Startups Succeed With Support From Made at Michigan

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With the help of entrepreneurial experts at Made at Michigan, three University of Michigan graduate students have created Canopy, an online application that allows users to utilize a step-by-step process to communicate their end-of-life wishes to friends and family. Canopy is one of more than 60 ventures run by university students with support from the institution’s entrepreneurial programs, according to the second annual Made at Michigan report, which was published today.

“It’s been an awesome experience to bring to life what we’re learning in the classroom,” says Elisabeth Michel, a Canopy co-founder and a student at the School of Public Health.

Michel and her partners, Ann Duong and Brandon Keelean, joined forces through Innovation in Action: Solutions to Real-World Challenges, a five-month challenge led by the School of Public Health that aims to address real-world problems.

The report is produced by Innovate Blue and other university organizations and highlights other ventures over a broad range of disciplines, including for-profits, social ventures, and new products and services with market potential.

“Whether launching a nonprofit organization to help children study science or working with our expert faculty to develop a device to improve disease detection, U-M students use their entrepreneurial skills to develop innovative solutions to the problems we face as a society,” says Mark Schlissel, university president.

Other ventures highlighted in the report include:

  • AIM Tech: A medical technology company whose first product, NeoVent, is a no power, easy-to-use respiratory therapy device designed for premature newborns.
  • CellScope Retina: A portable smartphone-based camera that decreases the barrier for retinal screening for eye diseases.
  • SAHI Cosmetics: Makeup that is custom-designed for women of medium skin tones who are underserved by the cosmetics industry.
  • Sage & Grace: Endeavors to shake up the funeral industry so that those with limited resources can better plan for end-of-life issues.

A full copy of the report can be read here.