Ann Arbor SPARK helps attract Ornicept to TreeTown

The founders of Ornicept developed their avian-monitoring technology at Indiana University so what attracted the award-winning start-up to pick up and move to Ann Arbor? The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor SPARK and opportunity.

Ornicept's technology automates the monitoring of birds, collecting comprehensive data for wind turbine developers and airport operators.

"It allows you to collect a large amount of quality data about birds on-site," says Justin Otani, CEO of Ornicept. "That allows you to run better data analysis."

Otani and Russell Conard co-founded the company in Indiana eight months ago. Russell's wife recently began a master's program at the University of Michigan, so the pair started to consider Ann Arbor as a base for their company. They then ran into an Ann Arbor SPARK representative at a Pure Michigan booth in Atlanta and the deal was sealed a few conversations later.

Last month Ornicept won the alternative energy category at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. That win came with $25,000 in seed capital.

"That was extremely helpful for us," Otani says. "A small amount of money can have a huge impact on a small company like us."

The three-person firm is still developing its technology but hopes to do its first pilot project in March. In the meantime, Ornicept calls Ann Arbor SPARK's downtown Ann Arbor incubator home.

Source: Justin Otani, CEO of Ornicept
Writer: Jon Zemke

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