Livio Radio can now put its name up with some of tech's heaviest hitters now that it has received an investment from
Western Technology Investment, which has companies like Google and Facebook in its portfolio.
"To get that kind of recognition from the west coast does more for the state than us," says
Jake Sigal, CEO of
Livio Radio. "It validates Michigan and what's going on here."
The Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm made an undisclosed investment in the start-up that calls Ferndale home. Livio Radio plans to use that cash to support the development of the firm's automotive Internet radio products, such as the Livio Car Internet Radio app, its Bluetooth Internet Radio Car Kit and Livio Connect API.
The 3-year-old firm has been on a growth spike as of late. It has expanded its staff to 15 employees, two independent contractors and two interns. It has one job opening right now and plans to raise its number of interns to five. Livio Radio received an undisclosed amount of seed capital from
Beringea, Michigan's largest venture capital firm.
Sigal started
Livio Radio by making Internet radios so people could listen to websites like
Pandora without draining their computer battery. It has steadily expanded its product lineup to include Internet radios and similar products for automobiles.
Source: Jake Sigal, CEO of Livio RadioWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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