hopes to begin sales early next year. "We have a queue of people who are interested in the product for research," Weaver says. "We expect to roll it out next year." Blaze Medical Devices has hired three people over the last year, expanding its staff to six employees. Weaver expects to make a couple more hires in 2014. Source: David Weaver, CEO of Blaze Medical Devices Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.