Three UA Businesses Sweep Annual Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Three teams from The University of Alabama earned first, second and third place honors in the second annual Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition, winning a total of $175,000 in start-up funding.
The Alabama Launchpad Finale took place April 14 at the Bryant Conference Center on the campus of The University of Alabama. Eight finalist teams presented their business ideas to a panel of judges with experience in venture capital and technology start-ups.
Glenn Kinstler, director of Alabama Launchpad, says that UA's success is impressive. "The University of Alabama should obviously be commended for their hard work in establishing these start-up companies and for providing excellent resources and support for them."
"At its heart, this competition is an economic development catalyst," said James P. Hayes, president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a founding sponsor. "We know that the talent and expertise for innovative technologies can be found in our educational institutions. This competition is a driver to pull these technologies into the spotlight and to jump-start their funding, so we can support job creation in emerging technologies in this state at the base level."
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First place and winner of $100,000 in the Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition announced Tuesday is Lambert Technologies. From left, Dr. Scott Spear, research engineer with UA's Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs Center, Chris Cater, a UA MBA student, Todd A. Gross, chief executive officer, Lambert Technologies, and Sam Mroczynski, a senior chemistry major at UA, display their team's winnings following the competition's finale. (Photo by Zach Riggins)
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Second place winner in the business competition is Cellulosix. From left, are Dr. Richard Swatloski, a licensing associate in UA's Office for Technology Transfer, Micah Harvey, the company's chief operating officer, and Aaron Hammons, CEO and president. (Photo by Zach Riggins)
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Winning third place in Monday's Alabama Launchpad competition is SEA Desalination. Joining team leader Mike Wofsey, right, a doctoral student in UA''s department of physics and astronomy, are Jennifer Shell, a green designer and local business person, and Ranjan Dhamapalan, a graduate student in UA's physics and astronomy department. Not pictured is Jeff Street, a UA graduate and professional golfer. (Photo by Zach Riggins)
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A brief description of the winning teams follows:
First Place (Winner of $100,000) -- Lambert Technologies, LLC (UA) has developed a patented luminescent epoxy coating used for testing material stress levels - Strain Sensitive Skin (S3). When the coating is placed on an object and is then tested under different load conditions, the coating emits a light. This light allows for the formation of a strain map across the object’s surface. The strain map can then be used to predict the object’s failure mode location and more accurately determine its service life. Lambert Technologies plans to incubate in the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence at The University of Alabama. The chief executive officer of Lambert Technologies is Todd A. Gross. This team's leader, as it relates to the competition, is UA MBA student Chris Cater.
Second Place ($50,000) -- Cellulosix (UA) is developing a catalog of cellulose-based chemical reagents for use in drug delivery, functional foods, smart clothing, functional bandages, and several other potential markets. The team's advantage is its ability to dissolve raw cellulose in milder conditions than current technology permits, allowing the team to modify it chemically and physically in ways that were previously not possible. Cellulosix will offer a wide range of cellulose materials from conductive cellulose fibers to cellulose based drug delivery systems. Dr. Richard Swatloski, technical adviser for the team, is a licensing agent in UA's Office of Technology Transfer.
Third Place ($25,000) -- SEA Desalination (UA) is a sun-powered desalination technology that removes salt from seawater or high mineral concentrations from ground water. It has a low-environmental impact, since it does not eject brine-water, and is made from remanufactured plastic water and soda bottles. The team plans to manufacture and sell this Array system to homeowners and businesses in coastal areas for drinking water and irrigation. Mike Wofsey, a doctoral student at UA, is the team leader.
The following were judges of the 2008 competition finale:
Dr. T. Russell Crook - professor of business strategy, The University of Tennessee
Dr. Lawrence Greer - senior managing partner, Greer Capital Advisors, LLC
Mr. David Karabinos - managing partner and CEO, Harvest Business Advisors, LLC
Ms. Tanveer Patel - president, CEO and co-Founder, CircleSource Inc.
Mr. Alston Noah - co-Founder, CircleSource Inc.
Teams were judged on the following criteria:
- Value Proposition - What problem or unmet need does this idea address? Is it attractive? Does the team/proposal make a strong case?
- Competitive Position - What are the alternatives? Are there others already in the market? How is this company better than the others?
- Market Opportunity - Is the market real? Is it large enough? Is it growing?
- Management Team - Is this group capable of leading this company? Are future needs addressed?
- Intellectual Property - Does the team provide an adequate description? Is it defensible against current or future competitors? Is there competitive advantage?
- Financial Information - Are the revenue projections realistic? Are cost projections realistic? Is the level or profitability attractive?
- Presentation - Was the presentation clear and articulated well? Did the speaker address all of the critical issues? Did the presenter make a strong case for their business idea?
Alabama Launchpad was formed in 2006 by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama and six universities - Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. The competition is a vetting process to evaluate high growth start-ups and provide seed funding in the form of cash prizes to the top three.
Remaining 2008 Alabama Launchpad Finalists
AT Bioscience, LLC (UAH) has globally identified lung squamous cancer genes using its novel bio-marker gene discovery technology. Lung cancer is a popular cancer type with a high mortality and difficult early detection. Using these genetic biomarkers, ATB is developing both lung cancer research kits and first blood diagnostic kit for early lung cancer diagnosis.
dlservices.net (UA) is an early stage startup company that solves online knowledge resource integration problems for health libraries, a suite of solutions that enable better access to structured information for health providers at the point of patient care. The company markets a software as a service (SaaS) platform in various health library contexts, including hospitals, ambulatory clinics, and academic health science centers. Its SaaS platform allows for a "single point of service" functionality for libraries to offer to their clients. Dr. Steven MacCall, associate professor in UA's School of Library and Information Studies, is the team’s leader.
Intellectrode, LLC (UAB) is engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of Neurotechnology, first to the research market for neuroscience and pharmaceutical R & D and hopes to expand its products into other markets and applications. The company will first manufacture and sell complete systems (equipment and software) for researchers which need no FDA approval, but there are many other potential applications of this technology, some of which do require FDA approval.
Proventix (UA) will offer the more than 44 million family caregivers in the United States access to web-based tools and resources designed to reduce the financial and health related burdens associated with caregiving. Employing a proprietary, patent-pending assessment tool, Proventix will create a tailored program that targets the specific circumstances of the caregiver and patient, and provide the caregiver with continually updated information and counsel on the caregiving process, information on resources in the caregiver’s area; member recommendations, and mobile access to critical data. Dr. Michael Parker, associate professor in the School of Social Work at UA, is team leader of Proventix.
SSS Optical Technologies (Alabama A&M) has developed a new, patent-pending sensor to detect ammonia in animal feeding operation. The system is easier to install, easier to maintain, and provides long-term cost savings versus current systems.
