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Posted on Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 5:58 a.m.

Big data startup DeepField moves into Ann Arbor's growing tech corridor

By Ben Freed

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Chief data scientist Naim Falandino shows of DeepField's new office space on East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com

Ann Arbor’s “tech hub” on East Liberty Street added another startup to its roster when big data company DeepField moved into office space above the Michigan Theater.

DeepField, a company that analyzes data from the “cloud” for large corporations, was founded in the Tech Brewery on Jones Drive but has outgrown the startup incubator. The company has been growing steadily since its founding in late 2011 and plans to be cash flow-positive by the end of 2013.

“We’re still just under 15 people, but we just hired two people last week and we’re looking to add another 10 in the next 12 months,” chief science officer Naim Falandino said.

“We settled on this location because it allowed us to sign a two-year lease so if at that point we need to expand even further we will be able to.”

Faladino said that for the footprint the company was looking for, less than 2,000 square feet, there were plenty of options available downtown.

“We’ve been looking for the last three months or so, we’ve had the feeling that it was time to move out of the brewery as we continued to grow,” he said.

“We were checking out places almost every week, sometimes a few places in one week. The major challenge for us was finding the right lease terms.”

The stretch of East Liberty Street between State Street and Division Street has become the hot place to be for technology companies thanks to the presence of Google, Barracuda Networks, Menlo Innovations, and more recently Prime Research. The area also is home to a number of smaller startups and the University of Michigan’s TechArb incubator.

“We wanted to be downtown near the other startups and the tech companies because it’s good to have that community and support like what we had when we were in the Tech Brewery,” Falandino said.

“It’s also a recruiting tool to be here because it has great places right around here to eat and go out after work. It’s just a positive thing to be a part of the vibrant downtown space.”

DeepField worked with the Southfield office of Plante Moran to find their eventual home. Randy Maas of Swisher Commercial represented the Michigan Theater in the deal. For now, the office is spartan, with just a few desks, chairs and computers in a carpeted room, but Falandino said that will change soon.

“I’m working on getting a couch first, and we’ll get some toys in here eventually,” Falandino said.

“But there won’t be a ping-pong table. [Co-founder] Craig Labovitz can’t stand the noise that they make in an office.”

The data company is venture backed and has raised money from a range of funds including Ann Arbor-based RPM Ventures. The company attracted attention from a number of prominent technology media outlets when it publicly launched its product at the end of July 2012.

The company’s technology allows other corporations to map the “flow” of information on the Internet to see how different types of data points get from point A to point B.

“With our analytics we could tell you how many people are watching Netflix on a Playstation 3 at any given moment,” Falandino said in an earlier interview.

This information can be extremely valuable to companies that rely on smooth flow of information within their internal cloud servers as well as across various Internet servers.

Falandino said that DeepField is at a "critical growth phase right now" and could be looking to expand again in the near future.

"We want to stay in Ann Arbor, though, we really like it here," he said.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2

Comments

drew_blows

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 4:23 p.m.

Is Deep Field getting a sweetheart parking deal? Someone has to pay for these cadillac benefits the private sector is getting.

An Arborigine

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 4:07 p.m.

Here we go "PlaceMaking" again!

Billy

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 2:08 p.m.

"The company's technology allows other corporations to map the "flow" of information on the Internet to see how different types of data points get from point A to point B." Sorry...this smacks of dot.com flameout...as do several of the other tech companies that have moved in recently. I'm not saying that's where they're headed for sure...but that's just what this sounds like. I suppose a good sign would be if none of them are using government grants for their startup capital...because that was as HUGE red flag a decade ago.

Morris Thorpe

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 2:07 p.m.

>>This information can be extremely valuable to companies that rely on smooth flow of information within their internal cloud servers as well as across various Internet servers.<< Admit it, Ben. You talked to them for an hour or two and still have no idea what they do : )

Morris Thorpe

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 2:38 p.m.

Thanks for that, Ben. I must say they do love that Netflix/PS3 example! Time to come up with a new one, fellas.

Ben Freed

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 2:31 p.m.

Thank you for your confidence in my cognitive skills Morris. I actually have spoken to DeepField on multiple occasions and I think I have a pretty good grasp on their business model. You can read more about it here: http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/former-arbor-networks-leaders-launch-new-ann-arbor-based-cloud-data-company/

Brad

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 12:09 p.m.

"Tech hub"? Yeah, sure. Just keep beating that drum.

GoNavy

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 3:11 p.m.

Brad, we're "branding" Ann Arbor so we can keep it hip and cool.

seldon

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 1:03 p.m.

Whatever the goofy name of the week may be, the fact remains that there are a lot of tech jobs around here.

Brad

Fri, Mar 29, 2013 : 12:40 p.m.

Also "tech corridor"!