Weekly Rewind: Ann Arbor's Business News Recap

2020 Best of the Midwest: Startup Cities Rankings — Data was released this week on startups in the Midwest. In a comparison between Michigan and Ohio (because without college football, we need to be competitive about something), the report summary states: “Once again Michigan claims the top city in the battle of two powerhouse Midwest tech states, with Ann Arbor coming out on top at #6 overall, still buoyed by a truly exceptional research university, a multi-billion dollar recent exit with Duo Security and a slew of encouraging financing rounds, many in the towns’ core strength of cybersecurity.”

Despite pandemic, new report shows strong entrepreneurial ecosystem for Ann Arbor tech businesses — Concentrate takes a look at the Ann Arbor entrepreneurial ecosystem study from EntryPoint.

These Three Ann Arbor Companies Made Big Announcements in August — Blumeria, Censys, and May Mobility continue to grow and find success in the Ann Arbor region.

Ann Arbor SPARK Hosts Virtual Ann Arbor Mobility Summit Featuring Inspiring Panels, Fireside Chats, Breakout Sessions — The full lineup of speakers and summit agenda are now available.

Business Accelerator Fund Receives Additional Funding to Build on Support for 53 Companies During Outbreak — The program guidelines were modified in April to allow Michigan’s SmartZones (including Ann Arbor SPARK) to support more startups, resulting in 53 companies being served around the state.

Ford, Bosch, and Bedrock today announced an automated valet parking demonstration in downtown Detroit — This system is designed to allow drivers to exit a vehicle and the vehicle would park itself in the parking structure.

3D virtual rooms from Ann Arbor startup provide safe meeting places — Saganworks was founded in 2017 after CEO Donald Hicks sold the sold LLamasoft Inc., a multimillion-dollar supply-chain software company. Hicks founded Saganworks because he wanted to create an alternative for people consuming knowledge and memories in two dimensions. “Life doesn’t happen in 2D; your experiences and memory shouldn’t either.”