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Automation Alley Invests $100,000 In Orion Tech Firm Buz.fm

TROY -- Automation Alley, Michigan's largest technology business association, has made a $100,000 investment through the Automation Alley Pre-Seed Fund in Buz FM Inc., an Orion Township-based Internet and software company specializing in social media, digital marketing and advertising technologies.

"Automation Alley continues to drive the growth of Southeast Michigan's economy. Key to this mission are our entrepreneurial services, designed to accelerate small businesses and startups like Buz.fm," said Automation Alley Executive Director Ken Rogers. "Buz.fm has created a unique, cloud-based social marketplace that takes marketing and advertising technologies to the next level. We're proud to announce this investment in an up-and-coming local company."

Buz.fm develops and hosts Internet-based services and products that provide advertising and promotion through its Buz.fm platform. The company was founded by CEO and President Stephen Sadler. Over the last year, Buz.fm's cloud-based applications have delivered thousands of digital marketing and advertising campaigns to customers in a variety of industries including restaurants, resorts, hotels, auto dealerships and the entertainment industry, among others.

"The bottom line is the technology can be used to help promote or help sell anything," Sadler said. "With marketing these days, it's not like people have stopped buying things, it's just that where they hang out is different than where they used to hang out five or ten years ago. What our system does is it places your content in front of those customers on social media or organic search, or on some other digital feed. It allows you, from one spot, to make sure you have consistent messaging."

That messaging isn't just about sending Tweets, Salder said, "it's about strategically creating campaigns that contain keywords that not only place content in social feeds but also make sure that all of the pages come up first in an organic search."

Buz.fm will use Automation Alley's funding to strengthen its information technology infrastructure and will also add more employees at its headquarters in Orion Township, where it occupies a state-of-the-art 7,200 square-foot building.

To date, Automation Alley has invested $8.11 million in 36 high-tech companies or projects across Southeast Michigan.

Since its founding in 1999, Automation Alley has expanded to include nearly 1,000 businesses, educational institutions and government entities from the city of Detroit and the surrounding eight-county region. Automation Alley promotes regional prosperity through entrepreneurial and exporting assistance, workforce development and technology acceleration.

For additional information, visit automationalley.com.

Buz FM develops and hosts internet-based services and products that provide advertising and promotion through its Buz.fm platform. The company was founded by Stephen Sadler, who is also the current CEO and President. Over the last year, Buz FM's cloud based applications have delivered thousands of digital marketing and advertising campaigns for Fortune 500 hundred companies, agencies and small businesses worldwide.

Buz.fm employs a unique team of talented United States-based software developers, system engineers, sales and support staff. The company is headquartered in Orion Township, where it occupies a 7,200 square foot building.

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