The winner of the student portion of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is now a venture-backed start-up, landing six figures in seed capital. Covaron Advanced Materials (formerly Kymeira) scored $300,000 in a seed capital round, which was led by the Mercury Fund. The First Step Fund, Huron River Ventures and Two Seven Ventures are also participating in the round. The Ann Arbor-based firm is developing a new chemistry for ceramics, which brings the benefits of existing advanced ceramics to new parts and markets. "It's going to help further the development of the technology and the intellectual property," says Dave Hatfield, CEO of Covaron Advanced Materials. "It will also generate the initial sales in the mold and pattern market." The 1-year-old business employs four people and a few independent contractors. The team consists of founder Vince Alessi, co-founders Cam Smith and Reed Shick, along with Hatfield. That team took home first place in the student division of last fall's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, a prize worth $25,000. That prize usually goes to raw start-ups but Hatfield believes Covaron Advanced Materials' technology is far enough along that it can begin making sales in the molds and patterns market (think durable goods like those used by the automotive sector) this year. An expansion into the oil and gas industry and a Series A round of funding could also be in line next year. "We're hoping to commercialize this as soon as possible," Hatfield says. Source: Dave Hatfield, CEO of Covaron Advanced Materials Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

At age 83, the Jiffy mix company is rather vintage, but there's a reason it's had such a long run. And the muffins are still fresh. Excerpt: "Anyone who has dared venture down a grocery store's baking aisle or opened their grandparent's cupboard has probably seen one of the timeless white and blue "Jiffy" boxes that haven't changed much since the mixes were first invented by Holmes' Grandmother in 1930. What I didn't know until I did some homework, was just how great of a company is behind Jiffy mix. After a 16-minute long chat with the Jiffy mix CEO, and 11 years of studying business and economics, I knew I had discovered one of America's last great businesses. Here is seven reasons why... 5. Jiffy mix staff find meaning and purpose through their work. When I commented on Holmes' decision not to sell off even part of his multi-million dollar company, he said "What would I do if I sold-out? Spend my life vacationing somewhere?!" The CEO of Jiffy has the right attitude. Our occupations, in balance with our relationships, give our lives meaning. To work a job just for money or to escape from community and family responsibilities is shallow at best.  A visiting reporter from Fortune magazine described  Jiffy mix as "a  decidedly chipper workplace, with friendly employees who seem to be genuinely enjoying their jobs. They greet Holmes warmly, he appears to know virtually all of them by name, and none of it feels phony." More here.

With the middle class finding itself increasingly priced out of college for the kids, EMU is one of a few in the country that have clamped down on tuition costs. Excerpt: "In 2010, Eastern Michigan University led the way as one of the nation's most cost conscious colleges when it froze tuition, room and board and fees with its 0%, 0%, 0% campaign... This tuition restraint and other factors have recently earned Eastern a ranking of 54th out of 350 colleges for its affordability among the larger public colleges by AffordableCollegesOnline.org. There were 15 metrics used in the ranking, including tuition, admission rates, enrollment total, average grant dollars per student and average scholarship per student." More here.

Source: Janette Rook, The Eyrie Writer: Natalie Burg

Arotech is growing its staff and footprint in Ann Arbor, doubling its commercial space with another 40,000 square feet and hiring 40 people over the last year. That growth is coming from the Ann Arbor-based defense firm's training and simulation division. That division, which employs 168 people, has watched its revenue jump 39 percent last year and expects another healthy year in 2013. Spearheading that growth are a couple of large contracts with the U.S. military. The largest is providing a simulation suite to the U.S. Army that helps soldiers train to find and disarm improvised explosive devices, commonly known as IEDs. The suite helps teach soldiers how to use equipment that finds and disarms IEDs, along with the vehicles that protect the disarming operation. "We're in the process of delivering our 15th suite out of 28," says Kurt Flosky, executive vice president of Arotech's training and simulation division. "We're delivering one per month." Arotech's training and simulation division has also enjoyed more business from the law enforcement and homeland security sectors. It has a contract with the U.S. Airforce to provide simulation technology to train soldiers how to operate mid-flight refueling booms and several contracts with municipal law enforcement agencies for training and use-of-force simulation. Source: Kurt Flosky, executive vice president of Arotech Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

MedImmune has acquired Ann Arbor-based AlphaCore Pharma, creating another exit for a local up-and-coming start-up. MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, has not disclosed the acquisition price nor its intentions on whether to keep the start-up in Tree Town. Tracy Rossin, director of corporate public relations for MedImmune, did write in an email that the company does "not have plans to expand its operations/workforce in Ann Arbor." She does add that her firm is "planning to incorporate AlphaCore Pharma into the larger AstraZeneca organization." The 5-year-old biotechnology company is developing a recombinant human lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase enzyme. The enzyme in the bloodstream is a key component in the reverse cholesterol transport system, which is thought to play a major role in driving the removal of cholesterol from the body and may be critical in the management of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. AlphaCore Pharma completed a clinical study last year with encouraging results, Brinkeroff says. That made the start-up and its eight-person team an attractive acquisition target, and Brinkeroff says MedImmune is a great partner to continue the development of the enzyme. "They have a deep experience in developing biological products," Brinkeroff says. "They're an ideal partner to hand off to." Source: Bill Brinkeroff, president of AlphaCore Pharma and Tracy Rossin, director of corporate public relations for MedImmune Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Language Link Institute is witnessing the comeback of the corporate American internationalist, mostly in its bottom line. The Ann Arbor-based business has watched its revenue jump 20 percent in the last year on the strength of more business in the corporate language training sector. It has also seen more executives seek out tutoring in learning another language. "Corporate training seems to be back," says Caroline Wojan, owner & director of the Language Link Institute. "We have a good number of interested parties and we have signed a number of new contracts." The Language Link Institute primarily helps people either learn foreign languages or master English. It also offers tutoring services for students, and cultural and language training for foreign nationals in local businesses. It has also seen an increase in its test prep and student tutoring work and is branching out into hosting foreign language summer camps this year. That uptick in business has allowed the Language Link Institute to hire three people over the last year. Its staff now stands at 11 employees and a summer intern. "We're hopeful the corporate work will continue to grow," Wojan says. "It has been good the last three months and we're hopeful it will continue through the rest of the year." Source: Caroline Wojan, owner & director of Language Link Institute Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.