Automation Alley Puts $500K Into Two Tech Firms
Automation Alley, Michigan's largest technology business association, announced Thursday that the organization has invested $500,000 in two Southeast Michigan technology companies to assist in developing new and innovative technologies and spur company growth.
"The availability of seed funding for small businesses is a critical factor in the viability of a new company," said Ken Rogers, executive director, Automation Alley. "Start-ups are vital to the success of our region. Automation Alley is proud to support and fuel the entrepreneurial spirit of Southeast Michigan's business owners."
The first investment of $250,000 was awarded to Unitask Software in Bloomfield Hills. With the funding provided by Automation Alley, chairman and CEO Dale Royal made the executive decision to relocate the company's headquarters from Ohio to Southeast Michigan to take advantage of the rich talent base in the region.
The company creates, sells and supports software products for the Oracle E-Business Suite and is a gold member of the Oracle Partner Network. Unitask has customers around the world relying on their products to eliminate implementation and operational risk, improve the quality of the application and accelerate time-to-value.
"With this round of funding, Unitask will be able to aggressively increase its market share by further penetrating the enterprise applications space and continuing to deliver on our mantra of delivering 'do more - pay less' solution sets for the Oracle E-Business Suite," Royal said.
The second investment of $250,000 was made in Accio Energy. The company, located in Ann Arbor, is developing electrokinetic systems that directly convert wind energy to electricity. Accio Energy's aerovoltaic systems will produce low cost, silent, stationary, and modular electricity from an abundant free natural resource: a new direction in wind energy. Ideal locations include sites in close proximity to communities and offshore locations.
"The team and stakeholders of Accio Energy appreciate Automation Alley's investment in a new direction in wind energy," said Dawn White, co-founder and president. "With the investment, we will accelerate our development of transformational electrokinetic wind energy systems which will combine reliability and affordability with a solution that is modular and scales. We are excited to be building these innovative new products in Michigan."
Entrepreneurs can meet with Automation Alley staff and receive business plan consulting, referrals and expert advice. To date, Automation Alley has invested nearly $5.5 million in 27 technology-driven companies across Southeast Michigan and growth of those resulted in 550 jobs. For additional information or to inquire about applying for seed funding, visit www.automationalley.com or contact the Resource Center at (800) 427-5100 or info@automationalley.com.
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