Accelerate Michigan showcases state's new economy future

Thursday, December 16, 2010 | Source: Metromode

One phrase came to mind when summing up the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition -- the future.

The new event showed off start-ups that organizers hope will be the future long-term leaders in Michigan's new economy to what they hope will be future near-term investors. The event was held in the University of Michigan's new North Campus Research Complex and featured Michigan's future governor as its keynote speaker. Future Michigan Economic Development Corp head Michael Finney even hinted at bigger prizes for the next Accelerate Michigan competition in the not-too-distant future.

"We're looking forward," Finney said during his remarks at the event. "We're looking at where we're going to go in the next 3-4 years in this state."

The potential of those next few years looked pretty good on stage last Saturday when the 10 finalists made their pitches. Metro Detroit had a healthy contingent among them, including Southfield's Innovating Surgical Solutions, Madison Heights/Ann Arbor's Gravikor, and a number of firms from Ann Arbor. Bloomfield Hills-based ENRG Power Systems, Troy-based MatchRX, and Farmington Hills-based CSquared Innovations each won $25,000 in the Advanced Transportation, Information Technology, and Next Gen Manufacturing categories, respectively.

Kalamazoo-based Armune BioScience (a U-M spin-off) and Arbor Photonics of Ann Arbor took first ($500,000) and second ($150,000) places. Four start-ups from U-M students swept the student competition and its $60,000 in prizes. In addition to the prize money, most of the entrants raved about the exposure to potential investors that the Accelerate Michigan competition provided. To many of them it was an opportunity to expect a brighter future for their start-ups.

"We have a very bright future," Gov.-elect Snyder said during his speech. "We just need to execute now."

Sources: Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition; Michael Finney, former CEO & president of Ann Arbor SPARK and current head of the Michigan Economic Development Corp; and Rick Snyder, governor-elect of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.