The Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream grants are part of the Zell Lurie Institute’s Student Startup Grants Program, which moves University of Michigan students through the business creation process by offering startup workshops and awarding grants to individuals and/or student teams.
The Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Assessment (Phase II) grants are for student teams with a proposed business that is selling a unique product or service with a clear market need. During the assessment process, teams will establish the feasibility of their business in order to gauge whether or not to invest further resources and commit to launching the venture. During the Integration (Phase III) grant process, student teams will write a business plan and create an investor pitch deck. The Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream Grant Program is supported by the late Eugene Applebaum and Applebaum Family Philanthropy. Eugene Applebaum was the founder of drug store chain Arbor Drugs, Inc.—which he grew to 208 stores before selling to CVS in 1998. Mr. Applebaum also served as President of Arbor Investments Group.
The 2023-2024 Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream (Phase II) $1,500 grants have been awarded to the following ventures:
0xKnowledge
Harry Sanders, CSE ‘26, Joshua Sum, CSE ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
0xKnowledge is the AI-powered technical documentation engine that is revolutionizing the technical documentation experience and indexing the world’s largest repository for knowledge.
aMaize
Tyler Carvette, MSI ‘24, Sinan Abdulhak, BSE ‘24, Kate Shen, BA ‘23 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
aMaize unifies 20+ different air traffic management tools into one interface to drastically reduce onboarding time, boost productivity, and bolster collaborative decision making for traffic managers handling the world’s busiest airspace.
ArbX
Nathan Kushnir, BA ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
ArbX is a data-driven sports betting guidance company where we use advanced algorithms and data analysis to supply our users with the most statistically-sound betting picks that should lead them to making long-term profit.
BlueDEN
Mohan Koushik Tupakula, MBA ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
BlueDEN addresses the significant, unmet need for accessible, community-centric renewable energy solutions, enabling homeowners in Michigan to easily adopt and benefit from sustainable technologies like solar panels, EVs, and smart home systems, while also providing a platform for efficient energy management and financing options.
Caring Companions
Lisa Cheung, MBA/MPP ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
Caring Companions connects families and their loved ones to culturally appropriate non-medical caregiving services.
CGuide
Amelia Zhang, BBA ‘25 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
CGuide aims to disrupt the traditional retail experience by eliminating bracketing. Our platform intervenes in the online shopping process, providing customers with authentic reviews during the consideration phase.
CommunityConnect
Devon Riter, PhD Science Education ‘25 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
CommunityConnect helps K-12 teachers find community partners, so they can design more authentic and engaging projects for the classroom.
CoPrint Housing
Jakob Bouna, BBA ‘27 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
CoPrint Housing 3D prints low-income homes and communities for those in need.
Dialysis Innovations
Karthik Ramani, MBA ‘24, Soha Khedkar MBA/MPH ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
Our business venture provides a novel innovative life changing solution to end stage kidney patients by providing a smart dialysis needle that ensures better cannulation, better dialysis care by enhancing the patient and provider experience at lower cumulative costs by reducing infiltrations.
Excogitate
Tayari Coleman, PhD Applied Physics ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
Excogitate LLC is a small company focused on high quality innovative apparel, built on a scalable, community driven architecture.
HELIOS Aeronautics, Inc.
Eric Gavizon, BSE ‘27 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
HELIOS Aeronautics strives to provide the world with an entirely sustainable solar-hydrogen hybrid airplane capable of rivaling its jet-fueled counterparts.
ImmiHealth
Tirth Patel, BSE ‘24, Medha Kapoor, MHI/MBA ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
Improving access to affordable, culturally-competent healthcare through a health-technology platform.
Mente y Mas
Dilan Swami, BSE ‘25 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
A modern, culturally integrated service that provides a safe space and community building with activities that support healing. With a space and providers of the cultural background of the audience, such a program will involve fun, lighthearted, and deep components that seek to help members feel connected, seen, and heard.
OrganFlow
Karthik Ramasubramanian, MBA ‘24, Jordan Silva, MD ‘26, Tyler Dann, MD ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
OrganFlow is building an automated clinical decision support system to enhance real-time transplant surgeon decision making and help to redefine the organ exchange process.
PPINtonus
Manasvi Mothe, BBA ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Fall 2023)
PPINtonus is a preliminary neurodegenerative disease detection platform employing a novel vocal testing system for early detection of Parkinson’s Disease.
Project Pathfinder
Ronil Chaudhary, BS ‘26, Tamberly Williams, BS ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
Project Pathfinder, emerging from insights gleaned from our customer discovery interviews, is a carefully crafted platform aimed at aiding individuals battling substance use disorders.
Project-STEM
Robert Silaghi, BBA ‘27 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
Project-STEM is a K-12 math and science tutoring organization that is dedicated to providing high-quality personalized tutoring at a low price.
RushLink, Inc.
Zachary Joelson, BA ‘26, Gavin Schwartz, BBA/CSE ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
RushLink is a comprehensive digital platform designed to streamline the process of joining, participating in, and retaining membership in campus-based organizations.
Surge
Pooja Saran, MBA ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
Surge, is an AI-based workload analysis and guidance solution that revolutionizes the way employees and managers plan and execute their daily tasks.
The Forge
Arjun Srivastava, MBA ‘24, Ihsaan Yasin, BSE ‘25, Adnan Rashid, BSE ‘26 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
Forge is the Swiss Army knife for investment pros, transforming the chaos of deal workflows into a seamless symphony of efficiency and innovation.
Tweel’s Wheels
Lauren Tweel, MBA ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase II (Winter 2024)
Tweels Wheels aims to design and build toys for children living with a physical disability so that they can achieve the same social and intellectual opportunities to experience play as able-bodied children are able to without assistance.
The 2023-2024 Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream (Phase III) $5,000 grants have been awarded to the following ventures:
Aesthatech
Saanika Kulkarni, BSE ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Winter 2024)
Aesthatech is a B2B mobile app that allows cosmetology professionals like estheticians, hairstylists, and nail technicians to design highly customizable membership plans for their customers so that they can earn a steady income and build a robust clientele.
BeatNami
Joshua Sum, CSE ‘24, Karthik Ganesh, CSE ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Fall 2023)
BeatNami is a one-stop music platform that democratizes access to music licensing and empowers musicians to distribute their music without relying on a middleman.
Caring Companions
Lisa Cheung, MBA/MPP ‘24, Rajat Kalra, MBA ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Winter 2024)
Caring Companions connects families and their loved ones to culturally appropriate non-medical caregiving services.
MeetYourClass
Blake Mischley, BSE ‘25, Jonah Liss, BBA ‘25, Kaleb Schmottlach, BE ‘25, Jon Millar, BS ‘25 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Fall 2023)
MeetYourClass is a social networking platform helping universities form community before students arrive on campus through a “social media ecosystem”.
MinaRosa
Ana Timoficiuc, BSE ‘24, Lily Li, BS ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Winter 2024)
MinaRosa(TM) is a health biotech start-up that offers a medical alternative light-therapy solution for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) to empower all people, especially women underserved by medical healthcare, to take control of their well-being.
Nexeus
Toinu Reeves, PhD Economics ‘25 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Fall 2023)
Nexeus is a solutions R&D platform that will bring together state and local governments, public and private funding, academic and private research institutions, and project management experts to collaborate, explore and expedite the development of technology for societal and humanitarian concerns.
Pathless Productions
Matthew Stone, MBA ‘24 | Applebaum Dare to Dream Phase III (Winter 2024)
Pathless Productions is developing Ludare, a new game subscription service that pays developers based on player engagement with their titles.