Applebaum Dare to Dream Report, 2017-2018 Academic Year

2017-2018 ACADEMIC YEAR

DARE TO DREAM PROGRAM REPORT

EUGENE APPLEBAUM FAMILY FOUNDATION

DARING TO

DREAM

Photo by Kashira Dowridge

T

hanks to the endowed gifts of the Eugene Applebaum Family Foundation, emerging entrepreneurs from multiple schools across the University of Michigan (U-M) are bringing their business ideas to fruition through Dare to Dream, a flagship program offered through the Stephen M. Ross School of Business’ Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. Offered to both undergraduate and graduate students and student teams, Dare to Dream provides three levels and phases of grant support, workshops, and coaching sessions to help students shape, assess, and pitch their envisioned businesses. So, whether students are just starting out with a preliminary business idea, or they are ready to develop a concrete business plan and formal investor pitch, they can receive valuable support and mentorship through one or more of these Dare to Dream grant opportunities: 1. SHAPING GRANT ($500): The Mayleben Venture Shaping grant phase takes students through the process of constructing a viable business, which is defined as a differentiated and sustainable venture that holds commercial promise and can be launched. Once the business construct is completed, teams may apply for a Dare to Dream Assessment grant to evaluate the feasibility of their business.

2. ASSESSMENT GRANT ($1,500): The Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Assessment grants are for students with a proposed business that is selling a unique product or service with a clear market need. In this phase, teams assess the feasibility of their proposed business. If students determine that the business merits investing further resources, and they commit to launching the venture, they are encouraged to pursue an Integration grant to create a full business plan.

3. INTEGRATION GRANT (up to $5,000): With support from the Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Integration grants, student teams write a business plan and create an investor pitch.

By supporting their start-up ventures, the Dare to Dream program is teaching students valuable lessons about entrepreneurship. And, considering that one-third of Dare to Dream participants become entrepreneurs after they graduate, the program is clearly helping to foster successful business ventures and economic activity on multiple scales.

Covering both the Fall 2017 and Winter 2018 terms, and encompassing entrepreneurs from multiple academic disciplines and business interests, the following pages include alphabetical listings of Dare to Dream grant recipients for all three grant phases (per term). Thanks to the Dare to Dream three-phase process, several of the teams were able to receive sequential grants­­­­—giving them the support they needed to keep bringing their ideas to life. Enjoy learning about the innovative student-led ventures that came out of this unique and valuable program.

Percentage of students who participate in the program who become entrepreneurs after they graduate

One-Third

2017-2018 DARE TO DREAM Grant-supported Ventures

The Adelie team, which grew to three members in Winter 2018 (Phase 2).

FALL 2017 - PHASE 1: Mayleben Venture Shaping Grants ($500) • Adelie is a digital platform that seamlessly manages the logistics of parental leave for working parents. Stef Rubinstein (MBA ‘19), Vanessa Lynskey (MBA ‘19).

• BidToWed provides a reverse auction format to connect vendors to consumers who are planning an event, specifically weddings to start. Dale Jarosz (MBA ‘19).

• Brandbox is a cloud-based platform that enables large companies to collaboratively create, track, and share marketing assets through one easy-to-use online platform. David Ellis (MBA ‘18).

• Deckster is a fantasy football app that enhances the way football is watched by combining sports betting and fantasy football to create a multi-layered experience that keeps fans engaged during the slower moments of football. Parth Valecha (BBA ‘20), Anup Diwakar (CS ‘20).

• Deoxylytics is a software company devoted to successfully implementing personalized medicine.

Anjan Saha (PhD ‘20).

• Dough is a closed-loop bank that connects spending to environmental impact and encourages increased savings utilizing a gamified experience to “nudge” customers toward saving or investing in more sustainable practices. Catalina Kaiyoorawongs (MBA/MA ‘18), Yahya Bajwa (MPP ‘18), Alfredo Novoa (MHI ‘18).

• EarthIM provides dumpsters that automatically identify and sort trash and recycling on-site. Michael London (MBA/MS ‘20).

• Fun Motion This IT-based wellness service uses smartphone applications, wearable devices, and motion capture. Naoto Kabe (MBA ‘19), Abhi Dua (MBA ‘19).

• Gaea provides low-cost genetic counseling for breeders to assist precision breeding and improve the quality of the animal/plant offspring. Joshua Vo (PhD ‘20), Trang Nguyen (DDS), Bradley Salvatore (MS ‘17).

• Graduates Unbound specializes in student loan refinancing. Matt Stelmach (MBA ‘19), Andrew Darlington (JD ‘18).

• Holly Keith makes women feel powerful through luxurious, high-quality lingerie in a size that’s right for them. Holly Meyers (MBA ‘19).

• Kebun Kita is a social enterprise that focuses on improving the Indonesian mango farmer’s livelihood through community capacity building and sustainable food production practices. Nadia Putri (MBA ‘19).

• Machine Capital is a real-time Artificial Intelligence (AI) stock-trading service that allows anyone to invest any amount of money. The AI service can also automatically trade stocks based on media headlines, tweets, SEC filings, etc. Cedric Bernard (EE ‘21).

• MedKairos (Lesion Analytics) uses computer vision software to standardize the thyroid biopsy quality control process. Michael Moore (MD ‘20).

• Minerva Food Systems is a Nespresso-like machine that produces customizable, ready-to-eat bowls of nutritious, natural food. Perfect for the budget-conscious, time-constrained, mindful eater.

Steffan Bankier (MBA ‘19).

• Peerstachio (P2P) is a peer-to-peer learning and social networking website for undergraduate college students and high school seniors transitioning into college. Scarlett Ong Ui Chern (BBA ‘19), Cristian Guillen (BS ‘19).

• Quirk (Kraken Foods) is a food company with a motto of “eat ugly, be healthy.” Kiley Judge (CS ‘17), Rahul Agrawal Bejarano (CS ‘19).

• Rose’s Textiles makes and sells fabric and clothing made from recycled and waste materials. Gillian Yerington (BBA/BFA ‘20).

• SharePower is a platform that gives investors valuable information about board members. Kiran Prasad (CHE ‘18), John Schaefer (BS/CS ‘18).

• Sprouts is a meal prep kit for kids. Jackie Smith (MBA ‘19).

• Streamline helps to streamline the ordering process for ski and snowboard shops and ski resorts so retail stores can order wholesale products all in one location. Philip Ruffini (BBA ‘19).

• The Humanitarian Map is an online interactive tool that allows outreach workers to depict exactly where they are working in a specific region and centralize project insight for other stakeholders. Ali Ahmed (BBA ‘20), Rob Lawrence (BBA ‘20).

• The Points Machine is a portal to help users book travel using miles and points. Dhruv Dhawan (MBA ‘19).

• Thettle is a portable Thermos-like flask product that uses electricity to boil water and make hot drinks.

Sarah Wang (BSE ‘19), David Van Dyke (BSE ‘19), Paul Kubicek (BA ‘19), Cassandra Wong (BBA ‘19).

• VetHUB is an online platform where current military members can receive valuable advice and mentorship from veterans working or studying in the places where current service members want to work or study. Bill Frazier (MBA ‘19).

• Women with Purpose strives to connect, cultivate, and empower women who identify themselves as minorities by enhancing professional and leadership skills to help them thrive personally and professionally.

Kettianne Cadet (MBA ‘19).

PHASE 2: Eugene Applebaum Assessment Grants ($1,500) • Diets Suck is a mobile app that helps people lose weight by building healthy eating habits, one habit at a time. Solomon Rajput (MD ‘21).

• Dunn & Dunn Jewelry provides sustainable and fashionable jewelry accessories for the modern woman.

Courtney Dunn (MBA ‘19), Jonathan Dunn (MBA ‘19).

• LineLeap is a mobile platform that allows customers to purchase a “line skip pass” at popular nightlife venues while bringing the bar incremental revenue.

Patrick Skelly (BS ‘19), Nicholas Becker (BBA ‘20).

• Lumen Finance is an online financial education suite of services that seeks to bridge the knowledge gaps of high school and college-aged individuals and their parents related to day-to-day finance concepts, needs, and decisions. Chelsea McKinney (MBA ‘18), Trent McNatt (MBA ‘18), Andrew Brown (BS ‘20).

• PedalCell augments the bike riding experience by providing riders clean and powerful electricity on the go. Adam Hokin (BBA ‘19), Vishaal Mali (CE ‘20), Andrew Brown (BS ‘20).

• Ready New Recruit works in an extremely specific form of animation used by only two other companies in the world. This team hopes to eventually use it as a launching point to build a larger media company. Nick Shahin (CSE ‘18), Gladys Gonzalez (HIS ‘19), Daniel Korth (PAT ‘19), Alex Kraft (IOE ‘19), Kevin Huang (IOE ‘19), Mitchell Curtiss (BS ‘18), Stephanie Sim (BFA ‘19).

PHASE 3: Eugene Applebaum Integration Grants (Up to $5,000) • AIM Tech develops safe, user-friendly, lowpower, and affordable medical equipment to improve healthcare options for underserved groups on a global scale. The first product, NeoVent, is a patent-pending, award-winning ventilator designed to help infants suffering from severe respiratory illness. Stephen John (MD ‘19), Anna John (BSE ‘17).

• Canopy is a simple web application that facilitates conversations about end-of-life healthcare planning. Ann Duong (MHI ‘18), Brandon Keelean (MDes ‘18), Elisabeth Michel (MPH ‘17).

Canopy team members at work.

PedalCell team members from both the Fall 2017 Semester (Assesment Phase) and Winter 2018 (Integration)

WINTER 2018 PHASE 1: Mayleben Venture Shaping Grants ($500) • Box-to-Go is a light, portable tool box that allows physicians to transport their instruments in an efficient and organized way to maximize their performance. Veronica Urriola Martinez (MBA ‘19).

• Energy Retrofit Marketplace improves the coordination of the energy retrofit process to increase the number of retrofits performed, saving property owners money, reducing GHG emissions, and improving tenant experiences. Eric Krostich (MBA/MS ‘19), Aidan O’Connor (BS ‘18).

• FITSTER delivers high-quality, personally-tailored denim jeans to the customer’s doorstep at a price that is competitive with in-store retailers. Aakar Khanna (BS ‘21).

• Freezemi Institute is a patient reporting tool that improves Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Junyeon Cho (BA ‘19).

• Groovy Nut is the name of delicious energy balls made of simple ingredients, locally crafted for a healthy lifestyle. Jaclynn Spryshak (BBA ‘21).

• PennyFor is an app-based social media platform that allows users to make micro-donations to organizations and causes for which they want to show support socially and monetarily. Myna Palakurthi (BBA ‘20).

• Pretty with a Purpose is a sustainably produced cosmetics brand with a message of women’s empowerment and purpose, with a percentage of profits donated to domestic women’s and girls’ empowerment organizations, such as Lean In or Girls Who Code. Gabriella Vozza (MBA ‘19).

• Stokes & Skill is a staffing and training agency that works with private sector stakeholders to design and offer various training programs to low-income men then placing them in jobs. Courtney Stokes (MBA ‘19).

• Suppletica makes intermediate-to-professionallevel athletic nutrition simple and more accessible by providing a single supplement mixture that eliminates the steep learning curve of proper supplementation.

Dalton Brown (BA/BS ‘21).

• Vrai Tech is a business-to-business solution that optimizes virtual reality applications to reduce motion sickness in virtual reality experiences for any headset. Michael Zhang (BBA ‘21).

PHASE 2: Eugene Applebaum Assessment Grants ($1,500)

IN HER OWN WORDS Florence Noel, MBA/MSI, ‘19 Founder of Dear Black Women

The Dare to Dream grant has played a critical role in supporting the growth of Dear Black Women, as it has provided funding that helped us hold additional events, launch our merchandise line, and create marketing materials.

Dear Black Women has been able to leverage these activities to gain more exposure and expand further into the Southeast Michigan area, with plans to move to other areas throughout the United States in the near future.

I am beyond grateful to be a recipient of the Dare to Dream grant and hope to continue to have the honor to receive this support!”

• Adelie is a digital platform for managing parental leave.

This venture got its start with the support of a Phase 1 grant in Fall 2017. Stef Rubinstein (MBA ‘19), Tracy Wolfbiss (MBA ‘19), Vanessa Lynskey (MBA ‘19).

• Bschool Travel provides adventure travel packages for students across several of the top MBA universities. Dale Jarosz (MBA ‘19), Dhruv Dhawan (MBA ‘19).

• Dear Black Women is an affirmative movement for black women, by black women, that includes a social network, both offline and online. Florence Noel (MBA/MSI ‘19).

• Deoxylytics, a one-person venture that kicked off with a Phase 1 grant in Fall 2017, made progress in producing a computationally rigorous software solution to process an individual’s raw genetic, biologic, and environmental information into personalized clinical recommendations within patients’ electronic health records. Jack Griffin (BBA ‘19).

• FoodFinder helps “food insecure” families easily get accurate information on food pantries and similar programs. Jack Griffin (BBA ‘19).

• Holly Keith Lingerie provides women with luxury lingerie built to uncover their confidence. Holly Keith (MBA ‘19).

• MONTA is a collection of 100% natural and vegan aromatherapy, body goods, and skincare. Gabrielle de Coster (BBA ‘20).

• Peerstachio, which received a venture-shaping grant in the fall of 2017, is a peer-to-peer learning social networking website where students can ask and discuss their academic and student life topics safely through an open, instant messaging discussion platform. The tool helps connect and build diverse peer-mentor relationships to support students throughout their educational journey. An expanded team during this term included Scarlett Ong Rui Chern (BBA ‘19), Cristian Guillen (BS ‘19), Patrick Chong Jin Hua (BSE ‘19), & Huyen Phan (MSI ‘19).

Three members of the Peerstachio team.

PHASE 3: Eugene Applebaum Integration Grants (Up to $5,000) • ALISE is an Ann Arbor-based company that specializes in Light Detection and Ranging (LDR) technolgy. The company is developing target recognition technology to offer better image mapping in autonomous vehicles (AV), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, “drones”), and industrial applications. Sanmeet Jasuja (MBA/MSI ‘18), Ryan Branch (BSE ‘18).

• LineLeap is a nightlife company that partners with popular bars and clubs to give customers the option to skip the line so that they spend less time waiting in line and more time in the venue enjoying their night. Nicholas Becker (BBA ‘20), Patrick Skelly (BS ‘19).

• Pedal Cell made significant progress in developing bicycle energy capture technology. The team also received an Applebaum Assessment grant in Fall 2017. This term’s project team included Adam Hokin (BBA ‘19) and Anna Moreira Bianchi (MBA ‘19).

• Wrestle Boutique is an exclusive wrestling gear company. Connor Boike (BBA ‘20).

IN HER OWN WORDS Scarlett Ong Rui Chern, BBA ‘19 Co-Founder of Peerstachio I came in with an idea for improving education through technology. Building a startup was something new to me, and the Dare to Dream grant was the first grant our startup received. We started with the Mayleben Venture Shaping Grant, which provided us with jump start capital and exposure to customer discovery. We explored the legalities of incorporating a startup and learned about the foundation of customer discovery and the business model canvas, which trained us for the next steps of our startup.

Engaging with the grant has definitely helped give us a leg up. During the Winter 2018 Semester, we applied for and received the Dare to Dream Assessment grant, which provided us with more capital to develop our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that we will be testing at the University of Michigan. Through the process of creating a Feasibility Study, I learned several transferable skills as I worked on market sizing and financial projections. The process gave us more confidence about the feasibility of our startup and pushed us to move forward with our idea.

I am forever grateful for the opportunity that the Dare to Dream grants have given Peerstachio, and we look forward to applying for the next grant, the Integration Grant.”

Development & Alumni Relations Stephen M. Ross School of Business University of Michigan 701 Tappan St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234 michiganross.umich.edu