Spartan Innovations
325 East Grand River Ave., Suite 200, East Lansing, MI, 48823, United States
Overview
Spartan Innovations is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MSU Foundation, which fuels economic development and entrepreneurial activities at Michigan State University, across the Greater Lansing Area, Grand Rapids, and throughout the state of Michigan. Through Conquer Accelerator, Entrepreneur-In-Residence, and Mentor-In-Residence programs, and other programs, Spartan Innovations provides fundamental resources entrepreneurs need to grow their venture. Beyond programming, Spartan Innovations supports startups with market assessment, commercial development, business plan development, gap funds, and grant funding. Companies created through Spartan Innovation's process will pitch to our venture funds, Red Cedar Ventures or Michigan Rise for early-stage funding. In 2021 the Grand Rapids Smartzone and LDFA approved an agreement with Spartan Innovations & Start Garden to collaborate and manage its SmartZone Incubator, BAF/Gateway, and related hi-tech business support services. To learn more about Spartan Innovations Grand Rapids services, contact Kyle McGregor at kyle@spartaninnovations.org.
- Total investments
- 1
- Lead investments
- 0
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 8
Sector focus
- Education
- Financial Services
Investment portfolio
- Frich
Participated · Seed · May 2024
Frich operates a community-driven money app for Gen Z where users can anonymously ask questions and share spending, investing and credit information to compare themselves with peers. The app surface anonymized peer data (e.g., spending on entertainment, rent, investing) and uses those insights to match users with relevant financial brands. Frich monetizes via a B2B subscription model, charging partner banks and brands a flat fee to appear on the platform. The company has grown to over 100,000 users nationwide with primary markets in New York, Florida and Texas, and is approaching $1 million in annual recurring revenue. The six-person startup launched its app in summer 2021 and markets via campus ambassadors and digital channels like TikTok. Funds from the recent seed are being used in part to hire growth and product talent, including former employees from Bumble and Robinhood.