Weekly Rewind: Ann Arbor’s Business News Recap

A look back on this week’s economic development headlines, announcements, and other share-worthy news from the Ann Arbor region.

• The ‘A2GO’ autonomous vehicle shuttle service is coming to Ann Arbor in October. A2Go is a collaboration between May Mobility, Important Safety, Mcity, and Ann Arbor SPARK. The free shuttle service, which will debut on October 1 in conjunction with a2Tech360, will be available to the public on October 11.
  
  
• The Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research produced its quarterly Michigan Automotive Dashboard for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
  
  
• Ann Arbor is still the center of Michigan’s VC scene and driving the state’s increase in overall funding activity. From Crunchbase’s More Opportunity Than Capital: Venture Dollars Spread Throughout the US: “No state has seen its venture money increase in the last five years as much as Michigan. Venture dollars in the Wolverine State have spiked nearly 886 percent since 2016, growing from around $300 million to about $3.1 billion last year.”
  
  
• University of Michigan’s Desai Accelerator invests in four startups to launch 2021 Cohort, including BreezeBubble, Aurora Tights, LeaseMagnets, and Revolin Sports.
  
  
• Kristin Gapske of Washtenaw Community College’s Entrepreneurship Center talks about supporting women-owned businesses on WEMU.
  
  
• SPARK client GameAbove announced a $500,000 gift to Eastern Michigan University to fund a senior research engineer position and expand exploration for the advancement of autonomous, connected-vehicle technologies, and mobility solutions.
  
  
• Ann Arbor-based health care tech firm ArborMetrix names new CEO, Maria Siambekos, from Chicago.
  
  
• News on how BankSupplies, an Ypsilanti Township company, survived COVID-19 by selling 45,000 acrylic germ shields.
  
  
• Q&A: Duo Security’s Trey Boynton on dismantling “barriers to brilliance” in Ann Arbor’s tech industry.
  
  
• SkySpecs acquired two European wind energy technology companies.
  

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