Xconomy: “Serial Entrepreneur Jeff Williams To Lead Life Magnetics”
Thomas Lee 4/25/11
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Arboretum Ventures in Ann Arbor, MI, is once again teaming up with serial CEO Jeff Williams to try to spin a University of Michigan-bred company into investor gold.
This time Williams will lead Life Magnetics, a startup developing a desktop diagnostic device that uses disposable cartridges to rapidly test bacterial infections. The device will determine how bacteria responds to antibiotics within eight hours of sample collection, the company says.
Life Magnetics was the first tenant to occupy the university’s new Venture Accelerator, a former Pfizer research and development center located at the school’s North Campus Research Complex.
The team of Arboretum Ventures and Williams has proven to be a winning combination twice before. Becton, Dickinson & Co. recently paid $480 million to acquire Accuri Cytometers and HandyLabs, two Arboretum-funded startups guided by Williams.