From early-stage entrepreneurs to established organizations and businesses, TechTown Detroit provides workspaces and resources for achieving objectives
TechTown aims to provide a vibrant and inclusive building community for tenants, coworking members and other individuals in the community to enjoy. Photograph by J. Lindsey Photography
With summer officially here, TechTown is buzzing with activity. We’ve just launched a new monthly networking event called First Thursdays, which aims to bring together entrepreneurs, startups and ecosystem partners to share ideas and support each other’s entrepreneurial journey. Join us for our next one on Thursday, July 11 (due to the holiday and TechTown’s holiday closure, we have moved July’s event to the second Thursday of the month).
Our Collaborative Workspaces & Facilities team also hosts monthly themed Happy Hour events to bring the community together. Our most recent one, the LGBTQ+ Pride Month Happy Hour, recognized the contributions of the local LGBTQ+ community. On July 10, tenants and members are also eligible to learn more about our new TechTown Ops+ resource, offering dedicated administrative support for small businesses, exclusively for the TechTown community.
Just like the team members here at TechTown are gearing up for some fun happenings, our building members and tenants have their own exciting plans on the horizon. We caught up with four building members and tenants to learn about their goals for the year and how TechTown is helping them make those goals a reality.
Challenge Detroit
Coworking member
Challenge Detroit was created in 2008 as an effort to keep young talent in Detroit and Michigan. The organization’s paid, yearlong fellowship program, which launched in 2012, is the root of Challenge Detroit’s work. Challenge Detroit fellows work for one of the organization’s host company partners, during which they’ll have opportunities to develop skills, connect with mentors and local leaders, form bonds with their fellow cohort members and give back to the community.
Below, Deirdre Groves, executive director and co-founder of Challenge Detroit, shares more.
Deirdre Groves, executive director and co-founder of Challenge Detroit. Photograph courtesy of Challenge Detroit
TechTown Detroit: For those unfamiliar with Challenge Detroit, how would you describe the organization?
Deirdre Groves: Challenge Detroit is a nonprofit organization focused on making a community impact by lifting up nonprofits across our city that are moving Detroit forward. We do that by bringing together a team of fellows each year who work for diverse companies Monday through Thursday and spend every Friday at Challenge Detroit working with these nonprofits through what we call “challenge projects.” The challenge projects are intellectually based and support the nonprofits in advancing their missions.
What are Challenge Detroit’s goals for 2024?
Our challenge projects are the heart of what we do. Each year, we partner with multiple nonprofits with the goal of supporting them in making an impact across the city. Currently, we are working with the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership to help advance their efforts around community and economic development as it relates to the Joe Louis Greenway. Through this project (and all of our projects), one of our main goals is to open the eyes of our fellows and our greater community to the critical work of the nonprofit sector.
How has TechTown supported Challenge Detroit in reaching its goals thus far?
TechTown has been an important and amazing partner for nearly a decade. We bring together our fellows, project partners, board members, stakeholders and [community] leaders at TechTown, utilizing the collaborative, beautiful and energizing workspace on a weekly basis. Our program is rooted in the philosophy of design thinking, so on any given Friday we are taking full advantage of the whiteboard walls, flexible furniture and fixtures, and breakout rooms for small group brainstorming sessions. A bonus is the meaningful connections to like-minded organizations and individuals that inspire and mentor our fellows (and our staff, too!).
Civilla
Building tenant
Civilla is a nonprofit design studio that works with public-servicing institutions to navigate how they work through human-centered design. The organization’s services include user research and strategy, service design, implementation and capacity building, to make sure public institutions are serving the people first. Civilla’s work has even received national recognition. In April, Civilla was mentioned on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” for its work with the State of Michigan on streamlining the renewal process for public benefits.
Here is what Michael Brennan, CEO and co-founder of Civilla, has to say about the organization’s plans.
The Civilla Detroit team operates from an office space inside TechTown Detroit. Photograph courtesy of Civilla Detroit
TechTown Detroit: For those unfamiliar with Civilla, how would you describe the organization?
Michael Brennan: Civilla is a nonprofit design studio dedicated to changing the way our public-serving institutions work through human-centered design. We partner with institutions in public benefits delivery, child welfare, and unemployment insurance – working alongside leaders and staff to create more equitable solutions and services.
What are Civilla’s goals for 2024?
We have quite a few exciting goals for 2024. Some include scaling our online learning course and community, Practica, growing our team to meet the needs of our work, and deepening and widening our impact across states for better access to public benefits.
How has TechTown supported Civilla in reaching its goals thus far?
TechTown has consistently provided a safe environment for our team to show up each and every day. It has provided a network of organizations and individuals to meet and form valued relationships with. We have been at TechTown since the very beginning of our organization. From the original space and administrative support services in 2015 until now, TechTown has been a strong place of encouragement that helps us continue to bring Civilla’s mission to life.
Functional Fluidics
Building tenant
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder that causes red blood cells to become misshapen and break down, which can lead to anemia, infections, pain, fatigue and more. According to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, around 2.5 million people in the U.S. have the sickle cell trait.
Throughout his career, Dr. Patrick Hines, a local pediatric critical care physician and research scientist, has treated patients with serious health conditions resulting from abnormal red blood cell function. His frustration in not having the right diagnostic tools prompted him to create Functional Fluidics, a CLIA-certified diagnostic lab that tests the health of red blood cells.
Hines shares more about Functional Fluidics below and how TechTown is supporting the organization.
Dr. Patrick Hines, founder of Functional Fluidics. Photograph courtesy of Functional Fluidics
TechTown Detroit: For those unfamiliar with Functional Fluidics, how would you describe the business?
Dr. Patrick Hines: Functional Fluidics is a biotech company developing red blood cell health diagnostic platforms that are currently being used by some of the largest medical centers in the U.S., [as well as] the majority of pharmaceutical companies developing red blood cell-modifying therapies. Functional Fluidics has validated the first blood-based biomarkers shown to predict vaso-occlusive crises in sickle cell disease and can be used to monitor patient response to red blood cell modifying therapies.
What are Functional Fluidics’ goals for 2024?
Functional Fluidics’ business goals for 2024 are to successfully execute our contracts with pharma, as well as expand our capabilities as it relates to our proprietary assays.
How has TechTown supported Functional Fluidics in reaching its goals thus far?
Being a part of the TechTown ecosystem has allowed us to connect with resources within the Michigan small business community, as well as the angel investor community.
Visual Wilderness
Coworking member
Whether you’re an aspiring nature photographer or a seasoned one looking to brush up on your skills, Visual Wilderness is a great source to look into. Jay Patel and his wife, Varina, are photographers who produce tutorials on how to capture photographs in nature, which they sell on Visual Wilderness’ website. The Patels also work with other photographers who film tutorials that are also available to purchase on the website. These tutorials range from tips on how to use your camera, to editing photos using various software, to creatively capturing specific environments, such as waterfalls and mountains.
Jay Patel — who lives in Windsor with his wife and travels across the border to use TechTown’s services! — shares more about his business.
Jay (right) and Varina Patel, photographers and founders of Visual Wilderness. Photograph courtesy of Visual Wilderness
TechTown Detroit: For those unfamiliar with Visual Wilderness, how would you describe the business?
Jay Patel: We are a small company; there are only two employees, me and my wife. We are photographers and we travel to exotic locations. [Varina and I] create video tutorials to teach other photographers how to take photos like us. We film a video tutorial, from start to finish, on location. And then we’ll come home and edit the tutorial, put it together as several lessons, sometimes eight or 10 or 12 lessons. And then we put the tutorial online and people can purchase it.
What are some of your goals for Visual Wilderness during 2024?
We are always looking to grow our audience; right now, we supply tutorials to about 60 or 70 countries. And we sell tutorials in two forms. You can purchase individual tutorials or you can subscribe to our streaming service and get all the tutorials for one year. So, our goals are to be able to grow that streaming service so that we can have more subscribers.
How has TechTown supported Visual Wilderness’ goals thus far?
We have quiet rooms to work and to take meetings. I can come in and use the office space to work, edit online videos, write blog posts or create content for our tutorials. So, that is what we use mostly, the technological aspects of TechTown that it provides and the working space that it provides that we need to support our business. We love the front desk people [community ambassadors] at TechTown. They’ve been very friendly; we bounce off ideas about what to do, not just for our business but for technologies that are emerging. So, it’s a very valuable opportunity to network and bounce off ideas to like-minded people.
Are you interested in learning more about TechTown’s flexible workspaces? Explore our coworking members, building amenities and more. You can also register for a free coworking Drop-in Day, which takes place on the last Wednesday of every month.
