Rubicon Genomics spun out of the University of Michigan in 2000, and the life science start-up hit the rocks a little less than a decade later.
Jim Koziarz came in at the end of 2008 and decided to pivot the start-up's business plan. He took it from working to be acquired to working as a viable business. The Ann Arbor-based start-up picked up some in vitro fertilization work in 2009 and used it as a launching pad for its new business model.
"That was a very big milestone for the company," says Jim Koziarz, president & CEO of
Rubicon Genomics. "We started to generate some sales and dig ourselves out of our hole. It was a turning point."
Today Rubicon Genomics is developing and commercializing sample-specific pre-analytical processes to improve the capabilities and performance of DNA and RNA analytical platforms. It has grown its company from a staff of five people in 2009 to a dozen employees and a few independent contractors today. That includes four new hires within the last year when the company broke the $1 million revenue mark.
"We will easily double that in 2012," Koziarz says. "The growth is there." He adds the company expects to hire another two researchers this year.
Source: Koziarz, president & CEO of Rubicon Genomics
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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