ANN ARBOR – University of Michigan student startups took home cash prizes totaling over $100,000 in the final round of the 2020 Michigan Business Challenge, a campus-wide, multi-round business plan competition hosted by the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.

More than 100 students participated in the 37th annual MBC, the longest-running entrepreneurial competition at the university.

New for 2020, the MBC featured three distinct tracks of competition for student teams to reflect the wide array of ventures competing:

  • The Seigle Impact Track recognizes the business plan that best pursues a mission-driven goal and aims to stimulate the creation of new businesses, products or services that prioritize social and/or environmental considerations.
  • The Innovation Track recognizes for-profit ventures that offer a product, service, mobile application or platform serving consumers or enterprises. 
  • The Invention Track recognizes ventures that have intellectual property at the core of their high-tech venture and aims to stimulate the creation of new businesses in life sciences, physical sciences, mobility, AR/VR and more.

2020 Michigan Business Challenge winners: 

  • Lillian Augusta took home first place in the Seigle Impact Track and received $15,000, in addition to the Michigan Investment Challenge (MIC) investment for $2,000 and the OneMagnify Best in Business Award presented by Mark Petroff for $5,000. Co-founded by Jannice Newsom (MS ’20) and Nana Britwum (MS ’20), Lillian Augusta is a brand that revolutionizes Black hair care by offering hair without harm, working to make plastic-based synthetic braiding hair obsolete by replacing it with biodegradable braiding hair made from Phragmites, an invasive plant species.
  • For Dearborn (4D) was named the second-place winner in the Seigle Impact Track and took home $7,500 in addition to being named the MBC Best Showcase company. Rima Imad Fadlallah (MBA ’20) founded For Dearborn to create space for Arab and/or Muslim Americans (AAM) to self-actualize and thrive through digital media, programming, fashion and philanthropy.
  • Comme Homme won first place in the Innovation Track and received $15,000. Founded by Kene Onuorah (MBA ’21) and Mejoy Lawson (MBA ’21), Comme Homme is a direct-to-consumer cosmetic and lifestyle brand serving American bald men. They are developing a two-prong solution comprised of uniquely designed products and an omnichannel interactive community to inject confidence into the hair loss journey.
  • Naya claimed second place in the Innovation Track and $7,500, along with third place in the elevator pitch competition. Founded by Mimi Huet (MBA ’20), Naya produces simple and delicious banana-based, non-dairy ice cream so consumers don’t have to choose between real, healthy foods and dessert. 
  • SlumberFlow won first place in the Invention Track, taking home $15,000. Founded by Allison Powell (MSE ’16, MD ’21) Juan Noda (MD/MBA ’20) and Lindsey Furness (BSE ’21), SlumberFlow designs and manufactures a nasopharyngeal airway device in order to reduce the negative effects of sleep apnea caused by upper airway obstruction. SlumberFlow also won first place in the elevator pitch competition and the $5,000 Williamson Award for outstanding business and engineering team.
  • SSInnovations was named the second-place venture in the Invention Track and received $7,500. Founded by Braden Shugarman (BBA ’22), SSInnovations is developing an innovative eyelid speculum that improves the comfort, safety and cost-effectiveness of intravitreal injection procedures. The company also received the $5,000 Sillman Award for most successful undergraduate team.
  • ZeroSixty won second place in the elevator pitch competition. Founded by Alec Kremins (BBA ’22), ZeroSixty is a consumer brand offering a fast-absorbing energy chew that provides convenient, on-the-go energy for active and busy adults. 

For more information, visit the Institute’s website at www.zli.umich.edu.