A look back on this week’s economic development headlines, announcements, and other share-worthy news from the Ann Arbor region.
Upcoming Events
Next week, Ann Arbor SPARK kicks off a series of webinars with its partners at Bodman with Bringing Employees Back to Work: Creating Preparedness Plans. All four webinars in the Bodman series, and other upcoming events, are in our latest Event Newsletter here.
In the News
- Dyson does an introspective look at the electric vehicle they had been developing. Dyson acquired Ann Arbor-based Sakti3 as part of this effort a few years ago.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
University of Michigan’s Desai Accelerator announces its latest cohort:
For DearbornRima Fadlallah and Yasmeen Kadouh
For Dearborn (4D) aspires to be the largest and most impactful media company representing Arabs and Muslims through authentic content. Audiences can feel proud of how they are depicted in 4D. In 2019, 4D launched its first production, the Dearborn Girl podcast.
Lillian AugustaNana Britwum and Jannice Newson
Lillian Augusta revolutionizes Black hair care by offering plant-based braiding hair, an alternative to the traditional plastic-based braiding hair that causes discomfort for women who wear it and plastic pollution in our environment. Combating plastic pollution will require solutions on all fronts, and our contribution is Hair Without Harm.
nochi
Natalie Fang
Nochi is a studio creating games with educational content in the form of young adult, visual novel entertainment while providing game-related experiences and merchandise related to its original IPs. Nochi’s developed apps combine the two genres of manga (graphic novels) and gaming.
Vitresoft
Angel Rodriguez
Vitresoft is a privacy-conscious Brain Computer Interface startup developing a revolutionary pair of earphones that allow you to connect with yourself, friends, and the digital world, using your mind. Utilizing our patent-pending approach, users and developers will have access to an intuitive digital toolset allowing them to create expressive art, share intimate experiences, and have a deeper insight into their own thoughts and emotions.
YourCheck
Adam Smiddy, Malcolm Childs, Mike Skowronski, and Toni Suh
The mission of YourCheck, Inc. is to become the Credit Karma of background checks. We will provide a service that allows anyone to obtain their background checks and a Trusty score, indicating the individual’s trustworthiness based on our unique algorithm.
