New Eagle

Ann Arbor-based New Eagle L.L.C. is finalizing a proposal to apply for a $250,000 loan from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s Pre-Seed Capital Fund to fund its development of electric control systems for electric and hybrid vehicles.

New Eagle's core product is its MotoHawk software platform, which uses complex algorithms to manage how electricity is used to power a hybrid or electric vehicle. New Eagle also integrates the technology into electronic control units installed in vehicles.

If successful, the loan would go toward a specific control to manage electricity distribution to vehicle systems that control driving dynamics like anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and traction control systems in electric vehicles.

“We've identified, over the last six months, that there's a hole in the market of the management of electric vehicle systems,” said company founder Richard Swortzel.

That hole is with smaller, more niche electric vehicle companies like Oak Park-based Azure Dynamics Corp., a current New Eagle customer which engineers electric and hybrid powertrain systems for existing vehicles; and smaller electric car startups like Tesla Motors Inc. and Fisker Automotive Inc.

Global automakers developing electric vehicles can pour millions of dollars into developing their own control systems in-house, Swortzel said. So the best option for New Eagle is to target a smaller segment of the market.

“We're in a unique situation with the movement toward electric and hybrid vehicles. It is creating new opportunities and businesses where it will create new startup firms; this is one of those cases,” said Mike Wall, an auto analyst with CSM Worldwide Inc., a unit of IHS Inc. “In terms of what they're doing, the technology is similar in their design to what traditional players are doing.

“It will create more opportunities, but the challenge is that more traditional players will see this, too, and will try to protect their position in the sector.”

The pre-seed capital application comes after the company has seen some success in recent months. After winning a small loan from the Eastern Washtenaw County Micro Loan Fund in November, the company has hired 10 employees to its small core staff of about eight and won additional bank financing and private investment. Swortzel said since the company is private, he didn't want to divulge its current revenue.

“We're getting the product distribution going, the product development and the application engineering are all kind of getting legs behind them, and this new space has allowed us to bring on a couple senior staff,” Swortzel said.

New Eagle moved its software engineering operations into a roughly 3,000-square-foot office on North Main Street in Ann Arbor. The company also has about 4,000 square feet of garage space it shares with electric scooter maker Current Motors Co. in downtown Ann Arbor.

But New Eagle's plan is to eventually consolidate its operations into a larger facility in Washtenaw County, Swortzel said.

The startup currently supplies hybrid electric vehicle powertrain developers Azure Dynamics, Anderson, Ind.-based Bright Automotive Inc. and others.

Reference: Crain's Detroit Business
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