Start-ups from all corners of southeast Michigan have taken a huge bite out of the latest serving of microloans from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program. Start-ups from the tri-county and Ann Arbor areas of Metro Detroit captured 11 of the 12 loans, often worth as much as $50,000.
The Ann Arbor SPARK-run program provides low-interest loans to early stage start-ups in the five figure range. Skip Simms, a executive vice president at Ann Arbor SPARK and manager of the Michigan Microloan Fund Program, says the Metro Detroit dominance of this round is a bit of coincidence, but he sees the rate of loans awarded to continue.
"I don't see it letting up," Simms says. "The smartzone is seeing an increased deal flow across the state. The number of entrepreneurs is growing."
Among the winners of the recent round of microloans are:
-2 of 10 (a consumer products firm for firearms based Chesterfield Township)
-Applied Computer Technologies (learning driving system start-up from West Bloomfield)
-AutoBike (a Troy firm creating an automatic gear shifter for bicycles)
-Eco-Fueling (based in Saline developing a retrofit device for diesel engine vehicles)
-ENRG Power Systems (creating a replacement ignition coil system in Detroit)
-Green Flag Credit (Grosse Pointe-based start-up focused on online motor vehicle retail)
-I Pillbox (a Canton firm developing a smart pillbox)
-PerkPerk (a discount start-up based in Ann Arbor)
-Sentry Medical Technologies (a health-care software start-up also of Ann Arbor)
-Sterilogy (Bloomfield Hills-based business working on hand sanitizer delivery device)
-truApp (another Ann Arbor start-up creating a multi-media online resume platform).
"The key is that these technologies be innovative, potential game-changing technologies," Simm says.
Source: Skip Simms, a executive vice president at Ann Arbor SPARK
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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