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"A sign that the ecosystem has arrived": Rocket Fiber sale marks one of first exits for Gilbert-backed startup Rocket Fiber LLC, the Detroit-based broadband internet provider born during a resurgent time for the city, will sell its assets to Cleveland company Everstream Solutions LLC. Founded in 2014 with financial backing from Detroit billionaire Dan Gilbert - who has held the company in his Rock family of companies since that time - Rocket Fiber now becomes one of the first homegrown companies to spin out of the Gilbert sphere of influence. [Extracted from the article]

"Dogged determination": Ann Arbor biotech firm Esperion gets two drugs across the finish line After a decade of clinical development, Ann Arbor-based Esperion Therapeutics Inc. has not one but two specialty cholesterol-lowering drugs headed toward pharmacy shelves. Developed as "complementary" to cholesterol-lowering medications like Lipitor, the new drugs Nexletol and Nexlizet are targeted at patients who suffer from side effects from the older drugs, known as statins. [Extracted from the article]

Techstars Detroit may have shut down last month due to a lack of corporate funding, but Ted Serbinski, who led the mobility-focused tech accelerator over its five-year span, will continue as part of the Southeast Michigan startup scene. Similar to the Techstars Detroit investments Serbinski made, he'll have $1.2 million annually to invest in 10 startups ($120,000 each) and he hopes to have those first investments selected by the midsummer. [Extracted from the article]

"WE'RE GOING TO DOUBLE DOWN": Ross pledges $100M to UM center as Gilbert makes his first public speech since stroke Standing with a wheelchair behind him, Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert on Friday afternoon delivered his first public remarks since suffering a debilitating stroke on Memorial Day weekend last year. After seeing signs of a turnaround, and plenty of convincing from Mayor Mike Duggan and Gilbert, Ross is buying into the Detroit comeback story rallied by its residents and corporate community. [Extracted from the article]

Similarly, Workforce Software last month rolled out a new product called Workforce Suite that's being marketed using nearly identical language. Like Andonix, Workforce Software executives say their product is designed to look more like consumer-facing social media apps than clunky software. [Extracted from the article]

A veteran Southeast Michigan entrepreneur is working to grow his 8-year-old company by further tapping into metro Detroit's growing technology sector. Altimetrik is something of a second act for Vattikuti, who previously ran Farmington Hills IT firm Covansys Inc. before selling the company in 2007 for a reported $1.3 billion. [Extracted from the article]

Dug Song may have helped to grow - and then eventually sell - a tech startup in Southeast Michigan. Song still works full time as the co-founder and general manager of Duo Security, which began in Ann Arbor before being acquired in 2018 by San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco Systems Inc., of which it is now a business unit. [Extracted from the article]

Farmington Hills-based Beringea LLC announced this week that it led a $5 million investment round into a northern Michigan firm focused on equipment used for analyzing and processing data collected from satellites in space. As Crain's previously reported, Atlas moved to Traverse City from California after an investment offer was made from Boomerang Capital LLC, a Traverse City venture capital firm. [Extracted from the article]

Bank of Ann Arbor acquired Livingston County-based First National Bank of Howell in a deal that creates a bank with $2.2 billion in total assets, the two financial institutions announced Tuesday morning. "We built our high-performing bank post-recession with a lot of high-performing people, and we wanted to partner with a bank that also cherishes high-performing people". [Extracted from the article]

A Grosse Pointe Park-based technology startup has closed on a $425,000 pre-seed funding round, just ahead of beginning a stint at a top accelerator program. Venture capital activity in Michigan has been on the rise, as Crain's reported earlier this month, but Rodriguez noted that this level of funding for an early stage company still remains rare in Southeast Detroit's growing startup economy. [Extracted from the article]

A Southeast Michigan angel investing fund closed in January on its fourth $2 million investment fund. This fourth fund has so far closed on three investments and plans a total of 10, fund manager Skip Simms said. [Extracted from the article]

A Detroit technology accelerator aimed at growing the region's mobility sector has shut its doors due to a lack of funding. Observers of the Detroit startup community heaped praise on the role that Techstars Detroit played in the creation of the startup economy. [Extracted from the article]

A mother-and-daughter duo in metro Detroit sees an opening to bring tech innovation to the slow-to-adopt corporate legal industry. Alison Orlans, CEO of Troy-based professional services company Orlans PC, and her mother Linda Orlans, the company's founder and executive chair, last week launched Revlegal LLC. [Extracted from the article]

Grand Rapids-based public and investor relations firm Lambert & Co. has acquired a New York banking and financial services communications company, the seventh acquisition in Lambert's 22-year history. Lambert, with offices in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and New York City, said Tuesday that it bought 100 percent of the assets of Williamsville, N.Y.-based Casteel Schoenborn Investor Relations & Corporate Communications. [Extracted from the article]