Dare to Dream grants send $28.5K in seed capital to U-M start-ups

Nearly 30 student-led start-ups at the University of Michigan are splitting close to $30,000 in seed capital grants from the U-M's Ross School of Business Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.

The Dare to Dream and Venture Shaping grant programs give out seed capital grants that range in size from $500 to $10,000. The types of companies range from start-ups in the health-care, clean-tech and software sectors, among others. Some of the winners include:

- Park-n-Rent, an alternative car rental service using owner's cars for service while the owner is traveling
- Mutable Vaccines, which is developing technology for creating universal vaccines that develop broad protective immunity in individuals
- OraGen, which makes a simple test to detect any susceptibility or early existence of oral cancer
- Torch Hybrid, a software service provider for marine hybrid-electric powertrain development and energy management

"We're trying to get them from identifying a problem to operating their own businesses," says Sarika Gupta, a program manager at U-M's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. "We want them to leave school with a fully functional business if they want to do so."

Source: Sarika Gupta, a program manager at University of Michigan's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies
Writer: Jon Zemke

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