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MSU Broad MBA Named a Big Bets Fellow by The Rockefeller Foundation
April 27, 2026 MSU Broad MBA Named a Big Bets Fellow by The Rockefeller Foundation By Katie Haley Nthanda Manduwi, an MBA student at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business, has been selected as a fellow in the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Big Bets Fellowship, a global leadership program designed to support emerging changemakers tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Selected from a highly competitive pool of more than 2,000 applicants, Manduwi is one of just 10 fellows chosen for the program’s inaugural Africa cohort. The five-month fellowship brings together a diverse cohort of leaders who are…
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Student View: From Ideas at MSU to a Future in Biotech at Brown
April 27, 2026 Student View: From Ideas at MSU to a Future in Biotech at Brown Shreshta Sinha is a graduating student at Michigan State University, earning a degree in neuroscience from the Lyman Briggs College. He has a strong interest in biotechnology, neuroscience and entrepreneurship. Shreshta was involved with the Burgess Institute and served as Financial Director of the MSU Entrepreneurship Association. This fall, he will attend Brown University to pursue a master’s degree in biotechnology. In 2023, a friend introduced me to the Discovery program at the Burgess Institute and that’s where things started to click. I was…
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Michigan State Student Startups Selected to Compete at e-Fest® National Competition
April 20, 2026 Michigan State Student Startups Selected to Compete at e-Fest® National Competition By Katie Haley Two student-led ventures from Michigan State University, Cocomar and Biomex, have been selected to compete at the prestigious e-Fest® National Entrepreneurship Competition, taking place April 23–25, 2026. Hosted annually, e-Fest® brings together top collegiate entrepreneurs from across the country to pitch innovative, high-impact ventures in front of seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders. Selection to compete is highly competitive, placing MSU’s teams among the nation’s most promising student founders. Biomex, founded by Tanvi Gadamsetti (’26), is a health-tech startup pioneering advanced biocompatible mesh…
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Two Michigan State University teams compete in University of Georgia Next Top Entrepreneur Competition
April 15, 2026 Two Michigan State University teams compete in University of Georgia Next Top Entrepreneur Competition By Jessica Grover, student writer Two Spartan-founded ventures, BRCĒ and Memory Sketch, will represent Michigan State University at the 2026 University of Georgia Next Top Entrepreneur Competition.Composed of a mix of current students, alumni, and MBA candidates, both teams will pitch their startups to a panel of judges and compete for a ,000 cash prize. Memory Sketch, a software tracking the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease through drawings, is co-founded by Angela Leach (MBA ‘27), Griffin Reis (‘25), Caraline Kitchen (‘25), and Jackson Simkins…
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Material-tech startup BRCĒ from Michigan State takes home grand prize at Rice Business Plan Competition
April 14, 2026 Material-tech startup BRCĒ from Michigan State takes home grand prize at Rice Business Plan Competition Avery Ruxer Franklin – RICE News More than .4M in prizes announced to all competitors BRCĒ is a material-tech startup replacing failure-prone textiles with polymer composites engineered for strength, fire resistance and intrinsic stability. Its patented Lattice-Grip technology enables directional grip and controlled tension at the yarn level, eliminating slippage and performance loss under extreme conditions. The recent “Shark Tank” participant won over judges during the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) and walked away with 11 prizes totaling 1,500. In his winning…
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Scaling a Startup Through the MSU MBA: My Journey with Memory Sketch
April 14, 2026 Scaling a Startup Through the MSU MBA: My Journey with Memory Sketch By Angela Leach, MBA Class of 2027 Entrepreneurship has been the defining lens through which I have experienced my MBA at Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business. Rather than existing alongside my coursework, my startup has been strengthened and accelerated by it. The MBA has provided the strategic, financial, and operational foundation that allowed me to build and scale Memory Sketch with discipline and intention. Angela Leach, MBA ’27 Memory Sketch was founded in October 2024 during 2 Day Venture (2DV), a 36-hour pitch…
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Student View: Creating Entrepreneurship Experiences at MSU
April 13, 2026 Student View: Creating Entrepreneurship Experiences at MSU Yuktha Pulavarthi is a senior in the Eli Broad College of Business, where she is studying marketing with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She has served as president of MSU Women in Entrepreneurship and as Campus Manager for Student-Made Michigan State. She is also a scholar in the Dashney Women’s Leadership Accelerator (DWLA). Pulavarthi is the founder of macaronza!, a small-batch homemade macaron business. I first got involved with the Burgess Institute through MSU Women in Entrepreneurship during my freshman year, while I was also enrolled in the entrepreneurship…
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MSU’s Premier Pitch Competition Awards Spartan Entrepreneurs
April 10, 2026 MSU’s Premier Pitch Competition Awards Spartan Entrepreneurs By Katie Haley Fifteen student startups took the stage on April 9 for Michigan State University’s premier pitch competition, Burgess New Venture Challenge. These Spartan entrepreneurs pitched their ventures before an audience of more than 400 students, alumni, investors, and community leaders, competing for ,000 in non-dilutive grant funding. Hosted by the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the Challenge unites undergraduate and graduate founders to refine their ideas, test their business models, and gain real-world experience on stage. “The Burgess New Venture Challenge is more than a pitch competition,…
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Applications Now Open for MSU’s 2026 Entrepreneur Leadership Camp for High School Students
Feb. 4, 2026 Applications Now Open for MSU’s 2026 Entrepreneur Leadership Camp for High School Students By Katie Haley This summer, Michigan State University will once again welcome ambitious high school students from across the state to campus for the High School Entrepreneur Leadership Camp, a four-day immersive experience designed to introduce the next generation of founders to the power of entrepreneurship. Hosted by the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Multicultural Business Programs (MBP), the Entrepreneur Leadership Camp will take place June 22-25 at the Eli Broad College Business. Open to all rising high school juniors and seniors,…
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Student-Led Ventures Put Michigan’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on the Global Stage
Jan. 21, 2026 Student-Led Ventures Put Michigan’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on the Global Stage Two Michigan State University student-led ventures, BRCĒ and CocoMar, earned top honors at the internationally recognized Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition, reinforcing strength of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the growing national and global impact of MSU founders. BRCĒ, a material-tech startup that is developing an ecosystem of athletic performance gear and safety accessories to support athletes in performance and recovery captured first place, and ,000. While CocoMar, a premium ready-to-drink protein smoothie brand that blends real fruits with coconut water secured third place and a ,000 award. The…