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Innovation competition a launching pad for Michigan’s next big startup success

Shot of the Cobo Center from across the river. The SAE World Congress is being held there this week.
Bernt Rostad
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Flickr - http://bit.ly/1xMszCg
The 7th Annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition will take place at the Cobo Center in Detroit on November 3.

This Thursday, three dozen Michigan start-up companies will compete for up to $1 million in prizes. In addition, they will earn critical exposure to venture capital investors, both regional and national.

They will be competing at the 7th Annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. Organizers say that Accelerate Michigan prize winners have created over a thousand jobs and have raised over $500 million in venture capital.
Danny Ellis, the CEO of SkySpecs, won $500,000 in the competition in 2014 and he joined Stateside to talk about the competition. His company develops software to automate drones for large structural inspections, like wind turbines. 

Listen to the full interview above to hear how Ellis' company has developed since winning the competition in 2014 and what the state of innovation is in the state of Michigan. 

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