Cozad New Venture Competition

A special thank you to our sponsors, judges and alumni for their participation:

Scott Button: Managing Director, Venture Investors LLC
Jay Dainas: Senior Vice President of Marketing, Principal, Adalyze Technologies
Roger Dickey: Founder & CEO, Product X
Laura Frerichs: University of Illinois, Director, Research Park
Joe Jablonski: Founder & CEO, WeGather.com
Jim Keating: Associate, IllinoisVENTURES
Elizabeth (Liz) Kellner: Paralegal/Entrepreneurship Specialist, Singleton Law Firm, P.C.
Max Levchin: President & CEO, HVF, LLC
Bartly J. Loethen: Founding Partner, Synergy Law Group
Amitt Mahajan: Co-founder, Red Hot Labs
Paul Manzano: Managing Director and Principal, Metropolitan Capital Investment Banc
Caralynn Nowinski, M.D.: Associate Vice President for Innovation & Economic Development, University of Illinois
Joel Poloney: Co-founder, Red Hot Labs
Rob Schultz: Senior Director, IllinoisVENTURES
Alan Singleton: Attorney, Singleton Law Firm, P.C.
Craig R. Smith: Partner, Lando & Anastasi, LLP
Masha Trenhaile: Managing Broker and Vice President of Operations, Fox Development Corporation
Dr. Emily Wee: Senior Technology Manager, Office of Technology Management (OTM)
Derek Wong: Analyst, Digital Health, Burrill & Company

Congratulations to the Winners!!!

Funding:

SERIONIX, which has come up with filter materials to remove perchlorate from drinking water — took first place in the Most Fundable Venture category, earning the firm $15,000.

HigherMed, which won a $5,000 prize for second place in the Most Fundable Venture category. That team plans to develop and market an easier-to-use prescription pill bottle cap, primarily for people with decreased dexterity.

StudyCloud won a $2,000 prize for third place in the Most Fundable Venture category. StudyCloud is an online collaboration platform poised at integrating social web technology with online education.

GlucoSentient, which won a $10,000 prize as the Burrill Best Digital Healthcare Application. GlucoSentient aims to improve the lives of patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who take theophylline. It proposes home monitoring through use of a blood glucose meter.

Transplants Without Donors, which won a $7,500 prize as Best Social Venture. That team invented a life-saving therapy based on the creation of artificial organs from the patients' stem cells and biomaterials.

Oso Simple Technologies and Prawg each won a $2,500 prize for Best Mobile Application. Oso Simple aims to reduce the water used on lawns and gardens, while Prawg focuses on real-time interaction between TV shows and their audiences. Prawg also won a $1,000 prize for Most Patentable Idea/Venture.

In-Kind Prizes:

EnterpriseWorks Incubator Space: Easy Go Dispenser LLC, EscaWheel, uZee

iStart Admission: OceanComm

Adobe Technolgoy Innovation Prize: uZee, StudyCloud, HigherMed

Singleton Law Frim Services: EscaWheel, OceanComm

Adalyze Technologies IT Services: StudyCloud

Lando and Anastasi, LLP Legal Services: Prawg

The Technology Entrepreneur Center and the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership would like to present the 12th annual Cozad New Venture Competition.

General Information

The Cozad New Venture Competition (CNVC) is designed to encourage students, researchers, and community members to create new sustainable businesses in the Champaign-Urbana area. The competition encourages the development of the entrepreneurial spirit through teamwork and competition. Teams are invited to create a business plan around a topic of their choice. Assistance is available in the form of mentors, workshops, and courses to guide teams through the phases of business plan creation.

There is no limit to the number of teams that can enter the CNVC. Students can serve on multiple teams. The Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) will work with judges to determine up to 10 finalist teams that will present their business plan at the finals event. Teams in the final round will compete for an estimated $50,000 in cash, plus valuable in-kind prizes. Finalists and winners will have the opportunity to meet with venture capitalists, early stage investors and successful entrepreneurs who will serve as judges for the finals round.

The management team must consist of at least one University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student. Non-students may be members of the management team and participate in planning the venture; but only students may present the plan and answer questions from the judges in the Finals Event.