TechArb sends off latest class, aims to focus on more mature start-ups

TechArb is graduating 31 business teams this fall, making for almost 100  student-led start-ups that have passed through the small business incubator since its launch in 2009. The University of Michigan developed the incubator with the idea of creating a space designed to encourage college student entrepreneurship. It has since helped launch a number of new economy-based start-ups, including companies in software, bio-tech and alternative energy. Each semester-long class has carried about 30 start-ups on average, but the leaders behind TechArb are planning to shrink those class sizes in the new year, cutting particioation in half to 15. "These teams we're letting in are much more mature and venture quality," says Moses Lee, associate director for student ventures at TechArb. In the past, TechArb had welcomed both mature start-ups that went onto score investment from venture capital firms (Are You A Human) and the raw entrepreneurial ambitions of students with business ideas. Lee expects the future, more mature start-ups will still span a number of industries and expects this class to have start-ups in the software, bio-tech and engineering spaces. Source: Moses Lee, associate director for student ventures at TechArb Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.