Space For 10 Start-Ups
By Timothy Hay, 06/24/2009
A group of student entrepreneurs at the University of Michigan has made a valuable connection with a local venture firm - Ann Arbor-based RPM Ventures - and thanks to that connection has a free place to conduct business over the summer.
The student group, which goes by the name Maize Ventures, is comprised of at least 10 start-up companies that have been looking for desk space and the guidance of VCs who know the ropes.
"A lot of great companies like Facebook have come out of student dormitories," said Marc Weiser, managing director of RPM Ventures. Weiser is a University of Michigan alumnus, and has been working for the past two years to connect student entrepreneurs to the world around them.
He is careful not to call the program an incubator. RPM provides the students no legal advice, financing or equipment, Weiser said.
"But would we fund one of these companies down the road? Absolutely," he said.
RPM used its community connections to get a free place for the students to work. Weiser reached out to a local real estate company, which donated space for the summer. The space, at least for now, is called TechArb.
"We hope it will become a permanent space," he said. "We are hoping [the university's] Center for Entrepreneurship will make it permanent. It's a matter of finding funds from the university."
Ten very young companies are now working out of the space. One of them -- Mobile33t Inc. -- already has an application on offer in Apple Inc.'s App Store, Weiser said. Another, Shepherd Intelligent Systems Inc., has deployed its low-cost tracking device on the university's bus system.
Other TechArb companies include multi-player mobile games company Phonagle Inc., software distributor WOMP Software Inc., social network Troubador Mobile Inc. and Mybandstock.com Inc., which enables music fans to effectively buy stock in their favorite bands.
RPM Ventures provides guidance for the young entrepreneurs and brings in guest speakers once a week or so, Weiser said.
