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Thursday, May 15, saw the latest iteration of the New Enterprise Forum’s “Pitch Pit” competition. Three budding entrepreneurs presented their early-stage ideas to a packed house and a panel of expert judges.

Wesley Steen, of Soup Spoon, demonstrated how his prototype spoons made eating dramatically easier for people with motor skill problems. One spoon had a built in suction capability to capture liquids that was especially impressive. Denis Foo Kune, of Virtalabs, explained how his malware detection device identified security threat through power fluctuations without violating hospital equipment warranties. After listening to his presentation, it was clear how his product fills a critical technology gap in using sophisticated equipment in operating rooms, critical care units and more. Karthik Raman, of Devices for the Elderly, showed how his ergonomic stool was the perfect tool for senior to safely and easily reach items on shelves. Through customer discovery his design gives the elderly what they want in counter intuitive ways to those of s who do not understand their core needs.

The judging panel asked numerous probing questions while also offering invaluable advice on how to move these business ideas forward. After much deliberation, the judges chose Denis Foo Kune of Virtalabs, as the winner of the $213 audience contributed award. The next Pitch Pit competition will take place on July 24 when NEF will host another group of entrepreneurs with compelling ideas. The session will take place at Ann Arbor SPARK, Lower Level, 330 E. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor.

The New Enterprise Forum is happy to announce the election of Shue-Jane Gallagher to its Board of Directors. Ms. Gallagher is highly experienced in issues related to start up businesses through her work at TechTown Detroit. Bill McPherson, President of the Forum said “Having Shue-Jane on our board will only work to strengthen and grow the positive relationship between TechTown and the New Enterprise Forum. We welcome her and look forward to her involvement.”

Sheu-Jane Gallagher is the Director of Entrepreneurial Services at TechTown Detroit, the business growth center located in Detroit’s midtown district. As director, she supports entrepreneurs developing tech-based startups. Sheu-Jane also works with local universities, including Wayne State and University of Detroit Mercy, to figure out how to take their research to the marketplace.

Prior to TechTown, Sheu-Jane has held various positions in the automotive industry with Ford Motor Co. and Decoma International, and taught mechanical engineering at Wayne State University. She holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from Rutgers University with a special expertise in biomedical engineering.

Sheu-Jane lives on Detroit’s east riverfront with her husband John and enjoys sailing on the Detroit River and bicycling on Belle Isle.

On May 13, 2014 the MIT Enterprise Forum Great Lakes will launch their program: Space, STEM & The Stars, a discussion of the critical role of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) education plays in the on-going discoveries of new technologies. Panelists will relate how our exploration of outer space has led to advancements in areas as wide ranging as medical devices and alternative fuel to athletic equipment and communications.

Speakers will include Challenger Shuttle Astronaut Tony England, Cosmologist Katie Freese, CEO John Cole with NPR's Shellie Irwin as moderator. The event takes place from 5:30 PM - 9PM and will be held jointly at UM Dearborn, Borg Warner Auditorium (4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn) and on the campus of Grand Valley State University, Pere Marquette Room, (1 Campus Way, Allendale, Michigan). Those unable to attend at those locations can connect remotely via the E-Attend portal. Registration is required, please visit http://bit.ly/P9x86T for additional information.

The evening promises to be an entertaining look at how technology for space exploration has not only affected our current lives but also promises to drive future entrepreneurial endeavors. 

The Martin Prosperity Institute recently produced an interesting study of Venture Capital called  “Start-Up City The Urban Shift in Venture Capital  and  High Technology”.  It concluded that Venture Capital Activity and the businesses being funded are now being concentrated in larger metropolitan areas.  As expected the San Francisco and environs and the Boston to Washington DC Area saw significant investment and a large number of deals.  However, now New York City which previously was a large source of funds but not the location of the actual businesses has now become a home of many of these businesses. San Francisco actually led the country.   That and the fact that more of these businesses are actually locating in large cities is a new trend. 

Another that is of particular interest to us is that several cities with large universities are leaders on a per capita basis in both dollars invested and in numbers of deals.  So while Austin, Texas and the research triangle in North Carolina have always been leaders in investments and deals the study notes that Bolder Colorado, Lawrence, Kansas and Ann Arbor Michigan are significant for their activity. Ann Arbor placed 11^th in the dollar amount of investment per 100,000 of population at $24.1M and 5^th in the country with 6.4 deals per 100,000 of population.  

The New Enterprise Forum provides free investment presentation consulting services to early stage companies. If you are interested in learning more and taking advantage of our services, please visit newenterpriseforum.org and submit your contact information.