Meet the team leading
the Michigan University Innovation Capital Fund.
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Kelly Sexton
Associate Vice President for Research – Innovation Partnerships and Economic Impact
As Associate Vice President for Research – Innovation Partnerships and Economic Impact at the University of Michigan, Kelly works closely with the Vice President for Research and Innovation as well as other leaders across the university to provide visionary and strategic leadership of U-M’s innovation, corporate research and technology commercialization activities, including overseeing Innovation Partnerships. In this role, she supports and encourages university-wide programs for intellectual property development, innovation and engagement with business and venture communities in the region, across the nation and around the globe.
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Mike Psarouthakis
Executive Director of Impact Investments & Strategic Alliances
As Executive Director of Impact Investments & Strategic Alliances at the University of Michigan, Mike leads Innovation Partnerships’ investment programs, including the Accelerate Blue Fund and the Michigan University Innovation Capital Fund, while catalyzing new programs to increase outside investments in U-M startups. Mike also leads the effort to expand regional and national venture community engagement in Michigan for the benefit of the state’s startup and investment ecosystem.
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Dave Repp
Director of Ventures and Managing Director of the Accelerate Blue Fund
As Director of Ventures of Innovation Partnerships at the University of Michigan, Dave oversees the creation of new start-up companies based on technologies invented and developed at U-M. In this role, he administers resources to build, launch and grow new ventures, including U-M’s mentor-in-residence program, two MTRAC translational grant hubs and the Accelerate Blue Fund.
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Don Manfredi
Associate Director of Ventures
Don has more than twenty-five years of experience in a broad range of professional assignments including global business unit leadership, operations management, marketing, sales and application engineering, product development, project management, business development, education and customer training and support. He has provided executive leadership of a global business unit, managed the accelerated growth of a startup technology business, led the global marketing team within a high-tech NASDAQ firm, re-launched a North American business unit, and provided global sales account management to Fortune 500 clients.
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Sarah Jameson
Associate Director of Ventures, Life Sciences
As the Associate Director of Ventures for Life Sciences of Innovation Partnerships at the University of Michigan, Sarah oversees the creation of new life science startups based on technologies invented and developed at U-M. In this role, she manages resources to build, launch and grow new ventures, including U-M’s mentor-in-residence program, the MTRAC and Kickstart Life Science Innovation grant hubs and the Accelerate Blue Fund.
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Kedar Tripathy
Venture Analyst
At the University of Michigan’s Innovation Partnerships, Kedar supports the ventures and licensing teams as well as research teams and early-stage startups that seek to commercialize technologies developed at U-M, helping them understand their markets and explore viable business strategies.
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