Ann Arbor SPARK recognizes fast-growing companies during its annual FastTrack Awards. This year, we’ve recruited past winners to share their story with us. First up is Michael Ambrose, M.D., founder and director of DocNetwork.
Officially formed in 2009, DocNetwork grew from Dr. Michael’s first-hand experience volunteering at a summer camp — the same camp he attended as a kid. “It was a nightmare managing all of the campers’ paper medical forms.” After confirming with the camp director that a digital solution would be beneficial, Dr. Michael set out to develop CampDoc.com — all while attending University of Michigan Medical School. He continued to devote time to the web-based product throughout his residency.
Eventually, Dr. Michael had to decide if he wanted to be a full-time doctor or run the business. “Today, I continue to practice pediatric emergency medicine part-time at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor. DocNetwork, which started with me plus a handful of others, is now a team of nearly 30 individuals. We’ve grown into our second office and our electronic health record software is used by over 1,000 camps and schools across the country — plus a few international sites.”
Participating in FastTrack Awards provides the DocNetwork team an opportunity to celebrate its success as well as connect with other area tech companies. “The application was super easy. I had a few questions when we first applied, and the SPARK team was very responsive. The entire process didn’t take long at all, I just had to pull together some tax documents.”
SPARK presents FastTrack Awards to Washtenaw County gazelle companies that consistently achieved fast growth, starting with a revenue of at least $100,000 in 2014 and an annual growth of 20 percent for the following three years. Presenting accounting partner Yeo & Yeo CPAs & Business Consultants have once again partnered with SPARK to verify all of the award applications.
Did Dr. Michael have any concerns about submitting tax documents? “Not at all. I was never worried about confidentiality. Everything about the process was handled with care.”
“This year, we are looking forward to the FastTrack Awards becoming its own event. It’s a great way to kick-off Tech Trek — we’ve already submitted our application for 2018!”
FastTrack Award winners will be recognized on Thursday, June 14 at an evening reception the eve of 2018 Tech Talk and Tech Trek, joining the line-up for A2Tech360. In addition to accounting partner Yeo & Yeo, Comcast will be supporting the event as a co-presenting sponsor.
