Showcasing early-stage companies from southeast Michigan to top regional angel and venture investors.
September 26, 2025 | 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tickets $75 | U-M Golf Course Clubhouse
Presented by Ann Arbor SPARK.
Watch innovation in action as high-growth startups pitch for a chance at $50,000 investments in mobility, IT, and healthcare. Finalists compete for a bonus People's Choice award—bringing the total prize pool to $200,000. Whether you're an investor, founder, or tech enthusiast, this is your front-row seat to Michigan's next big thing.
Participating Companies Coming Soon!
Invest360 Speakers
Plus more being announced soon!
Lisa McLaughlin
Post-Exit Founder
Workit Health
Lisa McLaughlin is a post-exit founder and digital health innovator currently on sabbatical after co-founding and leading Workit Health, a next generation telemedicine provider for addiction care.
As Founding CEO, she scaled Workit to over 20,000 patients and raised $140M in venture funding. The company was featured in The Economist, Forbes, Politico, and The Wall Street Journal for its impact on the opioid epidemic and the patient-led design movement.
Lisa is an Endeavor and Schwab Foundation entrepreneur, a Principal Investigator on NIH- and NSF-funded digital health research, and an advisor to early-stage biotech and healthtech startups. She is currently exploring the future of precision mental health while supporting the next generation of founders.
Keynote: Lisa McLaughlin
Post-Exit Founder – Workit Health
Diane Bouis
CEO
Microvascular Health Solutions
Diane Bouis, Ph.D, MBA, is a vascular scientist turned business leader, currently serving as CEO of Microvascular Health Solutions. Her prior roles include, US Director for MedTech World, hosting global investor conferences and US Director for MedTech Innovator, the largest medtech accelerator in the world. Dr Bouis obtained her PhD at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands working on angiogenesis (blood vessel growth) in cancer and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan on atherosclerosis in heart attack and stroke.
She transitioned into business with an MBA from University of Michigan and has extensive experience managing startup portfolios through prior roles as Innovation Manager at the University of Michigan's Innovation Partnerships Startup Incubator and as an innovation consultant with The Inovo Group.
Dr Bouis is a frequent speaker on medtech/ biotech/ health-tech innovation, investment and go to market strategy, incubators and accelerators, mentorship, leadership and growing strong teams.
Besides her global roles, this native of France is a staunch supporter of her chosen Midwest startup home ecosystem and advisor to and investor in Michigan biomedical startups.
Diane Bouis
Microvascular Health Solutions
Ben Cohen
Vice President, Strategy, Sales Excellence & Marketing
FORVIA HELLA
Ben Cohen is a dynamic executive who thrives at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and execution. As Vice President at FORVIA HELLA, he leads Strategy, Sales Excellence, Marketing, and the company's venture arm across the Americas. Known for his ability to untangle complexity and drive actionable outcomes, Ben has spearheaded initiatives ranging from AI-driven operations and global team restructures to regional mergers and strategic tech investments.
With a career spanning media, SaaS, corporate venture capital, and global manufacturing, Ben brings a rare blend of creativity, analytical rigor, and operational leadership. He has launched startups, built award-winning marketing campaigns, scaled enterprise systems, and transformed sales organizations. Throughout his work, he fosters cultures that move fast and think differently.
Ben holds an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology and a BA in Film from Emerson College. Whether guiding C-suite strategy or mentoring emerging leaders, Ben is passionate about building better, faster, smarter organizations and helping others do the same.
Ben Cohen
FORVIA HELLA
Dan Kidle
Managing Partner
Arboretum Ventures
Dan identifies promising investment opportunities across Arboretum's sectors of interest, with particular emphasis on life science tools. He also works closely with portfolio companies to support strategic decision-making, fundraising efforts, and financial analysis. Dan currently serves as a board director for Akadeum Life Sciences, BrightSpec, Enumera Molecular, Flosonics Medical and PAK BioSolutions.
Dan has played key roles in successful Arboretum investments, including serving on the board of IntelliCyt (acquired in 2016) and leading Arboretum's investment, and serving as board chair for both Swift Biosciences (acquired in 2021) and Dropworks (acquired in 2021). Additionally, Dan has supported investments including NeuMoDx, Strata Oncology, and SI-BONE. Dan was a recipient of the National Venture Capital Association's Rising Star Award in 2020.
Prior to joining Arboretum, Dan held corporate finance roles at Eli Lilly & Company, supporting the company's U.S. sales and marketing operations. Dan currently serves on the Investment Advisory Board for the Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund at the University of Michigan.
Dan earned a BBA and MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Dan Kidle
Arboretum Ventures
Jessica Robinson
Co-Founder & Partner
Assembly Ventures
Jessica Robinson is a mobility investor, entrepreneur, educator, and champion of Detroit.
As Co-Founder and Partner of Assembly Ventures, she invests in and strategically supports the entrepreneurs and mobility companies moving the Western world. She brings a diverse operating background spanning high-growth startups, world-class accelerators, a top 5 global automaker, technology workforce development, and venture capital. Jessica serves on the boards of Motmot (robotics), NAVIT (mobility), and Secro (trade finance), and as a nonprofit director for both the Citizens Research Council of Michigan and the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Prior to establishing Assembly Ventures, Jessica co-founded the Michigan Mobility Institute, an organization dedicated to cultivating top talent for the mobility industry. She also spearheaded next-generation mobility efforts as the Director of City Solutions at Ford Motor Company, where her team led go-to-market strategies for mobility software and services.
An early pioneer in the emerging mobility industry, Jessica played pivotal roles building Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing organization. She held several key positions across North America, including growth, operations, and marketing. Her passion for innovation extends beyond the mobility industry. She previously worked at Techstars, launching corporate startup accelerators with industry-leading partners like Target and Virgin Media.
In recognition of her groundbreaking work, Jessica was named Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in 2020. A true champion of her adopted hometown, Jessica has served as a micro lender to Detroit-based women entrepreneurs and business owners. She is an active startup mentor, pitch competition judge, and serves as an advisor to several university programs.
Jessica's impressive background has earned her numerous accolades, including being named a Next City Vanguard and a Detroit delegate to the Harvard Business School Young American Leaders Program. She also served as a Governor's appointee to the State of Michigan's Workforce Development Board representing mobility businesses statewide.
Jessica graduated with highest honors from the University of Massachusetts with a BA in anthropology and brings an unexpected perspective to the challenges that fall at the intersection of mobility and technology.
Jessica Robinson
Assembly Ventures
Jim Tenzillo
Managing Director
Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund
Jim Tenzillo is a venture capitalist whose mission is to empower tenacious founders with the capital and strategic guidance needed to maximize their growth and impact. He has spent the last 12 years as a venture investor, community builder, board member, investment committee member and startup advisor.
Across two venture funds and angel investing, Jim has invested in 80 early-stage startup companies, which have collectively gone on to raise over $1 billion in subsequent follow-on funding and built over $2.8 billion in enterprise value. In 2024, he co-launched the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, a $5M early-stage fund focused on investing in technologies that increase the sustainability, accessibility, and enjoyment of the outdoor industry. The Fund has made 30 investments into 21 startups in its first 15 months. Through this work, Jim has helped pioneer new investment vehicles, offering founders alternative ways to fund their companies. These funding mechanisms enable faster liquidity for the fund and reduce dilution for the founders. In an effort to connect founders with the capital and relationships that fuel success, Jim is also one of the Founding Board Members of VentureNext, Inc., a nonprofit that aims to increase capital, community, and collaboration across the venture capital industry in the Midwest.
Jim holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Finance with Honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He serves on the Ally Council of Black Leaders Detroit, member of the investment review committee for Ann Arbor SPARK Capital and Michigan Rise, and mentor/advisor for: Techstars Detroit, VC University and the Desai Accelerator. Locally, Jim was a member of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Detroit Class XLI. In both 2023 and 2024, Jim was recognized as an All-Star Mentor by Techstars – awarded to the top 1% of mentors globally, by founder Net Promoter Score.
Jim Tenzillo
Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund
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