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By Andrew Domino | MiBiz
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WEST MICHIGAN — While businesses don’t often turn down money, some of West Michigan’s developing companies are finding their prize-winning prestige is more important than financial reward.

In November, 13 companies from across the state took home prizes in the second annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, a contest that links technology entrepreneurs with venture capitalists and industry colleagues in various stages of product development.

“We never had a way to get business leaders engaged with entrepreneurs at the beginning of the (development) process,” said Mike Jandernoa, founder of Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentoring, former CEO of Perrigo Co. and co-founder of investor group Grand Angels.

He compared the competition to a talent show, where Michigan entrepreneurs could offer up their business plans and deliver elevator pitches on their products to a panel of venture capitalists acting as judges. The idea is to reward entrepreneurs in different avenues of technology by introducing them to potential investors and other innovators.

Some 600 participants took part in this year’s competition, both as professionals and in the student division. The most promising ideas took home prizes from $25,000 to $500,000.

The competition was sponsored by business incubators across the state, including the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan, which in turn is itself supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek and other foundations.

Many of the winners in sectors such as alternative energy and information technology were from the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas, but several West Michigan companies took top spots.

Advanced Cooling Therapy LLC of Kalamazoo earned the competition’s $25,000 Medical Devices Award. Its product is a tool that sends warming fluid through a person’s esophagus to counter conditions like therapeutic hypothermia. It uses a method that is much easier for surgeons and less intrusive for patients than traditional treatments, said Kevin McLeod, president and CEO of the company. The product is in late-stage development, and animal studies are expected by the spring through local companies such as MPI Research in Mattawan.

“The $25,000 doesn’t hurt, but (the competition) really helped raise awareness,” he said. “We have a lot of contacts we met in the competition.”

The Innovation Competition gave McLeod the chance to wear both his hats. He represents Advanced Cooling Therapy in addition to his role as managing director of the Michigan Medical Device Accelerator. He said the accelerator, which provides laboratory space, business mentors, market research and other ingredients a successful start-up may not be able to provide for itself, could welcome some of the companies that participated in the competition.

The contest was a way for them to show their stuff, he said.

“Most entrepreneurs have just a small reach in a local market,” McLeod said. “We hope to be aligned with the competition in the future.”

Grand Rapids-based ENRG Power Systems LLC came into the competition with a lot of experience. The company is developing a plasma automotive ignition system that can be retrofitted into V8 engines. The technology improves fuel economy 14 to 21 percent, said ENRG president and CEO Milton Roye. He has training from MIT and Harvard Business School and has a history with General Motors and the India-based Tata Motors, the company that owns the Land Rover and Jaguar brands. His business partner, a researcher in New York state, has more than 10 years of experience using the plasma ignition for industry. Roye wants to put it to use in vehicles, his specialty, and specifically in commercial truck and van fleets.

But history is littered with ideas for improving fuel economy that failed when the rubber hit the road. Roye said that’s why the Innovation Competition is important, even for a company like his that is past the initial development stage.

“It gives us credibility with the investing community,” he said.

This year, ENRG won the Ford Advanced Transportation Award, a $25,000 prize at the competition. It’s actually the company’s second win in the category. The money helped ENRG get prototypes and staff out to automotive trade shows. Roye said he wants to build on that foundation and reach a wider audience with this year’s prize.

The People’s Choice award, worth $10,000, went to Shoulder Innovations LLC of Ada, which is creating a shoulder replacement, much like a hip or knee replacement, said president and CEO Mike DeVries. Like ENRG Power Systems, Shoulder Innovations isn’t brand-new to the entrepreneurial market; DeVries said the technology hasn’t failed in at least five years of testing.

Like the other West Michigan companies that won awards at the Innovation Competition, DeVries said Shoulder Innovations won’t turn down its prize money. In his role as managing director of EDF Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in Ada and Ann Arbor and specializing in medical devices, DeVries had a more personal purpose to be involved in the event. Shoulder Innovations entered the competition to “see how we stack up,” DeVries said, but EDF Ventures was interested in meeting the companies confident enough to compete for the prestige of the Innovation Competition.

“As an investor, it’s really exciting what’s going on,” he said. “There’s a solid life science community here, a lot of employment in this sector.”

On the student side, a trio from Western Michigan University took second runner-up and $10,000 for the “Quick Hitch,” creating a rotating device that helps a single person more easily connect a vehicle to a trailer hitch.

Jandernoa of Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentoring was given the “Spirit Of Michigan” award during the competition for encouraging entrepreneurship across the state. He downplayed the award, saying it showed the value of growing businesses.

“I’m just trying to do something to increase the involvement of entrepreneurship,” Jandernoa said.

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• advanced cooling therapy
• jandernoa entrepreneurial mentoring
• mike jandernoa
• perrigo
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