Stage of Investment: Idea/Pre-Seed

OU INC is a state-designated SmartZone incubator and technology accelerator focused on transforming industry and university innovations into thriving commercial ventures. Its mission is to fuel regional economic growth and help position Southeast Michigan as a global hub for high-tech companies driven by top talent.

Spartan Innovations is a venture creation subsidiary of the MSU Research Foundation, provides startup services designed to accelerate growth. These include accelerator programs, early-stage funding opportunities, connections to university and corporate partners, mentorship from entrepreneurs-in-residence, as well as workshops, speaker series, pitch events, and networking opportunities.

In October 2014, Invent@NMU opened its doors as a student program of Northern Michigan University (NMU). Our goal is to provide an experiential learning opportunity for students as well as to help regional inventors and entrepreneurs take their product or business ideas to market or assist existing business owners looking to innovate from within. Here, […]

The MSU Innovation Center is the hub for University/Corporate partnerships at Michigan State University. We bring cutting-edge ideas to the marketplace by leveraging MSU’s intellectual property through corporate-sponsored research, licensing MSU technologies for commercial use at existing companies, and starting new companies based on the innovations that occur across MSU’s campus every day. In addition, […]

Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) is one of the nation’s top academic research clusters and the leading engine for innovation in Michigan and the Great Lakes region. An alliance of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, the URC focuses on increasing economic prosperity and connecting Michigan to the world. In […]

Starting Gate is a student business accelerator that gives WMU students rich and valuable resources to develop their startup companies. Since its inception in 2013, the program has helped over 55 student companies prepare and launch their startup. The free program is open to all WMU students and runs across both fall and winter semesters, […]

The University of Michigan’s Economic Growth Institute leverages the University of Michigan’s expertise, research, technologies, and other resources to work with small- and medium-sized enterprises to foster innovation and boost local, state, and national economies.

At Eastern Michigan University (EMU), much of the research has the end goal of developing or improving a product with commercial potential. The Technology Transfer Office at EMU is responsible for business engagement and dissemination of University-developed technology into the marketplace, much of which has broad application in industry. Numerous opportunities for collaboration on research […]

Lake Superior State University (LSSU) Product Development Center offers prototyping and engineering services, provided by students and managed by administrative professional staff with extensive industrial, manufacturing and entrepreneurial experience. LSSU engineering students get real world project experience, and clients benefit from economical engineering services. The related LSSU Business Development Center can provide business plan support, […]

The MTRAC Innovation Hub for Life Sciences at the University of Michigan is a grant program supported by the University of Michigan and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation with the goal of providing mid-stage, translational research funding and resources to identify, nurture, and “fast forward” projects with a high potential for commercial success. Projects funded […]