When Max von Wels landed in Michigan in 2022, at the age of 24, he had a decision to make. “It was a battle between Duke and U of M,” he says. “I like football, not basketball. So I came for the Maize and Blue.”
Now 27, Von Wels is the co-founder of
Life Magnetics, a Southeast Michigan biotech startup focused on stabilizing and delivering RNA-based therapeutics — the kind that powered COVID-19 vaccines and represent a new frontier in medicine.
“I’m originally from Hamburg, Germany,” he says. “I haven't lived in Germany in a while, though — I think about eight, nine years now. I lived all over Europe, in the UK and the Netherlands, and started off in economics and political science. But I’ve always been really fascinated by tech. I wanted to get closer to the action, where I could see tangible results very quickly.”
That passion led him to the Netherlands for business school and eventually to the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where a project with a local investor drew him into the state’s tech ecosystem. “I did a few projects looking at entrepreneurial studies, and one of them supported a local businessman who was working in the tech ecosystem,” Von Wels explains.
It was during that time that he met his co-founder and began work on a new technology that uses graphene beads — microscopic carbon structures known for their strength and conductivity — to hold and protect RNA — a delicate molecule that carries genetic information and falls apart quickly if not stabilized.
“You might remember during COVID, you had to take the vaccines,” Von Wels says, “and they had to be kept at minus 60 or 70 degrees. The reason is that RNA is extremely fragile. Our technology binds RNA to graphene beads so it can actually be stabilized.” That makes RNA much easier to handle and far more useful in various applications.
Now,
Life Magnetics is applying that innovation to the livestock industry. “It allows us to prove out our technology and get to sales a bit more quickly,” he says. “Herds are getting a lot more similar genetically, so there’s less diversity to protect against disease. Pathogens rip through them like wildfire.”
In partnership with a Michigan-based livestock diagnostics company, Life Magnetics is helping bring the cost down on high-precision diagnostic testing. “They’re using low-cost and inaccurate diagnostic tools because the precise tools are too expensive,” Von Wels says. “So we’re working to bring down the cost of those very expensive, but super precise tests. That way, farmers can better understand what is going on in their herd at any given time.”
For Von Wels, establishing a business in the United States wasn’t easy, particularly as an immigrant. After completing his student visa, he entered the H-1B visa lottery twice and was denied both times.
That’s when
Global Detroit stepped in.
As a regional economic and community development organization with a focus on immigrants and global talent, Global Detroit has many programs to support inclusive growth. It has created innovative pathways to keep international talent in Michigan through partnerships with local universities.
“The amount of help and support I got from Global Detroit is very difficult to put into words,” he says. “They are the reason why I'm here in the United States doing what I'm doing.”
Global Detroit also provided more than paperwork. They offered a sense of belonging. “They’re connecting us to funding and grant resources, and they’re building a founder community,” he says. “Sometimes I get on Friday calls where we help other immigrant entrepreneurs refine their pitches. That kind of peer support is something founders born here often take for granted.”
As someone building a startup while navigating deadlines in the immigration process, Von Wels says the two paths of entrepreneurship and immigration are deeply linked. “Until you have a green card, your immigration journey is never over. You must make sure that what you are pursuing in your business aligns with the strategy that you are pursuing to get longer-term visas in the United States.”
Asked what advice he’d give to immigrant founders, Von Wels says, “Take very conscious steps toward assuring your immigration journey aligns with your business journey. That’s much harder than one would think. The business journey can go up and down, but immigration is kind of relentless in some of its deadlines.”
Despite those pressures, Von Wels says Michigan quickly earned his loyalty, not just for the football, but for the people. “There’s always been something about the grit — the Midwest grit,” he says.
“Michigan startups get to success with less funding than the West Coast or the Boston-New York cluster,” he says. “It’s a sign of determination… and also just a lower cost of doing things and getting things done.”
So while it may have been football that lured him to Michigan, it was something else that convinced Von Wels to call the Mitten State home.
“The people made me stay,” he says. “I met people who are incredibly determined to build great innovative startups here. And I like that.”
This story is part of a series underwritten by Global Detroit, a regional economic and community development organization. With a focus on immigrants and global talent, Global Detroit develops and implements inclusive strategies to drive the growth, revitalization, and broadly shared prosperity of Detroit and Southeast Michigan.