Eye of the Tiger! UGA at GA Tech’s Tiger Challenge

UGA’s Terry Entrepreneurship took on GA Tech at their annual Tiger Challenge, a business pitch competition. Despite playing on Tech’s turf, at their event, with their judges and format, Terry Entrepreneurship still won 2nd place of 18 teams. We’ve got no hard feelings for our friends over at Tech; they paired students with fascinating biomedical and other technological concepts and presented them well. We appreciated the invitation and look forward to meeting the challenge again next year. Oh, and yeah, we all listened to this on the way up to get pumped!

Interestingly, the differences between our programs were on display at the challenge.  Whereas the GA Tech entries were research based and in some cases years from market, Terry Entrepreneurship’s companies were up-and-running businesses already pulling revenue. To paraphrase sponsor and judge Scott Burkett, both programs are terrific, and each plays an important role, but Terry is focused on “pure entrepreneurship.” We’ll take that compliment over an outright win any day.

First Place Winner was Tech’s Elastec Medical, pitched by Adam Martinez of the Biomedical Engineering program.  Elastec is a concept for building protein-derived heart stents versus traditional permanent versions which can re-clog arteries over time. Elastec promises to tap into the $1.2b stent market it thinks is ready for organtic stents that biodegrade once an artery is opened.

Second place went to UGA’s Digtial College Network (DCN), pitched by MBA students Rachel Martin, Erin McCrary, Stephen Rosenberg, and Joyce Scott. The company has screens in over 310 college bookstores where it pushes student-generated and professionally produced content, driving traffic to DCNlive.com. With its own campus operations and multi-platform engagement tools, DCN is making an audience for advertisers out of the $200b college student market.

Third place went to Tech’s GreenBrane, pitched by Anestis-Richard, with teammates Justin Harper, Jeff Murray, and Steve Balcof. GreenBrane is working on the next generation of a fuel cell by focusing on the membrane, which currently accounts for approximately 75% of a fuel cell’s cost.  With new advancements, GreenBrane hopes to improve the flexibility and durability of the fuel cell while also significantly driving down its cost, potentially paving the way for commercialization in mobile device applications.

The formidable array of Terry Entrepreneurship teams included:

Amenity Club, presented by Carla Brackman, Elise North, and Meredith Robinson. Amenity Club creates gives potential buyers an incentive to purchase by including points reedemable at hundreds of vendors, from dog walking to gourmey delivery.

“I enjoyed the creative challenge of having to pitch a business model in a compelling and memorable way in only three minutes  Overall we all had a lot of fun at the Tiger Challenge.”  -Meredith Robinson, 2nd year Terry MBA

STATS (Solutions Taking Athletes to Success), presented by Jon Hillard and Jay Hall, with teammates Brandon James and Brittany Lee. STATS

has a mission to provide athletes with training solutions to improve the performance of the athlete.  The first product, The FIX™, which as a patent pending, is focusing on baseball and fast pitch softball.  The FIX™ is designed to help batters stay in a correct stance as they swing.

Sustainable Solutions presented by David Alexander, with teammates Will Stewart and Jason Safier. Sustainable Solutions creates energy from bio-gas otherwise lost when created from water treatment processes.

Stinky Kids, presented by Slav Lyepyenin, Will Ngo, Jon Wales, and Christen Wright.  Stinky Kids is a line of books, plush dolls, and apparel. It is made up of ten unique characters (each with a unique background) to who children can relate. The characters get into innocent mischief and learn about making the right decisions.

Direct Receipts, presented by Prince Njoku, Damian Luna, and Min Tang. Direct Receipts is a corporate expense tracking solution that entirely does away with the printing of receipts at the point of sale.

“It was great to work with a highly motivated team, and challenge ourselves against teams from another school. In a very brief amount of time I was able to get a taste of pitching a new business idea. I hope this becomes a regular event in the future.” -Damian Luna, 2nd year Terry MBA

Evirix, presented by Zander Lentz, Michael Parker, and AJ Fraser. Evirx focuses on providing remote evaluation in the education field, specifically targeted at the student teaching observation need. By evaluating video taped classroom sessions over the Internet, Evirx’s video analysis tool allows universities to remotely observe student teachers in their classrooms.

In My Square, presented by Qiana Williams. In My Square provides employment and training opportunities to low-income youth in Columbus,
Cleveland and Cincinnati. The nonprofit operates a market research
firm that employs young people trained in research and analysis. The company has a triple bottom line approach in which the social and economic development missions are balanced with financial returns.

The GA Tech competing teams included:

Mudtadple, pitched by Jacob Cohen, with teammates Jake Sisley, Nihil Patel, and Adam Masarek. Mudtadple is developing a laser diagnostic tool for the telecommunications and medical imaging industries, to improve fiber optic communications and improve the quality of medical images, respectively.

AlpZhi, pitched by Amit Jariwala, with teammates Greg Sheridan, Nancy Rosenberg, Brian Baum. AlpZhi is developing a micro-manufacturing process to build smooth, micro-fluidic devices used in medical applications like that used to maeasure blood sugar.

CereCom, pitched by Brett Matthews, with teammates Rohit Merh, Winston Kim, and Betty DeLos Reyes. CereCom is developing “prosthetic speech,” a device that reads the signals from your brain and converts them to a speaking voice, potentially benefitting patients who have suffered from neurological damage.

NanoVate, pitched by Michelle Schlea, with teammates Michelle Louie, Andres Velarde, Melissa Johnson. NanoVate is developing carbon nanotubes for improving composite components, so lighter, stronger, more heat-resistant materials can be used instead of metal.

Zyfion, pitched by Chris Shen, with teammates Jaimie Anderson, John Phelps, and Sharon Lee. Zyfion is developing nanoparticales that, when bound to a cancer drug an injected into a patient’s bloodstream, will seek and destroy cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

NanoShield, presented by Toni South, with teammates Eddie Sloan, Meghan McIntee, Payal Keshvani. NanoShield is a prodcut that coats breast implants used for reconstructive purposes, preventing scar tissue development that requires additonal surgery.

PowerTrak, pitched by Erich Stuntebeck, with teammates Andy Adams, Richard Driftmeier, Akash Jariwala. PowerTrak is developing a real-time indoor location system built into a building’s existing power distribution system to better the lives of the aging population.

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Article by Stephen Rosenberg