U-M's Dare to Dream program awards another $40K to student start-ups!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

A handful of start-ups that are dreaming big took a step towards reality now that they have received seed funding from the Dare to Dream program at the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

The program gave $40,000 in seed capital grants to promising start-ups at the university and in the Ann Arbor area. Thirteen companies received the awards and also tenancy at the TechArb incubator for student-founded businesses. Among the big winners were Bebaroo, a subscription-based rental service for baby clothes, and OWN, which develops comprehensive point-of-sale software for coffee houses. Both businesses received $10,000 each.

The Dare to Dream program is part of a growing entrepreneurial-based curriculum that focuses on what the school calls "action-based learning." Those programs include the Wolverine Venture Fund and the Social Venture Fund, which are run by students and make significant investments in real, growing companies with ties to the university or Ann Arbor.

"It's one thing to work on a case study and it's another thing to work on your own business idea," says Paul Kirsch, associate director of the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.

The Dare to Dream program distributes up to $100,000 per academic year to students at the university who are creating their own innovative businesses. It has awarded more than $700,000 to over 1,000 student entrepreneurs since it began in 2002.

Source: Paul Kirsch, associate director of the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Writer: Jon Zemke

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