First Ilitch School Startup Technology Pitch Competition award goes to novel cancer screening drug

On Friday, March 28, 2025, the Mike Ilitch School of Business and the Belinsky Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory at the Ilitch School hosted the finals for the first Startup Technology Pitch Competition, sponsored by Ally. Eight teams pitched their technology-based startups to a panel of judges for a chance to win one of three start-up cash investment prizes.  

The judges consisted of Derek Batts, managing partner and CIO of Union Heritage, Niles Heron, Senior Director for tech-based entrepreneurship at TechTown, Edward Kim, managing partner of Side Door Ventures—Michigan Fund, Nancy Philippart, general partner and co-founder of Belle Investment Funds, and Theresa Weaver, manager of technology strategy and planning at Ally Financial Inc. 

These presentations were the culmination of two semesters of extracurricular work for the student groups. Students formed groups consisting of business students, medical students, engineering students and students of all majors who have an idea for a product. Workshops were offered to help the groups develop their pitches, and craft presentations. The groups then refined their ideas over the course of two semesters, ahead of the competition.  

Student groups pitched a diverse array of technology-based startups, including natural capture agents for water purification, newly developed early colorectal cancer detection methods and AI powered products to help facilitate worker safety.  

The winning group consisted of Luv Thakkar and Sanjana Kumar, who pitched their new product Fluoroscreen, an injectable medication that makes detecting colorectal cancer much easier, and less invasive. 

This competition was organized by Kevin Ketels, director of the entrepreneurship and innovation programs, and an associate professor of teaching in global supply chain management, and Rhoda Joseph, Chair of the Technology, Information Systems and Analytics Department.  

Ketels was pleased with the outcome of the final round of competition, commenting that “the student innovation demonstrated at this event was outstanding. The many volunteer industry judges and mentors worked directly with students to help us in our mission to build an interconnected community of entrepreneurs.” 

Head to the Bell Lab website to learn more about this competition and other student opportunities.

The Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business prepares students for challenging and rewarding careers, advances the boundaries of scholarly and practitioner knowledge, and enhances the economic vitality of the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and beyond through its programs, research and community engagement. Established in 1946, the business school was renamed in 2015 in recognition of a $40 million gift from Mike and Marian Ilitch. Thanks to this lead investment, the school moved to a new state-of-the-art building in the heart of the District Detroit in 2018, and academic programming and collaboration with city businesses are expanding. For more information, visit ilitchbusiness.wayne.edu.