U of M Commercial Fund Makes New Investments,Total $90K

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ANN ARBOR — Two Ann Arbor-based healthcare startups have received pre-seed investment funds totaling $90,000 from the University of Michigan’s Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund at the Ross School of Business. 

The fund is a student-led, pre-seed investment fund established to identify, and accelerate the commercialization of ideas generated within the university community and the surrounding area. A team of 25 graduate students manage the fund, and are organized into four investment teams including health care, technology, consumer, and cleantech investments. Each team may invest up to $100,000 per investment in multiple installments in entrepreneurial ideas. The process provides experience for MBA and other graduate students in early stage company formation and evaluation. The fund is part of a series of student-led venture funds offered at Ross, including the Wolverine Venture Fund and Social Venture Fund.

AlertWatch Inc. is a spinoff from the University of Michigan Health System that produces clinical decision support systems for hospitals. Founded in 2011, AlertWatch utilizes different products for patient monitoring in operating rooms and intensive care units by displaying vital data to doctors.

The Fund became aware of AlertWatch through its relationship with U-M’s Office of Technology Transfer,  which was a source of information during the due diligence process.  Since the investment was made in late 2013, AlertWatch has made progress on pilot testing, co-marketing partnerships, and data showing improved health outcomes, and the company learned this month that it has achieved FDA 510k approval status, one of the goals outlined in the fund’s deal with AlertWatch.

AdAdapted offers a platform that automates the  advertising model for companies that want to reach mobile app users via product placement opportunities within mobile games and apps. With AdAdapted, advertisers can launch campaigns across a variety of apps without duplicating efforts of other publishers.

The investment in AdAdapted marks the fund’s first investment in the ad tech sector. Prior to this round, the year-old start-up received financing from the Michigan Micro Loan Fund in October 2012, and won the first place award of $2,000 in the New Business Ideas category of the Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest business plan competition at the Allscripts Client Experience 2013.