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Tech Transfer & Faculty Startups

Technology developed at CSE can do big things. Existing companies can license this tech to advance their products and services, or tech transfer agreements can form the basis for new ventures.

The U-M Innovation Partnerships office is responsible for the details of commercialization of University research discoveries. Innovation Partnerships enhances the impact these research discoveries to encourage licensing and broad deployment with existing businesses and newly-formed U-M start-ups.

Following are examples of startups that have been founded using technology developed at CSE, as well as startups led by CSE faculty.

Agita LabsDeveloper of next-generation privacy-enhanced computing architectures that will facilitate the creation new data markets while protecting data IP rights and respecting personal information. Founded by Prof. Todd Austin in 2018.
Arbor InteractiveDeveloper of games, online media, and advertising. Founded by Austin Yarger in 2018.
Arbor NetworksLeading provider of network security and monitoring solutions for global networks. Founded by Prof. Farniam Jahanian and G. Robert Malan (MSE PhD CSE 1996, 2000) in 2000. Acquired by Tektronix Communications in 2010.
CensysHelps to secure organizations by providing visibility into what they have exposed on the Internet. Founded by Prof. J. Alex Halderman, Zakir Durumeric (PhD CSE 2017), and David Adrian (PhD CSE 2019) in 2017.
ClincDevelops conversational AI systems, empowering enterprises to deliver a new experience for their customers. Founded by Prof. Mason Mars, Prof. Lingjia Tang, Michael Laurenzano (PhD CSE 2016), and Johann Hauswald (BSE EE 2013; MSE PhD CSE 2015, 2017)
CogitaiDeveloping a self-learning, actionable artificial intelligence SaaS platform. Co-founded in 2015 by Prof. Satinder Singh Baveja. Acquired by Sony AI.
Collabrify.ITProvides technology-driven blended science curriculum for K-12 schools. Co-founded by Prof. Elliot Soloway in 2016.
Cyclos Semiconductor
Develops ultra-low power semiconductor chips. Co-founded by Prof. Marios Papaefthymiou in 2004.
GoKnowEducational technologies improving K-12 education. Co-founded by Prof. Elliot Soloway. Acquired in 2012.
Lattice DataTurns dark data into structured data with human-caliber quality at machine-caliber scale. Cofounded by Prof. Michael Cafarella in 2015. Acquired in 2017.
Let’s EncryptA free, automated, and open internet certificate authority (CA), run for the public’s benefit. Co-founded by Prof. J. Alex Halderman and James Kasten (MSE PhD CSE 2012, 2015) in 2015. Currently administered by the Internet Security Research Group.
May MobilityDeveloping low-speed autonomous shuttles for use on city or campus routes. Co-founded by Prof. Edwin Olson, Alisyn Malek (BS Mech Eng and German, 2008; MSE Energy Sys Eng 2012), and Steve Vozar (BSE MSE PhD Mech Eng 2008, 2009, 2013).
ParabricksHigh-performance GPU-based bioinformatics software solutions for analyses of next-generation sequencing data with high throughput and high-speed turnaround. Co-founded by Prof. Scott Mahlke, Mehrzad Samadi (PhD CSE 2014), and Ankit Sethia (MSE PhD CSE 2011, 2015) in 2017. Aacquired by Nvidia in December 2019.
SequalTechnology for accelerated genomics. Founded by Prof. Satish Narayanasamy in 2017.
SimpleScalarSystem software infrastructure tool set. Founded by Prof. Todd Austin in 1999.
Soar TechnologyDevelopment of intelligent software that reasons like humans do, to automate complex tasks, simplify human-machine interactions, or model human behaviors. Co-founded by Prof. John Laird in 1998.
Trading DynamicsConfigurable auction technology for dynamic business-to-business commerce. Co-founded by Prof. Michael Wellman in 1998. Acquired by Ariba in 2002.
Virta LabsProviding medical device cybersecurity solutions. Co-founded by Prof. Kevin Fu in 2013.
ZattooTV on demand over the internet in Europe. Co-founded by Prof. Sugih Jamin in 2006.