ANN ARBOR – The University of Michigan has launched the $3 Million Monroe-Brown Seed Fund, a new funding vehicle designed to advance the process of transitioning commercially viable engineering and medical research projects to market.

The fund, approved this week by the U-M Board of Regents, is a collaboration between the U-M College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship and the U-M Medical School’s Fast Forward Medical Innovation program.

With a $3 million gift from the Monroe-Brown Foundation, the Monroe-Brown Seed Fund will award seed money to biomedical startup companies that are joint efforts between the university’s engineering and medical schools. Such seed grants are designed to accelerate the commercialization of biomedical research, to provide unique educational opportunities for researchers and students, and, ultimately, to positively impact patient care.

The fund will supply resources for the university’s biomedical startup companies with marketplace potential.

The fund will invest in startup companies such as those developing medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutic delivery systems, health IT and digital health products. It will be run by program manager Hirak Parikh, a biomedical engineer. Parikh’s previous research and professional positions focus on neuroscience applications and products.  

Parikh has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and master’s degrees in electrical engineering systems and biomedical engineering from U-M. He also has an undergraduate degree in electronics and telecommunications from the University of Pune in India.