UW business plan competition showcases the best and brightest |
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Eric Fogel of Emergent Detection pitches his idea at the UW business plan competition.
So many business plans, so little time. That's how I felt after stepping into the University of Washington's HUB Ballroom today for the Michael G. Foster School's annual Business Plan Competition. The event offered a true smorgasbord of innovative startup ideas, with three dozen entrepreneurial teams vying for the attention -- not to mention the virtual dollars -- of more than 200 judges made up of Seattle area lawyers, venture capitalists, journalists and entrepreneurs.
I too had the distinct honor of being one of the judges, helping to whittle the field down from 32 to 16 teams. It wasn't an easy task, and some of the judges I spoke to (Enrique Godreau of Voyager Capital, Gauruv Oberoi of Precision Polling and Rob Brown of Zino Society) said they were impressed with how far some of the teams had come. There certainly was entrepreneurial diversity in the room, from a developer of a mobile translation services to a maker of premium vodkas to a creator of an environmentally-friendly road surface.
I brought my handy video recorder along and took some short videos of the pitches I saw. Also, below you'll find descriptions of the 16 teams that advanced to the final round where real prize money is on the line. That event will take place May 27.
Kyung Hee Yun, right, pitches YongoPal at the UW Business Plan Competition
I apologize in advance if the videos are a little shaky or hard to hear, but it was truly a madhouse in there. I took that as a sign that the entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well on the UW campus. I think you will too after watching some of the pitches.
Here are the 16 finalists, with descriptions and team members provided via the UW's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Developing a diagnostic tool to help physicians provide patient care more efficiently and less invasively with an easy-to-use and fully automated platform for conducting rapid quantitative immunoassays. Yinka Daramola, Kjell Nelson, Wei Qiao, Kirk Rorrer, Meghna Sareen, Alik Widge, and Jennifer Widjaja
Makes semi-transparent, flexible plastic solar films that can be applied to commercial window surfaces to turn incoming sunlight into energy. Tim Carruthers, Kieran de Guzman, Alex de Klerk, and James Fallisgaard
Working to solve the worldwide obesity epidemic with its handheld device that immediately and directly measures personal fat loss in the home user. Eric Fogel, Joel Gjuka, Keegan Hall, and Amanda Mathes
EETech is developing a medical device called ExoWalk that utilizes patented ExoTendon technology to dramatically reduce the muscular force required to walk, enabling people with wheelchairs to stand up and walk their way to better qualities of life. Brian Glaister, Chie Kawahara, Katie Mulholland, and Jason Schoen
Using the consumer glass waste stream to produce 100% recycled building materials and agricultural products. Serena Batten, Scott Coil, Grant Marchelli, and Renuka Prabhakar
Automated camera systems for mountain resorts that allow their terrain park participants to capture, share and further enjoy their mountain experience at home through our online community. Robert Capogna, Rob Hammond, Jonas Harris, Eli Rosenberg, Josh Scotland, and Sterling Swigart
Produces a point of care viral diagnostic, based on patented processes, that can detect a viral infection days before the subject manifests physical symptoms and becomes contagious. Jason Burt, Alice Lombard, Andrew Lombard, and Michael Whittaker
Has developed a revolutionary enzyme that when mixed and compacted with clay creates a durable, low cost, waterproof and environmentally friendly road with a lifespan of more than 15 years. Ping Chee, John Craig, Gayatri Eassey, Heidi Han Yu, Emily Marshall, Dick Polley, and James Spaulding
Encourages the adoption of energy efficiency technologies by identifying and providing consumer products that empower the customer to participate in sustainable energy practices. Mark Cotton, Jamie Durbin, Kathryn Imler, Allen Klein, Kevin McFarland, and Winslow Moran-Hodge
Develops revolutionary nutrition intervention solutions such as the DietOn product which helps people recently diagnosed with diabetes maintain a nutritionally balanced diet and proper exercise. Fei Guo, Anthony Simon, Kishore Sundara-Rajan, and Alexei Zyuzin
Provides conversation partnering services to students of English as a Second Language in South Korea live, one-on-one, and face-to-face via in-browser video VoIP. Darien Brown, Daron Hall, Jon Hickey, and Kyung Hee Yun
Mobile payment processing system targeting online merchants in emerging markets to take advantage of the high mobile user penetration rate and the low credit card/bank account usage rates. Mohamad Arabo, Joel Brunk, Maria Derdevani, Amir Kabbara, and Omar Nesh Nash
We will license patented and proprietary technology from The Boeing Company that is disruptive in the Product Lifecycle Management industry. This technology will provide exclusive capabilities optimizing design data management, including 3D CAD. Sean Callahan, Teddi Callahan, Drew MacLean, Chuck Newcombe, Rainer Romatka, and Anders Simmons
Innovative garment designs aimed at reducing infection spread due to contaminated outerwear of medical staff. Kevin Beshlian, Michael Hayes, Brian Howe, and Mehul Mediwala
FLIIP is a laser-driven fiber optic projector-camera device that can be embedded in small portable devices such as smartphones. The tiny 1mm x 7mm projector tip also serves as a camera that can recognize gestures, enabling input and interaction. Phillip Allison, Erin Aselas, Mary Minoo, Hani Rachidi, and Frank Sellinger
Will provide earth-friendly solutions to the growing problems of food waste disposal and energy consumption by offering a unique food-to-fuel solution to the nation's largest consumers, starting with Fortune 500 corporate campuses. Brandon Baker, Jaimee Jewell, Larry LeSueur, and Jose Lugo
Alternates:
A cloud based video analytics platform and related services to enable customers in the transportation industry to monitor flow and make critical infrastructure optimization decisions. Jake Brick, Drew Hadley, Yegor Malinovskiy, and Bryce Morsello
The premier purveyor of fine craft distilled spirits utilizing the best ingredients to make an exquisite end product. Our products are and will be an experience; each one loyal to a high quality craft spirit heritage while enticing creativity and taste buds alike. Jeff Litton and Kevin Sullivan
John Cook is co-founder and executive editor of TechFlash. He has been covering the technology beat for nearly a decade, writing about startups, entrepreneurs and venture capital, most recently serving as a reporter/blogger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
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