Babcock Graduate School of Management, Babcock/Eno River Capital Elevator Competition
Winner: Medamorphosis Pharmaceuticals [from the University of Georgia]
Team members: Elliot Altman, Ken Nations, Dave Preston, Harald Zeiss
Contact: nationsfamily@hotmail.com
Prize: An invitation to pitch the plan to Eno River Capital.
Funding: Seeking $3 million in first-round venture funding.
Description: In this first-of-its-kind contest, MBA students got two 28-floor elevator rides to pitch their business ideas to venture capitalists. Finalists had to make it through a follow-up 30-minute Q&A session. The University of Georgia team won with a plan for Medamorphosis, a development-stage company intent on commercializing peptide stabilizing-and-screening technology that was developed by Altman, director of the University of Georgia's Genetic Bioengineering Center. The company has applied for patents and is beginning tests on a peptide-based antibiotic that officials say kills staphylococcus bacteria more effectively than current antibiotics. The company operates out of the University of Georgia Biotechnology Incubator.
Contest: CollegeClub.com - Incorporate This! Business Plan Challenge
Winner: Outdoorsman.com, from Brigham Young University
Team members: Evan Child, Sean Finnigan, Brant Harnois, Ryan Nichols, Mike Phelps
Contact: mphlps@hotmail.com, www.outdoorsman.com
Prize: $10,000 and a trip for two team members to pitch to Campsix, a San Francisco incubator; $5,000 donation to Brigham Young University
Funding: Seeking financing.
Description: CollegeClub.com, a hub for college students, invited undergrads from across the country to submit plans that were judged by venture firms, incubators and consultants for viability, projected returns and other criteria. The winner, Orem, Utah-based Outdoorsman.com, is a newly launched Web site for outdoor enthusiasts, with a specialized search engine that lets people search by interest, region or type of business. The site also features classifieds, maps and weather reports.
Contest: Northeastern University $60K Business Plan Contest
Winner: LoanBright.com
Team members: Mark Barlow, David W. Black, Russell A. Straub
Contact: rastraub@loanbright.com, www.loanbright.com
Prize: $40,000
Funding: Seeking first round of venture financing
Description: LoanBright.com, led by former Northeastern professor Russell Straub, provides Web-based tools for the nation's 36,000 mortgage brokers. The tools include a ready-built Web site that mortgage brokers can use as their own, and a real-time mortgage interest rate survey that brokers can plug into their sites to generate sales leads. The year-old company has already accumulated 180 customers, generated first-year revenue of $450,000 and established an advisory board of industry veterans, including a former president of Ginnie Mae and a former vice chairman of Price Waterhouse. LoanBright, based in Dartmouth, Mass., is seeking venture funding to hire managers, complete software development and expand sales and marketing.
Contest: University of Michigan Business School - FuturTech Forum
Winner: NewsBiz
Team members: Brian Khoury, Ericka Lewis, Jim Mansfield, Scott Muldrow
Contact: jim@jimmansfield.com; www.newsbiz.com
Prize: A spot in E-lab, the business school's on-campus incubator that provides mainly computer server, software and other technical services
Funding: Currently seeking seed funding of $500,000 to $1 million.
Description: NewsBiz is creating a hub that reporters can use to find sources they need for stories and that public relations, university representatives and other media relations practitioners can use to pitch stories more accurately to journalists. The site also plans to offer some as-yet-unspecified commerce features. After a closed beta test, the startup's first product, NewsBizJournalist, is set to launch in mid-June. NewsBiz has contracted with an offshore Web developer to help build the site and is seeking seed capital to fund growth.
Contest: University of Virginia's Darden School - Business Plan Competition
Winner: Setagon Team members: Kiernan Conn, Kareen Looi
