Entrepreneurs
Find your next venture
Looking to build your next successful startup around transformative U-M innovations? Let us connect you to technologies and research discoveries that will solve the world’s greatest challenges. Discover our Startup Incubator and secure a dedicated lab and office space in close proximity to U-M Ventures resources, entrepreneurs, and mentors. Or explore funding opportunities and connections that can guide you through the startup journey.
Get Connected
The Ventures team at Innovation Partnerships offers a variety of resources through our connections with University, public, and private partners. Start accessing insights from these connections today.
Connect with usStartup Incubator
The Innovation Partnerships Startup Incubator provides resources to qualified U-M startups. The Incubator offers flexible leases for world-class lab and office space in the U-M North Campus Research Complex. Tenants are provided with concierge service and networking opportunities to accelerate their ventures.
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Services and Resources
Mentors-in-Residence
Created in 2008, the Mentor-in-Residence (MIR) program was a direct response to a demonstrated need for experienced business professionals to assist with the multiple startup projects in the U-M pipeline. Innovation Partnerships’ Mentors-in-Residence assist with the raising of startup capital, identifying and connecting startup founders with talent including executives, the identification of early customers and partners, general business, commercial, and financial strategies, business structure and planning and other valuable services. The MIR team is composed of experienced business and investment professionals in a variety of industries and are eager to help you build your startup company.
Meet our mentorsMTRAC
Translational research funding is key early-stage grant money to enable the transition from successful academic research to an innovation that is sufficiently developed, de-risked, and on the path to commercialization. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has provided funding for five MTRAC Translational Hubs across the state. Innovation Partnerships manages two hubs, MTRAC for Life Sciences and MTRAC for Advanced Transportation, and collaborates with hubs run by other institutions for Advanced Applied Materials, Advanced Computing and AgBio.
Learn more about MTRAC fundingAccelerate Blue Fund
The Accelerate Blue Fund (ABF) is an early stage venture fund that exclusively invests in University of Michigan (U-M) licensed IP startups, managed by the Innovation Partnerships Ventures team.
The goal of Accelerate Blue is to bridge the funding gap between initial launch and angel/VC funding for startups based on University of Michigan intellectual property. The Fund is an opportunity to further enhance U-M’s leadership position in research, technology innovation and commercialization by creating a critical new resource to support U-M startups. In addition to risk tolerant early stage capital, ABF provides extensive connections to other investors, business mentoring and IP support through the U-M Innovation Partnerships licensing team.
Learn more about ABF