U-M student start-ups rake in $106,000 in seed capital grants

A number of student-led start-ups at the University of Michigan have recently received thousands of dollars in seed-capital grants from the Michigan Business Challenge competition and Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Grants.

A total of 20 start-ups landed $106,000. Michigan Business Challenge awarded $54,300 in prize money while the Dare to Dream gave grants worth $1,500 to $10,000 to 15 start-ups.

"Some of them are pretty raw ideas," says Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan. "Others are working on the feasibility study. Others are preparing for market."

Among those winners is Regenerate, which markets onsite anaerobic digesters for food service operators. It was the runner-up for Best Business in the Michigan Business Challenge ($10,000), winner of the Erb Award for Sustainability ($7,500), a Dare to Dream grant ($10,000), and an Ann Arbor SPARK Bootcamp scholarship. Regenerate also recently took the top place in the Michigan Clean Energy Prize competition ($25,000) earlier this year.

"Regenerate has come a long ways," Faley says. "They're in the right space at the right time. They could pull this off."

He adds that this year's student-led start-ups now offer a wider variety of ideas and technologies. For instance, Faley points out that five years ago almost all the contestants were software- or medical device-centric start-ups. This year features start-ups specializing in logistics, clean-tech, websites, foreign languages, and market research, on top of the normal software and medical device companies.

"We're seeing a whole lot of social entrepreneurship," Faley says.

Source: Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.