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This year’s Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition (http://acceleratemichigan.org/) again highlighted the success of start-ups who have taken advantage of the free coaching provided by the New Enterprise Forum.  AMIC attracts investors from across the nation and awards $1 Million in prizes.  Since start-ups are pre-screened based upon both their submitted business ideas and their presentations, those who have honed their presentations have a greater chance of success. 

We are proud that companies that have gone through New Enterprise Forum coaching continue to be selected to present at AMIC.  This year’s NEF-coached presenters were:

• ContentOro
• makerOS
• Parabricks
• Workit Health

We all know the New Enterprise Forum helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses, but that’s not all we do – as evidenced at the September meeting, a panel discussion by an eclectic group of investors about the current investment scene in Michigan -- and ultimately, beyond. The audience was 40-plus entrepreneurs (nearly a dozen of whom indicated they planned to try to raise money for their businesses at some point), investors of every stripe (friends, family, solo angel, group angel, and corporate VC), and service providers offering the full buffet of services for every growth stage.

Yet audience questions and feedback submitted after the meeting indicated that even the “experts” continue to learn. Coaches who are themselves experienced entrepreneurs or service providers asked for clarification or additional info on subtle differences across investment markets, as well as best practices among investor types. Others expressed surprise about angel or VC requirements that may have changed over time or are different from practices in other areas of the US with which they may be more familiar.

Because Ann Arbor is a “transient” town due to its ties to the University of Michigan, our audience and its needs change rapidly as well. With the acceleration of that change due to the University Research Corridor, the deeper engagement of Tech Transfer, Detroit redevelopment including Tech Town, and an improved economy that allowed investment throughout southeast lower Michigan, change will continue to be a primary characteristic of the area and its entrepreneurial community.

The September meeting discussion and its audience response was a perfect example of NEF’s value as the “go-to” place in such a community. Join us to take advantage of the coaching, connecting, and perfecting opportunities for those at every level of the game. All are welcome!

Ann Arbor-based ContentOro LLC, which provides websites with licensed content from books, has received an investment of $50,000 from the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund, which is part of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

This investment is part of a funding round of between $500,000 and $750,000 that is being raised by CEO Bob Chunn, who founded the company in 2014. Last June, ContentOro raised a funding round of $450,000 from the Ann Arbor-based Michigan Angel Fund, Farmington Hills-based Lis Ventures LLC and Detroit-based InvestMichigan.  Prior to that, Chunn got his first investment of $100,000 from Chuck Newman, who founded ReCellular Inc., an Ann Arbor-based company that recycles cell phones

Chun stated, “Over the past year, we’ve added some of the biggest publishers in the business: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, MacMillan, Weldon Owen and over 20 niche publishers representing everything from the latest technologies to medicine, pets, cooking and just about anything else you could think of.  As we had hoped, book publishers are very willing to work with companies and people they trust, to find new markets and opportunities for the best content in the world.”

He further added, “We’ve built a great website with world-class content from books and we’re seeing a significant increase in visitors.  We won the innovation award from the Small Business Development Corporation, Startup of the Year from UM’s Venture Capital Investment Competition, and, of course, Best Business Model from NEF.  We were a semi-finalist at last year’s Accelerate Michigan and plan to do better than that this year! “

According to Chun, Since February of this year, ContentOro has been working with many world class customers, including Sur La Table, Pet Supplies Plus, General RV, Ulta Beauty, Citrix, Menards, Cathay Pacific Airline and many more. 

Bob Chun said “New Enterprise Forum and the people I’ve met through it have been instrumental in our early success with customers and raising capital.  I am thankful for the team who worked directly with me and for the organization who has remained supportive of ContentOro all along.” 

You can learn more about ContentOro at www.ContentOro.com. Read the full article on Crain’s Detroit Business.

Congratulations to Bob Chun and ContentOro!!

The MIT Technology Review has named Ann Arbor-based RetroSense Therapeutics LLC, a spinoff from Wayne State University in 2009, to its annual list of the 50 smartest companies in the world. It was the only company based in Michigan to make the list.

The editors rank companies based on how their innovative technologies combine with a strong business model. They rated RetroSense, whose drug to treat patients with retinitis pigmentosa began human trials in March, at 37, ranking ahead of such well known tech companies as IBM (45), Snapchat (46) and Intel (49).

Sean Ainsworth, CEO of RetroSense Theraputics, LLC, was coached by an NEF team in 2010 and as noted in the Crain’s article RetroSense has successfully raised $13,000,000 in two rounds. Sean was a member of NEF for many years and also a valued member of many coaching teams.

To read full article, click here.

Congratulations to Sean Ainsworth and RetroSense Theraputics!