Tech

California-Bound: Detroit Startup Advances To Google Contest Finale

March 01, 2014, 3:25 PM by  Alan Stamm

For Itai Ben-Gal and key executives at his downtown Detroit technology firm, a trip west next month may feel like reaching a professional peak -- and not just because they'll be in Mountain View, Calif.

The team from iRule will visit the Googleplex, as Google's headquarters is known, to compete against app developers from six other cities, Bridget Vis reports for Crain's.

The startup, which created an app that allows consumers to use smartphones and tablets to control devices such as lights and TVs, will join the other winners of Google Demo Day events in April in Silicon Valley, Calif. Demo Days, held in seven cities across the country, is part of the tech company's Google for Entrepreneurs Program.

Detroit's representative to Google Demo Days was picked this week in a seven-candidate runoff organized by Grand Circus Detroit. The April 1-2 national event is a chance to meet Google engineers and product experts, as well as potential investors. 

The local winner, founded five years ago by Ben-Gal and Victor Nemirovsky, has offices the Madison Building downtown."iRule has grown from two geeks in a basement into a business," the firm's website says.,

"We're truly humbled and excited by this opportunity," the founders say on their Facebook page.

Its hot product is a universal remote app for business and personal use on iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch and Android devices. Users can create a custom interface, upload images and share layouts with other users.

Ben-Gal, president and CEO, is an engineer from Israel. Nemirovsky, chief technology officer, is a software developer from Russia.

Earlier at Deadline Detroit:

Meet Detroit's Sweet Seven As Google Demo Day Reaches The Final Round, Feb. 22

iRule at work in Bronx, N.Y., bar:


Read more:  Crain's Detroit Business


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