News

Diamond Kinetics, Marucci To Release Wood Smart Bat With SwingTracker Inside Knob

4/10/2017
In a move that will blend the old school with the new, Marucci Sports and Diamond Kinetics announced the release of Smart Bat Custom Cut — a handcrafted Marucci maple baseball bat designed to hold a Diamond Kinetics SwingTracker inside its handle. Marucci’s Baton Rouge, La.-based brand has become a...

Mythic launches a chip to enable computer vision and voice control on any device

3/24/2017
Hardware that responds to voice commands is already out there and probably in your hand or house right now. Whether it’s a smartphone, smart speaker or wearable, it has to connect to the cloud to deliver answers. Now, a startup called Mythic (formerly known as Isocline) is launching a chip...

Mythic raises $8.8 million to put AI on a chip

3/24/2017
While there’s no shortage of hype surrounding artificial intelligence, there’s also no shortage of companies seeking to harness its potential. Mythic is one of them, and it claims to be taking a different approach. The Austin, Texas-based startup wants to move away from the cloud and a dependence on network...

Neurable: Controlling VR with Your Mind

3/22/2017
Virtual reality is still so new that the best way for us to interact within it is not yet clear. One startup wants you to use your head, literally: it’s tracking brain waves and using the result to control VR video games. Boston-based startup Neurable is focused on deciphering brain...

Nynex Therapeutics, a new oncology startup, launches to target oncogenic proteins

3/16/2017
BioMotiv, a drug development accelerator associated with The Harrington Project, and the University of Michigan have launched a new startup, Nynex Therapeutics, to develop breakthrough drugs that inhibit deubiquitinases as a novel mechanism for therapeutic intervention in multiple difficult-to-treat cancers. Nynex’s innovative work builds on the substantial progress over the...

HistoSonics gains new leaders, turns focus to oncology

3/13/2017
HistoSonics Inc., an Ann Arbor-based maker of ultrasonic medical devices aimed at shrinking or destroying cancer tumors, has a new CEO, a new chief medical officer and a new $8.2 million round of venture-capital funding to pay for upcoming human trials. Mike Blue, a veteran executive at oncology-device companies, has...

Accelerator Open House followed by Meet the Xconomists

3/3/2017
U-M Innovation Partnerships hosted an Xconomy Detroit/Ann Arbor networking event in January for members of the tech communities of southeast Michigan. This “Meet the Xconomists” event, a regular offering from Xconomy in each of their eleven national Xconomy hubs, provides an opportunity to strengthen the ties between Detroit and Ann...

New Products Launched: FlexDex and Mastermind

3/3/2017
Two new products entering the market illustrate the continuing impact of U-M innovation. The FlexDex Needle Driver FlexDex Surgical, a Brighton, Michigan-based developer of surgical tools, has begun shipping its first product, a simple, ergonomic and intuitive “needle driver” for stitching inside the body. The commercial launch of the device...

Rubicon Genomics Acquired by Takara Bio USA

3/3/2017
U-M start-up Rubicon Genomics , a producer of genomic analysis kits, was sold in January to Mountain View, California-based Takara Bio USA Holdings, a subsidiary of the Japanese company Takara Bio, for a reported $75 million. “This acquisition builds on Takara Bio’s commitment to provide our customers with a broader...

U-M Startup Ripple Addresses Clinical Trial Bottleneck

3/3/2017
Created from technology developed at the University of Michigan, Ripple Science Corporation is focused on addressing a common pain point in research labs: recruiting and managing participants for clinical trials and translational research. Ripple co-founder Jacob Bonenberger explained, “Ripple isn’t tackling an uncommon problem — all researchers struggle with poor...

Venture Accelerator: Mekanistic Therapeutics

3/3/2017
Mekanistic Therapeutics, a startup company focused on the development of cancer therapeutics, will soon move into the U-M Innovation Partnerships Venture Accelerator, where company founders Drs. Judith Sebolt-Leopold and Christopher Whitehead will progress with their clinical trial development and fundraising efforts. In their University of Michigan lab, Sebolt-Leopold and Whitehead,...

3-D Printed Orthotics

3/3/2017
Researchers at the U-M Orthotics and Prosthetics Center have developed a new cyber manufacturing system to design and produce custom orthotics and prosthetics. The system, which incorporates both optical scanners and 3D printers, has been shown to produce better-fitting, lighter assistive devices in a fraction of the time it takes...