News

New Report Shows Michigan Lagging Neighboring States on Crucial Funding Support for Entrepreneurs and Startups

5/25/2023
• Coalition of venture development organizations call for creation of Michigan Startup Evergreen Fund • Seed money from State government critical to keeping pace, increasing the number of startups in Michigan, stopping exodus of business from the state For more information, please visit the ID Ventures hub here. Detroit –...

Accelerate Blue Fund Two-Year Anniversary Celebration

5/23/2023
On Tuesday, May 16, 2023, Innovation Partnerships celebrated the second anniversary of the launch of the Accelerate Blue Fund (ABF). The event was hosted by ABF Strategic Advisory Board members, Don and Anaïs Hicks, at their venue the Blue Llama Jazz Club. CEOs of Accelerate Blue Fund portfolio startups were...

New University Program Director Hired by National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)

5/15/2023
The National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative focused on creating new communities of innovators to solve defense problems, is excited to announce the appointment of its newest UM-NSIN University Program Director, Marvin D. Yates, Sr. As University Program Director, Yates will work closely with U-M...

Licensing of U-M Startup Arborsense Celebrated with Bell Ringing Ceremony

5/15/2023
After years of delay due to the pandemic, on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Innovation Partnerships finally had the chance to celebrate the licensing of the biochemical startup Arborsense with the ringing of the startup bell. Arborsense was founded by Girish Kulkarni, Xudong Fan, Mark Ilgen and Zhaohui Zhong, and has...

U-M Startup Taza Aya Awarded $1M Grant from USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture

5/15/2023
Taza Aya, a new University of Michigan startup focused on non-thermal plasma devices for personal respiratory protection and preventing airborne spread of disease, has recently been awarded a $1 million grant from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture. This grant comes in response to the USDA’s Meat and...

U-M Startup Decimal Code Celebrates Licensing with Bell Ringing Ceremony

5/3/2023
On May 2, 2023, Innovation Partnerships celebrated the licensing of University of Michigan (U-M) software startup Decimal Code with the ringing of the startup bell. Several of Decimal Code’s founders and key members were in attendance both in-person and virtually, including co-founder and chief executive officer Joey Panella, co-founder and...

MTRAC Life Sciences Innovation Hub at U-M Awards $1M to Accelerate Six High-Tech Biomedical Innovations

4/26/2023
The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Life Sciences Innovation Hub at the University of Michigan (U-M) recently awarded nearly $1 million to support and advance six translational research projects with high commercial potential.

Impact Newsletter – February 2023

2/28/2023
Our February newsletter highlights the ongoing impact of the Technology Transfer Talent Network (T3N). T3N is a long-running collaboration between universities across Michigan and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, focused on building statewide capacity for research commercialization. This award-winning program is a major contributor to our region’s success at launching university startup companies with high-growth potential.

Impact Newsletter – January 2023

1/31/2023
Innovation Partnerships is welcoming 2023 with enthusiastic optimism. 2022 concluded with a number of successes, including the return of Celebrate Invention as an in-person event. It was a joy to be able to reconnect in person with our faculty inventors and entrepreneurial ecosystem partners to celebrate all that we have accomplished together. This newsletter shares a few of the highlights from that memorable day as well as other stories from the U-M innovation ecosystem.

How T3N Helps Make Commercialization
at Michigan Universities Possible

1/31/2023
The state of Michigan-funded Technology Transfer Talent Network (T3N) removes crucial barriers to commercializing university innovations and growing the local economy. Ten years in, T3N’s impact on those measures is undeniable and the resolve to continue creating opportunity is stronger than ever.

NewHaptics works to Commercialize Multiline Braille and Graphical Tactile Display, Nicknamed the “Holy Braille” Project

1/30/2023
When Alex Russamano began to study microfluidics he never expected his research would be so important to so many people. Then Alex met Sile O’Modhrain, Associate Professor of Performing arts Technology and his life and research became mission driven to improve the lives of blind or visually impaired people. Alex...

Great Lakes Discovery to Facilitate University of Michigan Researcher to Pursue a Therapeutic Treatment for Systemic Inflammation

1/27/2023
Great Lakes Discovery, the collaboration between Deerfield Management and the University of Michigan, will help facilitate Dr. David Markovitz M.D.’s lab to pursue a therapeutic treatment for systemic inflammation through the new exploratory biologics initiative.  David Markovitz is a Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases who...