Tech Incubator Opens In Troy

A new group called the North Woodward Tech Incubator aims to foster a little piece of Silicon Valley here in Michigan by offering free office space and services to promising high tech startups.

The group's 2,500-square-foot incubator is in Troy next to Somerset Mall. It plans to complement the area's existing incubators by targeting very early stage high tech companies that may not yet qualify for space in larger incubators. More information is available at www.northwoodward.org.

"We want to help entrepreneurs take those first difficult steps from concept to execution," said group founder Andrew Basile. Basile is an attorney based in Troy and Silicon Valley. His law firm, Young Basile, specializes in intellectual property and is the primary sponsor of the new non-profit incubator. Young Basile is also a member of Automation Alley.

A business incubator is a facility that provides work space and support services to start-up businesses. When fully operational, the North Woodward Tech Incubator will accommodate up to six companies. Young Basile came up with the idea for the incubator while trying to sublease its excess office space. 

"We had space we didn't need, and we realized we could either let it sit vacant or put it to good use helping diversify Michigan's economy," said Karen Yancura, the firm's executive administrator.

The incubator intends to offer both facilities and advice, and plans to link up each tenant in the incubator with an "industry coach" who can mentor young companies.

Jim Croce, former CEO of Next Energy, is a member of the group's advisory board. 

Said Croce: "The infrastructure and resources provided through this grass-roots effort will be another important element of Michigan's transformation to an entrepreneurial economy." 

Other advisory board members include State Rep. Marty Knollenberg, venture investor Terry Cross, and Bobbi Blake, an executive with Troy-based Altair Engineering.

The group's three-member board of directors consists of Basile, Frank Germack and Kevin Prokop. Germack is an asset manager at JP Morgan and an owner of Detroit-based Germack Pistachio Co. Prokop is a principal of Rockbridge Growth Equity, an investment firm founded by Quicken Loan CEO Dan Gilbert. 

"In assembling the board and advisory board, we've brought together a mix of skills in finance, economic development and technology," said Prokop.

Basile, who shuttles between Detroit and California, has worked with more than 100 start-ups in the San Francisco Bay Area. He sees Michigan's current downturn as an opportunity to catalyze necessary changes in culture and policy. 

"The only thing holding back Michigan is Michigan," he said. "It has everything it needs to compete successfully, but our people must more fully embrace a culture of innovation, risk-taking and knowledge."

For more information contact: Andrew Basile, (650) 380-1014, abasile@youngbasile.com.

The first two companies in the incubator are Web 2.0 companies trying to build social networks, Zach Lipson and his leftos .com and Jordan Wolfe and his uwemp.com.

With a name derived from the phrase "Lessons for the Opposite Sex," Leftos.com will launch as an online resource bridging the communication gap between men and women.

Uwemp.com is an online media company providing insightful, engaging and educational content about people's experiences, accomplishments and successes through an interactive community and open-source media platform.

Lipson and Wolfe led the organizaiton of the TechNow09 conference in Royal Oak April 23, and Basile said "I was so impressed with them that I decided there was room for thenm in the incubator."

Basile said he's looking at about 20 potential tenants for the final four spaces in the incubator.