Doug Neal, Author at eLab Ventures | Page 2 of 4

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So far Doug Neal has created 159 blog entries.

Aperia Helps Fleets Choose Tire Inflation, Monitoring Systems That Work Best for Their Operations, Industry Representatives Say

Blown-out, flat or damaged tires are considered by fleets to be at least a leading cause of roadside maintenance calls for commercial trucks, while underinflated tires are the single-biggest source of tire issues in general. To help prevent these tire-related maintenance and safety problems, technology suppliers have introduced a variety of automatic tire inflation systems, [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-08-02T10:12:23-05:00August 2nd, 2019|

The Refraction Rev-1 delivery robot is fast enough to hit the bike lane

As many folks continue to look skyward in expectation of drone delivery services, they’re missing the development of an increasingly popular delivery technology back on terra firma. Wheel-based delivery robots may not be quite as sexy as their flying counterparts, but with fewer regulatory hoops to jump through than drone services, the technology is likely to [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-07-26T12:44:20-05:00July 26th, 2019|

Aperia brings machine learning to tires

ATLANTA, Ga. – Aperia Technologies’ new Halo Connect is using the power of machine learning to help fleets “virtually eliminate” unplanned tire-related downtime. The system builds on the company’s Halo tire inflator, incorporating a retrofittable sensor that feeds data into Aperia’s analytics platform. “The hardware, the sensors are not where the secret sauce is,” CEO Josh [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:52-05:00July 25th, 2019|

Aperia Technologies Paves the Way for Predictive Tire Maintenance with Debut of Halo Connect

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aperia Technologies Inc., a leading supplier of tire management technologies that improve the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicle tractors and trailers, has announced the initial rollout of Halo Connect, a proprietary connectivity platform that leverages machine learning to enable fleets to virtually eliminate unplanned tire-related downtime. Aperia Technologies announces limited rollout of Halo [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-07-25T13:05:33-05:00July 25th, 2019|

Refraction Launches from Stealth with Autonomous B2C Last-Mile Delivery Service; Low-cost, Lightweight Robots Navigate in the Bike Lane

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 10, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Refraction AI (https://refraction.ai), creator of the REV-1, a low-cost, lightweight autonomous delivery robot that can operate in both the bike lane and on the roadway, today launches at TechCrunch Mobility. Founded by University of Michigan professors Matthew Johnson-Roberson and Ram Vasudevan, the company has developed a safer, more cost-effective solution for last mile [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-07-25T13:04:23-05:00July 11th, 2019|

Voxel51: Advancing AI for video

Prof. Jason Corso's startup launches powerful video processing platform ANN ARBOR—Voxel51, a University of Michigan startup, today launched its flagship product—a software platform designed to make it easier, faster and more affordable to access the untapped potential of video data. The software is aimed at companies that work with video but struggle to extract the [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-07-25T13:04:52-05:00July 5th, 2019|

Strata Oncology to Present Interim Data from the Strata Trial at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Strata Oncology, Inc., a precision oncology company, today announced that data from its Strata Trial, a nationwide observational NGS screening protocol providing no-cost tumor sequencing and clinical trial matching for 100,000 advanced cancer patients, will be presented in a poster at the upcoming 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-05-24T10:21:42-05:00May 24th, 2019|

Akadeum Launches Seven New Products at Immunology 2019 Conference in San Diego

Ann Arbor-based biotech company, Akadeum Life Sciences, announced the release of seven new products based on its proprietary microbubble technology. Akadeum Life Sciences today announced at Immunology 2019 the introduction of its first suite of products based on its microbubble technology. Unlike magnetic-based products, microbubbles use buoyancy to gently separate cells of interest within the [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-05-24T10:17:04-05:00May 24th, 2019|

Aperia Technologies Secures $36 million Funding to Accelerate Growth

Aperia Technologies Inc., the leading supplier of tire management technologies that improve the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles, today announced a $36 million Series C1 investment led by new investors Blackhorn Ventures and Tenfore Holdings, with significant participation from existing investors. “Aperia is better positioned now more than ever before to continue its mission [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:52-05:00May 24th, 2019|

Blue Medora Partners with Google Cloud to improve enterprise observability

Partnership simplifies data collection for enterprise IT resources via Google Stackdriver GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. + LONDON, UK – October 11, 2018 – Reflecting the increasing importance of hybrid and multi-cloud visibility among enterprises, IT monitoring integration innovator Blue Medora announces a new collaboration with Google Cloud to integrate Blue Medora’s Dimensional Data stream into Google Stackdriver. This partnership, which includes [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-05-24T10:06:57-05:00May 24th, 2019|

Akadeum Launches Seven New Products at Immunology 2019 Conference in San Diego

Ann Arbor-based biotech company, Akadeum Life Sciences, announced the release of seven new products based on its proprietary microbubble technology. Akadeum Life Sciences today announced at Immunology 2019 the introduction of its first suite of products based on its microbubble technology. Unlike magnetic-based products, microbubbles use buoyancy to gently separate cells of interest within the [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-05-21T11:27:56-05:00May 21st, 2019|

Clinc closes $52 million Series B round

Clinc Inc., an Ann Arbor-based company that uses artificial intelligence to allow companies to more easily interact with their customers, has closed on a venture capital funding round of $52 million, the company said Monday. It's the latest in a string of large investments in growing technology companies in Michigan. The series B funding round [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00May 20th, 2019|

Sight Machine Raises $29M to Connect Dots of Manufacturing Enterprises

When it comes to manufacturing, production and quality is everything. Systems to monitor manufacturing have been around for decades, but they aren’t always complete, sometimes only overseeing specific machines or locations. That’s a problem that Sight Machine aims to address with its software that analyzes the manufacturing process. Its technology uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-05-02T14:02:40-05:00May 2nd, 2019|

Strata Oncology Launches Expanded StrataNGS for Patients with Advanced Cancer

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Strata OncologyTM, a leading precision oncology company, today announced the launch of version 3.0 of StrataNGSTM, its pan-cancer assay for solid tumors. The updated 500-gene assay utilizes DNA and RNA from tumor samples to detect all clinically actionable biomarkers — including microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor mutational burden (TMB), and PD-L1 [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00March 22nd, 2019|

Sight Machine highlighted in Industry 4.0: Ten AI innovators in manufacturing tech

How it’s using AI in manufacturing: Manufacturers useSight Machine’s analytics platform to gain real-time insights into every part of their manufacturing process and optimize operations as a result. The Sight Machine platform culls information from multiple sources, analyzes it, creates a digital “twin” of a company's infrastructure and then highlights areas where operations can be improved. Industry Impact: GE, [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00March 22nd, 2019|

Aperia’s new Halo Connect prioritizes tire health

Knowing tire air pressure is one thing. Being able to prioritize tire health is next level. With Aperia Technologies’ new Halo Connect, fleets will get more critical feedback on tires that will help them address real problems before they lead to costly downtime events. “Something we’ve long envisioned before releasing Halo was to bring a connectivity [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-03-22T09:54:02-05:00March 22nd, 2019|

Rachio Wireless Flow Meter review: A watchful eye for irrigation leaks

Irrigation systems don’t have the best reputation for being user friendly. Adding a smart controller like Rachio’s to the mix goes a long way toward improving the user experience. Now Rachio is extending the intelligence of its top-notch controller one step further with its Wireless Flow Meter accessory. The Wireless Flow Meter is a device [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-03-22T09:50:51-05:00March 22nd, 2019|

Jason Mars, co-founder and CEO of Clinc, said conversational AI is just at the frontier of its potential

Getting computers to talk finance with banking customers by voice or text is a big challenge, as anyone who has encountered a bank chatbot knows. Called conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) it requires skills outside the usual developer’s portfolio and changes to the typical IT organization, said Don McInnes, who has been working in the field [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-03-22T09:51:32-05:00March 15th, 2019|

MemryX Positioned Well as AI Needs Memory for AI Edge Computing

This presents a totally different way of doing AI because it’s not dependent on the massive training capacity in the cloud if an unexpected event occurs that needs quick decision making, such as a traffic scenario where safety is a concern, Dubois said. Enabling more machine learning at the edge jives with the Forrester Research [...]

By Doug Neal|2019-03-15T11:43:29-05:00March 15th, 2019|

Sight Machine Partners with Macnica Networks to Grow and Serve Customers in Japan

SAN FRANCISCO and TOKYO, Sept. 5, 2018—Sight Machine Inc., the category leader for digital manufacturing, today announced a strategic partnershipwith Macnica Networks Corp., one of Japan’s leading value-added distributors for advanced network products and information technology, expanding Sight Machine’s presence in the Japan market. Demand for Sight Machine’s technology has surged in Japan as the [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-11-30T13:23:36-05:00November 30th, 2018|

Aperia Technologies Hits 2 Billion Miles and Introduces Long-Term Halo Performance Studies with Fleets

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aperia Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of tire inflation technologies that improve the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicle tractors and trailers, today released two long-term client case studies to commemorate the Halo’s 2 billionth cumulative mile on the road. “At this year’s MCE meeting, we will be showing how effective tire management [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00November 30th, 2018|

Clinc expands to automotive, releases SaaS platform for its voice AI assistant

Clinc co-founder and CEO Jason Mars just announced the company is expanding to a third vertical: Automotive. The company, which started in fintech and recently unveiled a product for drive-thru restaurants, is aiming its voice AI service at the automotive industry. The idea is to give automakers a platform that they can integrate into their [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00November 30th, 2018|

eLab Managing Director Bob Stefanski Speaks about A.I. in Marquette

MARQUETTE — Mention the letters “A.I.” to Bob Stefanski, and he becomes really excited. Stefanski, an entrepreneur and venture capital investor in Silicon Valley, talked about artificial intelligence Monday before the Economic Club of Marquette County at the Ramada Inn in Marquette. He is co-founder of eLab Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund focused [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00November 20th, 2018|

Rachio named The Best Smart Sprinkler Controller by WireCutter

A smart sprinkler controller can automatically regulate—and likely reduce—the water use of your in-ground lawn sprinkler or irrigation system, as well as let you more easily control schedules, remotely manage your system, and integrate irrigation with other smart-home tasks. After spending three months testing 11 models, we think the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller is [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-11-16T11:00:00-05:00November 16th, 2018|

Strata Oncology Announces Participation in the NCI-MATCH Clinical Trial

Ann Arbor, Mich. September 5, 2018—Strata Oncology, Inc. today announced it is participating as a CLIA-certified/accredited laboratory for the precision medicine cancer trial, NCI-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH or EAY131). The objective of this ongoing phase II trial, co-led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the ECOG-ACRIN [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00November 4th, 2018|

eLab Partners Named to 2018 Detroit Business 500 Most Powerful People in Detroit

Paul Brown and Doug Neal were named to Detroit Business 2018 Most Powerful 500 Business Leaders in Metro Detroit: Read more here

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00October 11th, 2018|

Cobalt.io Raises $5M in Series A Funding to Fuel Growth of the Cybersecurity Industry’s First Pen Testing as a Service (PTaaS) Platform

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) MAY 02, 2018 Cobalt.io, a Pen Testing as a Service platform (PTaaS) transforming the traditional pen testing model for SaaS businesses, announced today that it has received $5 million in funding to continue its global expansion and for further investment in its industry-leading PTaaS platform. A major new investor in the round [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-09-28T14:20:56-05:00September 28th, 2018|

Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler hands-on: Intelligent watering controlled by your phone

We love our green grass here in Washington and some HOAs require a minimal level of water to maintain curb appeal and keep lawns from igniting easily. I've been watering my yard for the last couple of months while at home, at the office, on business travel, and while on vacation with the Rachio 3 [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-09-28T13:36:15-05:00September 28th, 2018|

Aperia Offers Chrome Wheel Cover Option

Aperia Technologies Inc., a supplier of tire-inflation technologies for commercial vehicle tractors and trailers, announced the release of a new chrome cover for the Halo Tire Inflator. While the chrome adds personality and practicality to accessorize the Halo Tire Inflator, it also plays a role in improving business for fleets, from driver retention to company [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:53-05:00September 28th, 2018|

MVCA 2018 Up-and-Coming Company Nominees

What excites me most about the startup ecosystem in Michigan right now is the momentum that we are building. Not only does 2018 represent a significant milestone with Duo Security's $2.35B exit, but we are also seeing an increasing number of exciting new companies that are being built in Michigan focused on disrupting very large and [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:54-05:00September 20th, 2018|

George Dunbar Joins Akadeum Life Sciences’ Board of Directors

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 06, 2018 Akadeum Life Sciences today announced it has appointed George Dunbar to its Board of Directors. Dunbar has spent his career as an executive and leader of numerous biotech companies. He most recently served as president and CEO of ISTO Biologics, a private cell therapy and biologics company acquired [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-09-07T09:47:12-05:00September 7th, 2018|

Blue Medora Secures $10 Million in Growth Investment

Blue Medora announced a $10 million investment from growth equity investor Edison Partners. Proceeds will be used to accelerate development and enterprise market adoption of the company’s innovations including the recently introduced BindPlane service. “There has been awe-striking advancement in monitoring in the past two years thanks to AI, but the industry is still relying [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-09-07T09:46:21-05:00September 7th, 2018|

Clinc featured in: Universities and legacy industries are giving rise to the Midwest’s AI startups

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan has played an instrumental role in the growth of several AI startups in the state. Trove, which developed a platform that scans users’ emails to provide them with insights about their professional network, has worked with a pair of research teams at the University of Michigan, the company [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:54-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Clinc is building a voice AI system to replace humans in drive-through restaurants

Clinc is expanding its focus on fintech into new verticals that could take advantage of its conversational artificial intelligence. The Ann Arbor-based company recently took the wraps off its new system that aims to provide quick-service restaurants like McDonald’s and Taco Bell with a voice assistant in the drive-through window. I got a demo of [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:54-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Akadeum Announces First-of-Their-Kind Microbubble Products Commercially Available

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (PRWEB) AUGUST 28, 2018 Akadeum Life Sciences, Inc. has announced early access to its microbubble-based T cell and B cell isolation kits. A radical simplification over existing technologies, the use of microbubbles enables users to perform the entire cell separation process within a single tube and without a magnet. The company has [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-09-04T09:07:57-05:00September 4th, 2018|

Sight Machine’s self-serve offerings to provide new visibility

Sight Machine announced its next generation of self-serve capabilities, enabling customers, integrators and partners to take production data from factory floors and generate browser-based visibility into enterprise operations within minutes. Manufacturing plants vary widely in their digital readiness and project objectives, according to the company. While some are already systematically collecting data and want to [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:54-05:00February 27th, 2018|

Renowned DevSecOps Pioneers to Unite at DevSecCon Singapore 2018 to Share Latest Insights on Continuously Secure Development

Over twenty pioneers from the field of DevSecOps will come together at the upcoming DevSecCon Singapore 2018 on 22-23 February. Since their inception in 2015, DevSecCon has been hosting conferences and training around the globe with the intention of showcasing the latest developments in the emerging field of DevSecOps. SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – February [...]

By Doug Neal|2018-02-27T13:59:12-05:00February 27th, 2018|

Banks Using Clinc Can Chat With Customers Through Mobiles, Alexa or Google Home

“We contacted Clinc in May or June and we decided to make a pilot because their product was 100 percent what Isbank was looking for,” said Burak Arik, CEO of MaxiTech, a bank subsidiary charged with finding and evaluating high tech solutions the bank could use. He is based in San Francisco because the bank [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:54-05:00February 27th, 2018|

Strata Oncology Adds Five Healthcare systems to Strata Precision Oncology Network

Ann Arbor, MI, December 13, 2017 – Strata Oncology, a precision oncology company, today announced five leading healthcare systems have joined the Strata Precision Oncology NetworkTM (Network). Launched in February of 2017, and led by Strata Oncology, the Network is advancing precision oncology by providing advanced cancer patients routine tumor profiling and matching to a [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-12-14T10:01:37-05:00December 14th, 2017|

Clinc CEO, Prof. Jason Mars is Bringing Smart Banking to Market

As they become more capable, intelligent personal digital assistants are transforming the ways in which we interact with technology. This is true in the financial industry, where many firms are now moving toward artificial intelligence-driven smart banking, a more advanced approach to customer service, to gain valuable information about their clients and to improve customer [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:55-05:00November 30th, 2017|

New Vital Signs Co-Founder Receives U of M Innovation & Commercialization Award!

Dr. Kevin Ward is receiving the Innovation and Commercialization Award. This is a well-deserved honor acknowledging Dr. Ward’s outstanding contributions to Michigan Medicine as Executive Director of Fast Forward Medical Innovation (FFMI) and his leadership in developing new technologies to improve emergency medicine and critical care as founding Director of the Michigan Center for Integrative [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-11-22T10:37:02-05:00November 22nd, 2017|

Cobalt VP Caroline Wong To Women Considering Cybersecurity: ‘Do It’

Cybersecurity is crucial for businesses to protect themselves from attackers, and Cobalt is one of the firms that provides help. Cobalt connects SaaS (software as a service) companies with hackers who can help find problems before attackers do. Caroline Wong is VP of Security Strategy at Cobalt and has more than a decade of experience [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-10-24T07:07:08-05:00October 24th, 2017|

Tech firm Blue Medora raises $8 million in venture capital

GRAND RAPIDS — Enterprise software developer Blue Medora LLC has raised another $8 million in capital that will support continued growth. Chicago-based venture capital firm First Analysis led the Series B round, which included prior Blue Medora investors Wakestream Venture LLC in Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Mo.-based Lewis and Clark Ventures and eLab Ventures. With the [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-10-24T07:03:09-05:00October 24th, 2017|

Clinc Partners with Enacomm to Connect Financial Institutions with its AI Conversational Banking Platform

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Oct 23, 2017) - A simpler, natural way to deal with finances will soon be available more broadly to consumers. At Money20/20, Enacomm, Inc., a leading provider of intelligent interactions and customer authentication technologies for banks, credit unions and credit card companies, today announced that it will bring "Finie", the world's [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-10-24T06:58:17-05:00October 24th, 2017|

Ryder System inks partnership with Aperia to modernize its heavy-duty trucks

Amid a push to innovate its fleet management and supply chain services, Ryder System Inc. has launched a partnership with Aperia Technologies, a company that specializes in improving fuel economy through automatic tire pressure adjustment products. The partnership paves the way for all Ryder (NYSE: R) heavy-duty trucks to install and use Halo Tire Inflator, [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-10-01T14:57:18-05:00October 1st, 2017|

Jason Mars of Clinc in Top 10 Most Innovative CEOs in Banking 2017

Fintechs are partnering with banks, banks are using blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency and financial regulation is still undergoing massive changes... #2 Jason Mars, Clinc At this point, providing an AI-powered banking assistant probably won’t make someone stand out in the industry: but providing a banking assistant powered by artificial intelligence that consumers can [...]

By Doug Neal|2021-02-06T14:48:55-05:00September 28th, 2017|

Blue Medora at Tech of VMworld 2017: Monitoring

VMworld 2017 was a reinvigorated ecosystem, as I wrote about previously, and there was plenty of interesting tech about datacenter infrastructure was what you wanted to know about. One of the main categories I spent time to look at was monitoring and telemetry systems. These are software tools used for managing infrastructure in the VMware [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-09-08T08:58:08-05:00September 8th, 2017|

Akadeum gets $1.5 million from Silicon Valley investors

Silicon Valley investors have led a funding round of almost $1.5 million in Ann Arbor-based Akadeum Life Sciences Inc., a spinoff from the University of Michigan, to develop its technology for tissue, water and food testing. The lead investor, BioInfleXion Point Partners, specializes in early-stage life-science investments. The round was joined by other Silicon Valley [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-09-06T16:49:34-05:00September 6th, 2017|

Rachio Keeps Your Sprinklers From Flooding The Lawn

OUR SPRINKLERS TURN on at six in the morning. We're usually still in bed at that time, so if it's raining when they sputter into action, somebody's getting up and getting wet to turn them off. Either that, or our yard ends up turning into a swamp. The Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller ($250) helps makes [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-08-25T09:34:27-05:00August 25th, 2017|

Sight Machine Introduces Digital Readiness Index for Manufacturing

Sight Machine Inc., the category leader for manufacturing analytics, today introduced the Digital Readiness Index (DRI), a methodology to evaluate a manufacturer’s readiness for digital transformation and identify the projects likely to deliver the most impactful returns. Sight Machine developed DRI based on insights from digital manufacturing projects with some of the world’s largest manufacturers. [...]

By Doug Neal|2017-08-25T09:31:52-05:00August 25th, 2017|