Coulter Process

The Coulter Program has three stages of funding and support – Examine, Enlighten, and Evolve

At all three stages, there is a partnership among the faculty, Coulter team and Innovation Partnerships to guide the project toward the most promising commercial opportunity.

Examine – Pre-proposal support – Explore readiness for translation

Applicants should discuss their projects with the Coulter team prior to proposal submission to explore the commercial potential, current stage of the research, desires and motivations of the team, and fit for Coulter support and funding. Please email Thomas Marten, Managing Director, Coulter Program (tmarten@umich.edu) to schedule a meeting.

Enlighten – Explore commercial viability and refine milestones

A tailored program that provides a deep-dive assessment of a project’s commercial viability and determines the key next steps. Based on the needs of each project, the project team will work with the Coulter team to conduct competitive landscape assessments, primary market research, regulatory roadmaps, and IP landscape assessments. Enlighten will also provide industry-mentor feedback, Coulter Oversight Committee guidance, introductions to industry-business development teams, and new product strategic-planning guidance. Program deliverables culminate with product and business development milestones, budgets and resource requirements to achieve milestones. Up to $20,000 in funding will be allocated to support each project selected for the Enlighten program. Enlighten teams will be invited to pitch for Evolve Awards to execute on strategic plans.

Evolve – Turn research projects into investible opportunities

Evolve is for projects where the commercial risks and milestones are reasonably well understood (see Enlighten program above). Evolve funding will be used to execute a strategic plan that reduces commercial risk and increases the likelihood of the project attracting further translational research/commercialization funding. Projects are funded for a 1-year time period with funding levels ranging from $30k to $150k range based on the project needs to meet the milestones.

Anticipated Funding Awards:

Up to 12 project proposal teams will be selected to present at the Coulter Triage meeting in mid-March (exact date TBD). Up to 5 teams presenting at the Triage meeting will be selected for Enlighten and will be invited to pitch for Evolve funding awards in mid-June 2024 (date TBD). We anticipate 3 new projects will go on to receive Evolve Awards at the selection meeting in June.