Fast-Tracking New Businesses

Entrepreneur Ben Kazez's strategic decision to relocate his technology start-up company, Mobiata, from Minnesota to Ann Arbor in 2009 paid off in more ways than one. First, he found a hotbed of computer engineering talent that enabled him to recruit bright University of Michigan students and graduates to help develop and market travel-related applications for mobile phones and other devices. As an extra bonus, Kazez and his first two collaborators, Jason Bornhorst (BSECS '09) and Marshall Weir (BSEIO '08, BSECS '08), both graduates of the U-M College of Engineering, landed office space in TechArb, a University business accelerator. The timing couldn't have been better.

"We were at our earliest stage and going through a crazy growth mode," says Kazez, who worked for Apple prior to launching Mobiata in 2008. "The last thing I wanted to do was to pay rent and spend valuable time setting up an office. TechArb not only offered us free space but also office furnishings and business services, so we were able to focus on developing mobile apps, which is our core business. In addition, many company founders at the accelerator faced challenges similar to ours, so we had the opportunity to bounce ideas off one another."

TechArb was launched in May 2009, jointly supported by the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering, the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Ross School of Business and the Office of the Vice President for Research. The facility is located on the fourth floor of the McKinley Towne Centre, adjacent to Ann Arbor SPARK and Google, in the central campus business district. Bootstrap entrepreneurs can sign up for six-month tenancies, apply for grant funding through the Zell Lurie Institute and the Center for Entrepreneurship and receive mentoring from U-M business and engineering school advisors.

"TechArb allows entrepreneurs in the community to collaborate with U-M students and graduates on the creation of new companies, which can utilize all the services we offer to move from ideation through launch and to accelerate growth," says Doug Neal, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Paul Kirsch, associate director of the Zell Lurie Institute, sees the accelerator as a key driver for promoting an entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus and in Michigan. "The collocation of motivated U-M entrepreneurs allows the companies to be more successful, enables more-effective use of guest mentors, and facilitates peer-to-peer learning and support," he says.

Mobiata left TechArb in April and opened its first permanent office, in the Nickels Arcade in Ann Arbor, in August.

"I'd recommend TechArb to any small student start-up that's trying to get off the ground and doesn't have money to spend for office space," Kazez says.

More information: Contact Amy Klinke, assistant director for Small Business Initiatives at the Center for Entrepreneurship, at amyklink@umich.edu or 734.647.7071 or visit www.cfe.umich.edu/techarb.