Five Brown Teams Named Semifinalists in Rhode Island Business Plan Competition

Five Brown teams, including three with connections to the School of Engineering, were named semifinalists at the 2012 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. In total, 75 emerging entrepreneurs applied to the competition, and 13 were selected as semifinalists, including seven in the entrepreneur track and six in the student track. Five of the six semifinalists in the student track were from Brown, including three teams from the School of Engineering.

Two teams from Steve Petteruti’s Entrepreneurship I class and Entrepreneurship II classes, Engineering 1930G and Engineering 1930H, were among the semifinalists. JCD Wind, included James McGinn ’12, a biomedical engineering concentrator, and Carli Wiesenfeld ’12, a commerce, organizations, and entrepreneurship (COE) concentrator. The company aims to make seamless, high strength lightweight carbon fiber turbine blades. McGinn is also a member of the men’s rugby team, and Wiesenfeld is a member of the women’s gymnastics team.

Another semifinalist was CityBase Security, which included Julianne Bishop ’12 and Joschka Tryba ’12, who are both COE concentrators. Their company hopes to provide a map-based platform that will integrate communication and information systems for both emergency responders and public reporting of incidents/crimes.

A group of four graduate students in the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) master’s degree program were also among the semifinalists. Solar4Cents included PRIME students Sean Pennino, Bhavuk Nagpal, Xiaotong 'Peter' Shan, and Meng 'Milo' Zhang. Solar4Cents is a manufacturing company that aims to produce low-cost, thin-film copper, zinc, tin, and sulfur solar cells for solar panel manufacturers.

The contest will award more than $200,000 in prizes. In order to receive prizes, applicants must agree to establish or continue operations in Rhode Island. Winners will be announced on May 3. Please go to www.ri-bizplan.com for more details. Established in 2000, the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition has awarded more than $1 million in prizes since its inception.

For the official RI Business plan release on the competition, please go to: http://www.ri-bizplan.com/DefaultPermissions/SemifinalistsNamed/tabid/257/Default.aspx

For the Providence Business News story on the event, please go to: http://www.pbn.com/Biz-plan-competition-names-semi-finalists,66767?category_id=27&sub_type=stories,packages

For the GoLocalProv.com story, please go to: http://www.golocalprov.com/business/new-ri-business-plan-competition-2012-names-semi-finalists/

Sarah Huebscher '10 ScM '11 Named Finalist in RI Business Plan Competition

Brown's Sarah Huebscher '10 ScM '11, who completed her bachelor's degree in engineering and is now a current master's degree student in the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME), has been selected as one of eight finalists in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

Huebscher is one of just three finalists in the student track. Her proposal was for PriviCare, a business that would provide at home diagnostic devices for common infections and diseases.

The finalists are competing for $250,000 in prizes. Final presentations are scheduled for May 3 at the RIBX business expo at the R.I Convention Center. Winners will be announced following the presentations. A top overall winner will take home a $50,000 cash prize.

Providence Business News story:
http://www.pbn.com/RI-Biz-Plan-Competition-announces-finalists,57682 

Four Brown Students Among 16 Semifinalists in RI Business Plan Competition

A record number of people vying for a record prize pot of more than $250,000 applied to the 2011 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, and 16 of them have been named semi-finalists, including three Brown University students and one alumnus. 

The four semifinalists with Brown engineering and entrepreneurship connections were among seven semifinalists in the student track of the competition. They included HnC Products led by principal applicant Margaret Watson '11. Her idea is to create a personal beverage container that can heat and cool 20 ounces between 150 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit with the flip of a switch. HnC (which stands for hot and cold) grew out of an idea from Professor Eric Suuberg's entrepreneurship class in which Watson and six other undergraduates have been working on a way to improve the taste of food eaten by astronauts who don't have access to refrigeration in space. The device uses compact thermoelectric technology, and has the potential to redefine the beverage market.

Two students from the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME), Sara Huebscher '10 ScM '11 and Rachel Decker ScM'11 were also among the semifinalists. Decker's business plan is for PRIME Omega-3, a company which will produce and sell high quality omega-3 fish oil supplements using a safe proprietary chromatography technique. Huebscher's plan is for Privicare, which will provide at-home diagnostic devices for common infections and diseases.

Dan Aziz '11 presented a business plan for PriWater, which is developing a prenatal beverage supplement to reduce birth defects and mitigate common complications of pregnancy.

The 103 business proposals submitted this year represent a 69% increase over the number of applications received last year. To receive prizes, which will be awarded to all finalists and winners, applicants must agree to establish or continue operations in Rhode Island.


Providence Business News Release:
http://www.pbn.com/RI-Business-Plan-Competition-names-16-semi-finalists,57199

RI Business Plan Competition 2011 Release:
http://www.ri-bizplan.com/News/SemifinalistsAnnounced/tabid/237/Default.aspx

Present and Past: Rhode Island Business Plan Competition winners from Brown

Brown students enrolled in Entrepreneurship & New Ventures ENGN1930x course consistently do well in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. This year Speramus, which developed its business plan in the course last semester, won the student track. The company is creating an online fundraising platform that uses a proprietary ranking system to match donors with individual support opportunities. In addition, Bakodo which developed its business plan in the course last year was runner up in the entrepreneur track. The company is focused on developing a highly-targeted, contextual barcode ad-serving network that aims to optimize return on investment for advertisers. For more information on this year's winners, visit here.

Last year's winner, Runa, who also developed their business plan in the Entrepreneurship and New Ventures course continues to make excellent progress. They have successfully raised funds from angel investors, successfully built out their vertically integrated supply chain in Ecuador, and begun selling their initial tea products in both loose leaf pouches and single serve bags. If you are interested in trying Runa, feel free to buy a cup at Blue State in Providence which now proudly serves it! You can read more at www.drinkruna.com

In addition the runner-up from last year, Eulie has also grown from the intial business plan they developed in the Entrepreneurship and New Ventures course. Both founders raised capital to work full-time on Eulie, developed and successfully tested a novel patent-pending fabric combination that is leak proof, and designed products that will be used to approach retail buyers later this year. You can read more at www.eulieintimates.com