In sports, buzzer beaters and record breaking games mark the arrival of a legend. In music, sold out shows and platinum records announce the anointment of a diva. But what metrics indicate the rebirth of a once iconic city? Surely it isn’t a staggering decline in population, or the number of abandoned buildings. It can’t be free falling employment numbers or chart topping crime rates.
   
Detroit hasn’t arrived, and it might be a while. But maybe not as long as you think. That’s pretty obvious to the hundreds of people that gathered in Detroit’s Eastern Market last Thursday, April 28th. 

Funded by Night
Funded by Night took place in Shed 5 in Detroit’s Eastern Market. Food stands, vegetable crates and flower pots were replaced with budding entrepreneurs, investors, executives, students, and other creative-types. A non-traditional setting for a gathering of intellectuals, innovators and market movers, but an appropriate one nonetheless. It’s widely known that some of the best companies are formed when a few guys get together with an idea, in a garage with a white board and a dog. Although there were no dogs at the event, we were absolutely in a garage.
 
Shed 5 at Eastern Market is raw.  It was an appropriate venue for the audience, the topic, and Detroit. Surrounded by no glitz and no glamour, the ideas stole the spotlight. 25 companies pitched and demonstrated their products, each feeling equally deserved of a $100,000 investment from two Detroit-based investors.
 
But only one startup would win the investment that night, and that was Gumshoe, a gaming and storytelling platform on top of existing social interactions. Gumshoe is a platform that weaves everyday social interactions (checkins, posts, friendships) into rich and personalized stories inside a gaming world of hard-nosed investigators, hidden agendas, double-crosses and intrigue.

The company is headed up by Dwayne Raupp, Katharine Cramer and James Vreeland, all seasoned digital veterans. Both Dwayne and James founded Me-trics (a TechCrunch 50 company), and have been passionate builders of engaging digital experiences for numerous Fortune 100 brands. In addition to their corporate careers, they teach Interface Design at College for Creative Studies, helping bring forward the newest batch of digital thinkers from Detroit. The investment may now afford them the ability to concentrate on Gumshoe full-time.

Coming in at a very, very close second and third were Pittsburgh based Delirium and Ann Arbor based Own Point of Sale. Delirium provides a dead simple way to sync contacts across multiple locations. Own Point of Sale is an impressive cloud-based point-of-sale system for coffeehouses.

“You’re all winners”
It may be the worst thing to hear, especially in lieu of not taking home a  $100,000 investment. But in the case of Funded by Night, it’s a slightly different story. Investors from both coasts walked the floor, eyeing potential investment opportunities and giving feedback to eager startups. Cards were exchanged and follow-up conversations were scheduled. Perhaps they’ll be funded by next week?

But most important of all, long lasting relationships were forged at the event. Sure conversation can be initiated digitally via Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter, but the type of ad hoc relationships formed spontaneously at Funded by Night would have arguably never have taken place otherwise. Joe Sprovieri, founder of Chicago-based ReadyPing commented “(We) received some serious investor interest and have a potential business opportunity to explore as a result.” Similarly, Ross Hinkle, founder of New Orleans based Liveset shared with us that he met someone that has direct ties to a record label who intends to introduce Ross to the powers that be. Even more powerful was an Ann Arbor based Venture Capital Firm who met a few individuals interested in investing in their fund.

(How were you affected? Comment below!)

Detroit City
It was an honest weekend. Albeit secondary to the event itself, leaving people with a positive impression of Detroit was supremely important. The event brought folks from the suburbs, and all over the country to see Detroit in both its vulnerable and most promising states. From the cracked concrete of Shed 5, to the grey weather packing a wind that relentlessly punched the garage doors of the shed - it was an honest representation of what Detroit is.  Separately, the renovated Book Cadillac and the warm Cliff Bell’s jazz bar, hugged by dilapidated buildings, where trumpets chirped and the spotlight shined, gave our audience an idea of what Detroit can be again.

Founders John Laramie (ADstruc) and Lauren Leto (Bnter & TFLN), both from Michigan and now living in NYC, were excited to see what was going in their home town. Both, encouraged by what they were seeing, implored the audience to keep the momentum going. Lauren even commented, “I want to move home!” during a panel she participated in. It’s this type of enthusiasm that myself, Jordan Wolfe and Jeff Epstein were so proud to facilitate.

The Founders of Google and Groupon are Michigan natives who went on to build their empires in other cities. If our movement can sustain momentum, the brilliant people that call Detroit home will change the world from within our state lines.