The University of Michigan’s Innovation Partnerships announced a new collaboration with WAVE Ventures through their WAVE Ventures Studio that is opening in Ann Arbor, MI. The new studio will collaborate with Innovation Partnerships to identify potential startup opportunities in the Deep Tech sector.
The new studio will pair select technologies from the university’s discovery pipeline with WAVE’s company-building playbook and hands-on operators, seasoned executives and strategic venture capital. Startups built and launched from the studio will receive venture funding, benefit from U-M startup resources and WAVE’s national network of entrepreneurial executives.
“We are pleased to provide another resource for our University of Michigan community of innovators as we support their efforts to scale the impact and reach of their innovations through commercialization,” said Kelly Sexton, associate vice president for research – innovation partnerships and economic impact at the University of Michigan, and Ann Arbor SPARK board chair. “We believe this collaboration is a powerful addition to our portfolio of commercialization support and will lead to many incredible stories of impact as we expand our ability to shepherd U-M innovations beyond campus for the betterment of society.”
New startups built in the studio will license university IP and receive funding from WAVE Ventures, adding to the growing number of startups launching each year from U-M. In fiscal year 2025, which ended on June 30, Innovation Partnerships helped launch 31 startup companies, marking the second time in the office’s history it launched 30 or more startups in a year.
“WAVE and its partners will add early capital, technical teams and dedicated operators to augment U-M’s premier company-creation engine,” said Allen Page, Managing Partner at WAVE Ventures. “By surfacing promising research that hasn’t yet found a path to market, we will launch additional startups through WAVE Ventures Studio and advance them toward commercialization, non-dilutive funding and further venture investment.”
WAVE Ventures Studio, a joint-venture between WAVE and Tech Transfer Studio™, will identify high-potential IP and partner with engineers, scientists, product executives and entrepreneurs to accelerate validation and market-readiness of select U-M research and inventions. A new WAVE venture fund will back companies emerging from its Ann Arbor studio, and will also invest in Michigan startups during their Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A stages.
“The University of Michigan has built an expansive, state-backed commercialization infrastructure through collaborations between Ann Arbor SPARK, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation team, the Technology Transfer Talent Network and more. The synergy among these groups to develop a strong innovation ecosystem combined with the strength of U-M’s commercialization pipeline, led to our decision to open our next studio in Ann Arbor,” said Travis Linderman, Partner at WAVE Ventures, who will oversee the launch of the venture studio. “This collaboration will advance WAVE’s mission to transform dynamic research into technologies that meaningfully improve people’s lives.”
The WAVE team based in Ann Arbor will leverage a deep bench of engineers, scientists and operators to define market opportunities, drive technical development and design product roadmaps for university technologies beginning the path toward commercialization.
“When Mike Flanagan [Vice President, Capital Programs for Ann Arbor SPARK] and I first engaged with WAVE, we knew their model would be an incredible fit for Ann Arbor’s deep tech ecosystem,” said Bill Mayer, senior vice president of entrepreneurial services at Ann Arbor SPARK. “The fact that they chose to establish their next venture studio here is a testament to the strength of our region’s talent, research, and startup support infrastructure. Relationships like this — where SPARK can help recruit and connect visionary partners like WAVE — are critical to expanding opportunity for founders and accelerating the commercialization of groundbreaking technologies.”
The new venture studio is scheduled to launch in 2026.
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About Innovation Partnerships
Innovation Partnerships is the nexus of research commercialization at the University of Michigan. Our office plays a critical role in translating discoveries from U-M faculty and researchers into real-world solutions by supporting patent protection, commercialization, startup company formation and growth. Through strategic connections with industry, entrepreneurs and investors, Innovation Partnerships ensures that U-M innovations reach society, address critical needs, spur technology-driven economic growth and create lasting, positive societal impact.
Committed to being the most startup-friendly technology commercialization office in the country, Innovation Partnerships was #2 in the nation for inventions received and startup companies launched according to the 2024 AUTM annual licensing survey.
To learn more, visit https://innovationpartnerships.umich.edu/.
About WAVE Ventures
WAVE Ventures partners with universities, visionary researchers and executive teams to transform breakthrough science into market-defining companies. Beyond capital, WAVE provides hands-on strategic guidance – technical and product development, CEO recruitment, customer development, IP and regulatory navigation, and disciplined governance – to guide teams from lab bench to global scale. Guided by a purpose-driven philosophy – where doing good is the engine of doing well. WAVE backs ventures that deliver both financial returns and societal impact, serving as a long-term partner in progress from Pre-Seed through scale.
Learn more at WAVEventures.com.
