The Zell Lurie Founders Fund Makes $100,000 Seed Investment in MINDWELL 

The Zell Founders Fund, a student-led venture fund in the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan, announced today that it has made a $100,000 investment in MINDWELL, a plant-based jerky company. The funds will be used to expand the business through investments in working capital and marketing. Founded in early 2017 by Allyson Stewart, MBA ’17, and Bridget Henley, […]

StreetLight Data raises $10 mln from Osage University Partners

StreetLight Data, Inc., the mobility analytics company that brings real-world travel patterns to light, today announced that it has closed $10 Million in Series C funding. StreetLight Data’s proprietary solution, StreetLight InSight, is an online SaaS tool designed for Smart Cities and the transportation industry. StreetLight InSight combines big data with processing and industry-targeted analytic […]

University of Michigan’s $10M funding program aims to encourage big, darling ideas

The University of Michigan College of Engineering is kicking off a $10 million funding program that’s designed to encourage the pursuit of big, daring ideas. The Ann Arbor school says Thursday the projects include artificial photosynthesis in making a sustainable vehicle fuel; a new approach to making “nanobiotics” to fight drug-resistant bacteria; new ways to take carbon […]

Madison patient-data reporting company raises $15M 

A Madison company is planning to use $15 million in recently raised funds to expand commercialization of its tech-based medical management platform. Investors participating in the round of funding for HealthMyne included Madison’s Venture Investors, the largest venture capital fund in Wisconsin, 4490 Ventures, another Madison venture fund, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the patent and licensing organization […]

Pitt Marks Another Record-breaking Year in Innovation 

A disposable surgical retractor system that decreases time in the operating room. An antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning that removes potentially deadly CO from the blood more effectively than current hyperbaric treatment. An augmented-reality patient simulator that enables health care trainees to practice and perfect clinical skills safely and on-demand. These and 20 other innovative and impactful discoveries — all developed […]

Emerging source of innovation funding?Penn State University launches new donor-advised fund

Penn State has partnered with TIAA Charitable to provide alumni and friends with a leading-edge, donor-advised fund, the Penn State Giving Fund, which they can use to enhance their overall philanthropy while supporting the University. Donors can open a Penn State Giving Fund beginning today. “The University is enthused to partner with TIAA Charitable to […]

Joint Iowa, Iowa State research teams win seed grants to launch bioscience projects 

In an effort to spur greater collaboration between bioscience researchers at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, the two schools have awarded seed grants to help investigators build teams, collect data, grow projects and win grants. This is the first year of the seed grant program supported by the Office of Research and Economic Development at […]

Michigan MTRAC Innovation Hub awards $700,000 for advanced transportation projects

Three autonomous driving technologies are among 10 projects to receive approximately $700,000 in investments from the University of Michigan MTRAC Innovation Hub program. The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization statewide Innovation Hub for Advanced Transportation is backing the products that have potential to reach the transportation market, the program announced Monday. The MTRAC program is […]

Purple Arch Wants to Back More Northwestern Alumni Startups With 2nd Fund

Purple Arch is a venture fund for Northwestern alumni, by Northwestern alumni. And the young VC firm is already raising its next fund to back more entrepreneurs that bleed purple and black. Purple Arch, founded in 2016, closed its first fund last year. The $5 million fund backed 20 Northwestern University-affiliated startups, including Chicago startups like […]