Warmilu - Spread the Warmth

Tim Faley has a few ideas on what it takes for an entrepreneur to get a business off the ground and grow -- and how an advanced business degree can help. Faley, 56, is managing director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, housed at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, and an adjunct professor of corporate strategy. 

Grace Hsia is passionate about saving infant lives. So passionate she decided to become an entrepreneur and enroll in the University of Michigan's inaugural Master of Entrepreneurship class. When Hsia was a materials-science engineering student at the university, she discovered some sobering data from the World Health Organization. 

Can Ann Arbor become the next big thing in high tech?

Story by Julie Halpert Photos by benjamin Weatherston

Grace Hsia, a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Michigan, thinks she has the next big business idea and she spends most of her waking hours making sure it succeeds. • As an undergraduate engineering student, she and a team of five others got a patent on a non-electric heat technology they use to make infant warming blankets. She’s CEO of a company they founded, Warmilu, which seeks to reduce infant mortality from hypothermia, a condition that kills 140 infants in developing countries every hour, she said. • “I am passionate about spreading warmth to save lives,” she said. Hsia and her five partners have raised $30,000 to launch the product, which is being tested in Bangalore, India. • For the past 17 months, Hsia has spent as many as 90 hours a week nurturing her startup from her cramped, 196-square-foot apartment in downtown Ann Arbor. She tends to her pet project while perched on her lone piece of furniture, a cappuccino-colored futon. • She also takes a full 16-credit class load in her master’s of entrepreneurship program and works 20 hours a week at U-M’s Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy. She even manages to squeeze in exercise, logging 56 miles on a stationary bike on a recent Saturday while typing away at her laptop. • She doesn’t sleep much. “When you know your technology is saving lives, it really makes you go the extra mile,” she says.  Hsia is extraordinarily committed, but she’s not alone. Ann Arbor has a growing techie subculture of people chasing their dreams, hoping to cash in on the next great idea.

Hey Warmilu friends, are you in the Detroit area?  If you are, come check out Warmilu as CEO Grace Hsia competes in a pitch competition for Accelerate Michigan.  The competition is located at:

Westin Book Cadillac 1114 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226

Its finally November! As promised October was a busy month but we have made huge strides in product development so all the blood, sweat and tears were worth it! Thanks to the entire team and all the help we had to meet our goal checkpoints!

Now as we move into November the teams focus is shifting to dive deeper into the challenges that face us in the upcoming months. We want to target our go to market strategy and really develop a better understand of the market we are aiming to penetrate. This involves finding the right people who are established in India and finding where our product would be able to have a disruptive impact. 

November marks the beginning of Prematurity Month.  In the United States, 1 in 8 babies are born premature.  Worldwide, the number is 1 in 10.  This totals to 15 million babies born too soon each year.

These infants may have apnea, respiratory distress syndrome (SDR), jaundice, anemia, infections, and many more complications in the short term.  In the long term, the child may face autism, cerebral palsy, lung problems, and hearing and vision loss.  Some premature births can be prevented.