Charlotte Venture Challenge Awards $75,000 to Top Startups

The 2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge attracted a capacity crowd of over 300 people to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 1, 2013 for fast-paced presentations by eight early stage companies. The evening concluded with the $25,000 grand prize awarded to Bio-Adhesive Alliance.

Nineteen finalists competed for over $75,000 in prize money.

The event featured remarks by Philip L. Dubois, Chancellor UNC Charlotte on the universities engagement in economic development. Dr. Robert G. Wilhelm, Vice Chancellor, Research and Economic Development at UNC Charlotte opened the event with a briefing about how the new PORTAL building will enable the university to collaborate in powerful new ways with business partners ranging from start-ups to major corporations. Patrick T. Mumford, Director of Neighborhood and Business Services at the City of Charlotte offered remarks on the City’s commitment to entrepreneurship and their support of a new initiative, Lemonade Day.

The finals competition began early on May 1 at the Ben Craig Center as nineteen finalists presented their businesses to over thirty angel investors. The morning event determined the six category winners plus two wild cards who would go on to pitch at the evening public event. The eight selected finalists made their final five-minute pitch and responded to rapid-fire question from a judging panel that awarded the $25,000 grand prize.

The judging panel included multiple perspectives from experienced investors and entrepreneurs. Panelists included Paul Grim, Sunbridge Capital, John Cambier, Idea Fund Partners, Don Rainey, Grotech Ventures, Michelle Menard, Founder Choice Translating, Inc. and Rock Hankin, Chairman of the Board at Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ).

Bio-Adhesive Alliance was selected as the $25,000 grand prize winner. The start-up company is a spin-out from NC A&T State University that has developed an innovative technology to produce liquid asphalt from swine manure. According to the company, “This technology provides a sustainable and cost-effective solution to swine manure treatment while reducing pavement construction and maintenance cost.” The Bio-Adhesive Alliance team completed the National Science Foundation’s commercialization program known as I-Corps.

The Category winners eligible for $10,000 awards included: 1) New Energy and High Tech–Bio-Adhesive Alliance (Greensboro, NC); 2) IT and –Robocent (Norfolk, VA); 3) Consumer Products and Services–Greenbug (Beaufort, SC); and, 4) Life Science and Biotech–WeRx.org, (Charlotte, NC). The undergraduate student category winner was NoireNaturals from UNC Charlotte.  The graduate student category winner was ProVazo from University of Virginia. The J. Chris Murphy award was awarded to the top UNC Charlotte student team, NoireNaturals.

This year’s competition included a new award for the startup that would most benefit from a corporate strategic partnership. The judging panel for this award included executives from Wells Fargo, Flextronics, Belk, Bank of America, SPX, Ingersoll Rand, Husqvarna, Midrex, Lowes, Microsoft, Electrolux and TIAA-CREF. Sustainable Ethanol Technologies (Charlotte, NC) was selected as the winner.

Over 200 startups have entered the competition, formerly known as Five Ventures, since it was re-named the Charlotte Venture Challenge in 2012.This year’s competition included entrants from 24 North Carolina counties, District of Columbia, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. The competition features extensive volunteer engagement by over fifty reviewers and mentors.

The 2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge Finalists

Click Here Register to Attend the Finals Wednesday May 1st, 2013 

Consumer Products Category Finalists

Tapity

Tapity is a mobile app design company that designs apps for clients and for our own portfolio. We won an Apple design award for our Grades 2 app in 2011. We are now developing Really Reading, an interactive book for the iPad that teaches children to read. It is based on a scientifically-proven and thoroughly tested method of teaching reading. We are incorporating that method into a fun and engaging iPad app that a young child can use by themselves, step-by-step, until he or she is reading comfortably at a second-grade level. Initially we will market the app through Apple’s App Store to the approximately 90 million parents and grandparents of U.S. children who are between the ages of four and seven. We can later expand to sell to schools, school systems, and preschool/after school care facilities through an education publisher or distributor.

Brush Fairy

Brush Fairy is a subscription toothbrush service that makes brushing magical! To participate, parents simply go to our website, select toothbrushes for the whole family and then sit back and relax knowing that brand new toothbrushes will be delivered to their door step every 3 months, just like the dentist recommends. Kids don’t just receive a great new toothbrush; they get a personalized package, complete with a post card from the Brush Fairy detailing them on her adventures traveling the world, creating a fun, magical experience to get them excited about brushing!

Greenbug, Inc.

Greenbug, Inc. manufactures and sells effective, green and completely safe pest control products for People, Pets, Indoors and Outdoors using cedar as the active ingredient. Greenbug products are EPA exempt (safe enough to not require registration) and are university proven effective with more than 14,000 units sold and not one has been returned for lack of performance. The Greenbug Injector System is our patent-pending mechanism that integrates with an existing irrigation system to distribute Greenbug for Outdoors so that everywhere water is directed becomes safely pest free. The Greenbug Injector System will safely eliminate mosquitoes, fire ants, mole crickets, fleas, all garden pests, etc. but cause no harm to humans, animals or the environment. The Greenbug Injector System will be sold through a network of Landscape Professionals who will benefit from the recurring revenue stream generated by refills of the systems. Using Greenbug is the ‘green’ way to wipe out bugs!

Life Science and Biotechnology Category Finalists

 WeRx.org 

WeRx is an impact startup that has created a proprietary web and mobile platform allowing consumers to find the lowest price on their prescription medications at local pharmacies. The platform can save anyone money but the heart of this venture is to help the people who need it most. Over 70 million Americans lack prescription drug coverage and have to make a decision of paying retail price for their needed medications or simply stop taking their medication due to financial constraints. These retail prices can vary up to 16X from one pharmacy to another on the same block. The WeRx applications can educate, provide discounts and arm consumers with the tools they need to afford their medication and prevent future health complications. In just a few seconds on the WeRx platform consumers can save up to 80% on their medications by simply filling their prescriptions at the lowest cost pharmacy in their neighborhood. With our continued product development and key partnerships, there is no doubt that WeRx will raise awareness and save lives.

Urova Medical  

Urova Medical is a urological startup dedicated to the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, a substantial women’s health problem characterized by the involuntary leakage of urine during movement. This embarrassing, uncomfortable condition affects one in three adult women and often leads to sexual difficulty, sleep disturbance, and psychosocial distress. With a lack of safe, effective alternatives, patients currently spend an average of $1150 per year on adult diapers, incontinence pads, and laundry costs. Founded by a skilled team of urologists and biomedical engineers sharing a common goal, Urova Medical has developed a minimally-invasive silicone implant that effectively and permanently restores continence while eliminating the serious complications associated with surgical slings, the current standard of care. This technology features a low-risk, single-incision operation with consistent results and swift recovery times that can potentially be done as an office-based procedure, representing a paradigm shift in the surgical repair of stress urinary incontinence.

CranioVation

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), or bleeding on the brain, is a significant and commonly encountered problem. It is typically caused by leaking aneurysms in arteries of the brain. There is a very high death and complication rate, including strokes and re-bleeding, leading to overwhelming medical costs. Approximately 1-5% of the entire United States population harbor these ticking time bombs. Current treatments include endovascular coiling and clip ligation. Endovascular coiling is a procedure where the surgeon threads a catheter through the leg up to the brain aneurysm to deploy coils that clot the aneurysm. In clip ligation, the surgeon manually places a titanium clip across the neck of the aneurysm. Notably, clipping these aneurysms has been shown in large trials to lead to lower re-bleeding rates and more secure aneurysms. The problem with today’s clips is that they are made of metal (typically titanium), which causes severe artifact on CT and MRI scans when a person undergoes medical imaging, preventing accurate diagnosis and treatment of complications. We have invented the first ZERO artifact aneurysm clip. Widespread use of our clips could significantly reduce the cost both of treating the aneurysms, and the post-operative complications.

New Energy and High Tech Category Finalists

 Sustainable Ethanol Technologies

Gasoline sold in the US today includes 9% ethanol, a high-octane liquid fuel that boosts the octane rating of gasoline and reduces national fossil fuel consumption. The US consumes more than 13 billion gallons of domestically produced ethanol annually. Currently, all of this ethanol is produced from corn kernels grown for human and livestock consumption. High costs of corn, constituting more than 80% of ethanol production costs, eliminate profits for ethanol producers. Ethanol can, however, be produced using less expensive raw materials. Sustainable Ethanol Technologies (SET) has developed an extremely low-cost process for ethanol production using plant-based waste materials. We produce cellulosic ethanol using materials derived from plants: leaves, stems, trunks, paper, cardboard. There is enough waste biomass in the US to produce over 5 billion gallons of ethanol per year simply using discarded materials. In addition, our costs are 75% less than the costs of corn ethanol, and  80% less than the costs of other cellulosic ethanol. Our patent-pending process is the only existing method to produce sustainable, renewable, clean, and profitable liquid fuel. Our products are both ethanol and intellectual property licensing to maximize production of sustainable fuels.

Bio-Adhesive Alliance Inc.

Bio-Adhesive Alliance is a start-up company (spin-out from NC A&T State University) that has developed an innovative technology to produce bio-adhesive (liquid asphalt) from swine manure. The technology improves pavement quality while it provides an improved and transformative approach for swine manure treatment.

While the bio-adhesive has several applications in multiple industries, our initial application is for the liquid asphalt which is used in pavement construction. The liquid asphalt is sold to asphalt blending companies to be used in pavement and road construction applications. The bio-adhesive is more resistant to freezing and cold temperature and improves the pavement resistibility to cracking. It also reduces the energy consumption for pavement construction and is more environmentally friendly compared to that of the petroleum-based asphalt. Due to its chemical and rheological properties the bio-adhesive enables us to use more recycled asphalt in making new roads and pavements which reduces liquid asphalt consumption in road construction. This technology provides a sustainable and cost-effective solution to swine manure treatment while reduces pavement construction and maintenance cost.

StarkPower 

StarkPower has developed innovative lithium batteries with internal controls that, when compared to lead-acid batteries or other lithium batteries, greatly improve performance, life and reliability. StarkPower batteries work for starter and energy storage applications and, on a global scale, meet OEM and aftermarket requirements. In the past, engineers designed lithium batteries into small consumer products, because they provided long life and reliable operation. StarkPower has solved the problem of extending the same benefits to a much wider range of products and it offers direct replacement batteries for lead-acid batteries without any equipment modifications. StarkPower “Computerized Battery” design weighs up to 80% less than lead-acid batteries, it lasts 3-4 times longer and priced similarly even in engine starting applications, where cranking power is a requirement.

Dot Metrics Technologies 

Clean air, water and surfaces along with energy efficient polymer curing are significant global market needs. Dot Metrics Technologies provides a revolutionary instant-on UV LED system technology meeting these needs and offering an attractive revenue potential of ~$20million. The most energy efficient disinfection system on the market, the UV Pearl™, is the world’s first water disinfection system that integrates UV LEDs. The UV Pearl™ provides an efficiency >20X over existing systems utilizing mercury based UV lamps. Based on the same technology platform, Dot Metrics Technologies has two additional “Plug & Play” UV LED based products: 1) UVinaire™, which is an intelligent UV source and 2) UV Tetra™, which is a hot swappable, modular UV LED unit that can be used to create random curing arrays fitting customer unique configuration requirements, an attribute currently not available in the market. Both of these products provide customers with programmable “Plug & Play” systems for disinfecting fluids and surfaces, and curing polymers. Dot Metrics, a creative technology translator is positioned to play a dominant role in the future UV LED market, which features a predicted CAGR of over 43% through 2016.

 IT and Informatics Category Finalists

Northington Dahlberg Research 

Northington Dahlberg Research develops and executes, financial trading and investment algorithms for automated portfolio management, algorithmic trading, and market making operations. ND Research’s breakthrough innovation is an entirely new class of volatility measuring analytics and implementation methodologies. Financial institutions struggle to incorporate meaningful volatility analytics because the specialized data required is expensive and difficult to obtain. ND Research algorithms use only historical price data.

This makes advanced volatility analysis fast, inexpensive, and scalable to any asset class across global markets. Our volatility-based analytics are self adaptive to security/market conditions in real-time, with statistically predictive characteristics. With time to action being critical, large market participants gain a significant strategic and tactical advantage for acting on opportunity and risk.

Robocent

For schools, businesses and organizations, RoboCent provides a user-friendly platform to send text and call alerts to their subscribers. With plans starting at $5/month, RoboCent is making mass communication accessible to the 30 million organizations and businesses in America without a text or call notification system. A cloud-based platform, RoboCent is the fastest, most reliable and affordable system on the market. Since launching in June of 2012, we’ve been used by over 300 organizations to send 12 million messages, generating revenues of $140,000.

Intrinsic Marks International

Intrinsic Marks International (IMI) is Mike Weaver’s technology incubator which supported the creation of the patented IMI smartShelf™ that enables real-time, large shelf area item tracking.  To complement the IMI smartShelf™, IMI SHELFMETRICS™ software was created to translate shelf ‘change data’ into actionable information for timely product restocking, minimizing out-of-stock events, theft alerts sent to smartphones, new product market research, management/labor performance metrics and much more.

Our initial pilot opportunity is a global beer producer seeking to manage remote cold stocking inventory to ensure product supply and freshness. As a roll-to-roll printed sensor product the IMI smartShelf easily scales to meet high volume requirements. It is compatible with industry standard Planogram software tools that currently define product layout on shelves and is flexible enough to be configured to monitor most consumer products. IMI SHELFMETRICS™ will spin out from IMI and go to market as a Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) business. Upon signing a multi-year DaaS contract, SHELFMETRICS™ provides  the IMI smartShelf infrastructure at no charge thereby avoiding capital budget cycle delays and enabling an rapid client ROI. SHELFMETRICS is a low overhead, high margin business with global reach into many business areas.

Graduate  Student  Ventures Category Finalists

BENANOVA 

BENANOVA is a science startup that has developed a cost-efficient environmentally benign particle system (EbNPs) made of natural materials, which can leverage the functional properties of bioactive agents. This in- novative, patent-pending technology was developed at NC State University in collaboration with the EPA. Func- tionalized proprietary EbNPs have a 100x higher efficacy compared to the common nanosilver. We are presently developing highly efficient, application-customized and environmentally benign replacements for silver nanoparticle antimicrobials. We also foresee that our particles will be effective in environmental remediation and agricultural applications. The ability to reduce the amount of chemicals used in plant protection will en- able the agriculture industry to lower the environmental impact and cost of crop protection products, as well as decrease the stress on arable soil to increase yield.

ProVazo

ProVazo’s innovative new medical device introduces efficiencies into blood sampling in clinical care settings while also improving upon care standards. Current blood sampling techniques and devices can be painful, incon- venient, and imprecise. They are also burdensome for hospital staff; ICU nurses  can spend up to 20% of their time collecting blood samples. ProVazo has created an accurate, low cost, minimally invasive, and easy-to-use catheter for the sampling of blood. This catheter is designed for easy market adoption and fits seamlessly into current industry workflows and protocols. It enables nurses to repeatedly and efficiently sample central blood with no disturbance to the patient. ProVazo’s patent pending device, inspired by the mosquito’s ability to painlessly withdraw blood, will revolutionize the field of blood sampling.

TARIAN ORTHOTICS

Tarian Orthotics is a medical device business specializing in shoulder braces for active individuals. The company’s flagship product is the Tarian Shoulder Stabilizer, a brace intended to lower the risk of shoulder dislocation in patients looking to return to high-impact activities post-injury. This product will be more supportive, less restrictive, and less cumbersome than the most commonly prescribed braces available on the market. Our target customers are high-profile athletes and U.S. soldiers. Upon a successful launch of this brace, Tarian Orthotics seeks to develop complementary product offerings to fill holes in the shoulder therapy industry and expand its business portfolio.

Undergraduate Student Venture Category Finalists

Klimb Ventures

Klimb Ventures, INC is a company that offers a patent pending flat folding, assembly free, reusable, cost effective storage box. The product was conceived after a bumbled moving experience at Emory University last year. Not only is the design for this box sturdier than the boxes currently on the market, but it also requires less material for construction and eliminates the need for assembly. The protected design can be implemented in several different materials, sizes and colors, which will separate its brand from any other container brand. The goal is to get the box in front of everyone, expand too many retail stores and offer a whole line of flat folding, easy to use storage boxes to cater to just about any storage need out there.

NoireNaturals, LLC

NoireNaturals, LLC is a completely all-natural line of hair care products, designed to cater to the unique needs of kinky, curly, and wavy hair. The goal of this product line is to help ease the anxiety and challenges that come along with maintaining textured hair types, using high-quality materials. Our mission is to ease the anxiety and challenges of maintaining textured hair, using all-natural ingredients. As of late, kinky and curly hair can be seen almost everywhere; along with this new wave of natural hair also comes the challenge of learning how to maintain it. Consumers are more informed about product ingredients, and are requesting them to be all-natural and certified organic; corporations are becoming equally as clever with ways to mislead them, making it difficult to find a legitimately “all-natural” product, especially at a reasonable price – these are two problems that we aim to solve.

PAX Backpacks

Pax Backpacks is a for-profit social venture that aims to give every student in the United States the opportunity to succeed in school while providing our customers with a fashionable, durable canvas backpack at an affordable price. For every backpack we sell, we donate 22% of the proceeds to a non-profit community partner in the region where that bag was sold. Why the odd percentage? Twenty two percent of children in the United States are growing up in poverty. That works out to about 16.2 million children. At Pax, we think the best way to address this crisis is by connecting disadvantaged students to the resources and mentoring they need to succeed in school and take control of their future. We choose our community partners based on a demonstrated track record of responsibly and ethically outfitting students to meet their educational goals. When you buy Pax, you get a great looking backpack at a competitive price, and you take a step towards packing up poverty in your community.

CHARLOTTE VENTURE CHALLENGE SELECTS 19 FINALISTS FROM 95 APPLICANTS

Finalists to compete on May 1 for over $75,000

Register To Attend Finals 

First, there were 95; then there were 36; now there are only 19; and on May 1st, 2013 one start-up company will receive the $25,000 grand prize as the winner of the 12^th Annual Charlotte Venture Challenge. Category winners will share $50,000 in prize awards funded by the Hauser Family Fund.

“The Charlotte Venture Challenge has always been a community collaboration with mentors, alumni and sponsors of the competition volunteering hundreds of hours of time. We have sustained this level of commitment for 12 years because we continue to be impressed and inspired by our entrepreneurs and this year is no different” says Devin Collins of UNC Charlotte, the founding organization of the competition.

Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC) Finals will be held Wednesday, May 1^st from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and is open to public. Competing teams will make a five-minute presentation and respond to five-minutes of rapid-fire questions from a panel of investors. Following their presentations the teams will showcase their innovative new technologies at a reception and awards ceremony.

The finalists are: Brush Fairy, Dot Metrics Technologies Inc., Northington Dahlberg Research, LLC, Sustainable Ethanol Technologies, Tapity, Inc., WeRX.org all from Charlotte; INTRINSIC MARKS INTERNATIONAL, LLC of Huntersville, NC; StarkPower from Davidson, NC; Bio-adhesive Alliance Inc., from Greensboro, NC; CranioVation from Durham, NC; Greenbug, Inc. from Beaufort, SC; Urova Medical from Memphis, TN; and RoboCent from Norfolk, VA.

The student category finalists include NoireNaturals LLC, UNC Charlotte; PAX Backpacks, Davidson College; Klimb Ventures, Inc., Emory University; BENANOVA, INC.; NC State; Tarian Orthotics, Clemson University; and ProVazo, University of Virginia.

Competition categories are: Consumer Products & Services, Life Sciences & Biotechnology, IT & Informatics, New Energy & High Tech, Undergraduate Student Ventures and Graduate Student Ventures.

2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge Sponsors: UNC Charlotte’s Research and Economic Development, Charlotte Research Institute, Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC), Belk College of Business, College of Computing and Informatics, Office of Technology Transfer, Ventureprise, TriNet, Clements Bernard IP and Business Attorneys, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Hammer & Associates, P.C., Inception Micro Angel Fund Charlotte, Robinson Bradshaw, Cabarrus Economic Development, North Carolina Research Campus, City of Kannapolis, Paul Pedigo IP Law and Management, SBTDC, Duke Energy, Johnson and Wales University, and CLTBlog.

Register To Attend Finals 

2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge Announces Semi-Finalists

More than 95 Southeast based startup companies entered the 2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge Competition organized by UNC Charlotte’s Charlotte Research Institute. The premier startup competition attracted innovative high growth companies from the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Washington D.C. A committee of judges comprised of past competition winners and industry experts selected 36 semi-finalists to compete at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, NC.

The semi-finalists were selected in six categories, Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Information Technology & Informatics, New Energy & High Tech, Consumer Products & Services, Graduate Student Ventures and Undergraduate Student Ventures. IT and Informatics category received the most applications, making it the most competitive category. Some of the most innovative technologies and startups come from top Southeast Universities including UNC Charlotte, Davidson College, N.C. State, Duke University, University of Virginia, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, Clemson University and Wingate University.

The Charlotte Venture Challenge semi-finals require each of the teams to make a five-minute presentation, followed by a five minute round of rapid-fire questions from a panel of CVC mentor judges. This year’s semi-finalists include: Dot Metrics Technologies, Inc.; StarkPower, Shift Equity,Sustainable Ethanol Technologies;  Bioadhesive Alliance, Inc.; Shapedia, Benanova, Inc.; Jobbertunity;  Tarian Orthotics;  ProVazo; Platinum Sales Systems, LLC;  Intrinsic Marks International, LLC;  DancingE;  Dovetail Strategic Solutions, Inc. (FaceGuard);  Next Gen Publishing Solutions; Northington Dahleberg Research, LLC; Openfire Systems; RoboCent; Urova Medical; WeRx.org; CranioVation; Proximate Health; Pharmazira; Ace Innovation Group /OTC Plus; Gilly Mobility Assist Devices; LLC, Alcohoot; LLC, PAX Backpacks; DermaCore Technology; Klimb Ventures, Inc.; NoireNaturals LLC; Kardion Medical; Greenbug, Inc.; Podanize; ShomoLive; Inc., Tapity, Inc.; and BrushFairy.

The Charlotte Venture Challenge Finals will be held at 4 p.m., Wednesday, May 1, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  The event is open to the public. To register Click Here

Recent Good News!

Two Times was the charm for 2012 Charlotte Venture Challenge Winner CanDiag, Inc.

CanDiag, Inc. a company founded by Dr. Pinku Mukherjee was a two year participant in the Charlotte Venture Challenge making the finals her first year and winning the competition her second year. Along the way one her mentors from the competition joined her company and they recently raised a seed round exceeding $500k . See her story here.

2011 CVC Finalist OverstockAds (Now Savveo) makes a pivot, changes its name, adds their CVC mentor to the management team and raises over $2 million. Not a bad year for Shay and Shafi Mustafa, the founders of OverstockAds. See the Charlotte Business Journal for a great story on the company.

Closing Equity Investments

KIYATEC Inc., a Greenville, SC company closed its Series A round in the Spring of 2012. Founder David Orr said they “were very fortunate to win the 2007 CVC Competition and leveraged the publicity to gain additional inroads with investment partners closing first a Seed funding round and most recently a Series A Round.”  KIYATEC has established a robust research and development effort geared toward full validation of 3D cell-based assays for use in drug development and clinical diagnostics.

T1 Visions founder Michael Feldman said: “We participated in CVC in 2009.  At that time, we had no revenues, no offices and 4 people in our company. Since then we have raised over $2 million in investment and have installed our technology at locations in the US and the Caribbean.” T1 Visions is a portfolio company of CVC sponsor angel investment group IMAF Charlotte.

Knoxville, TN based TrakLok, Inc. competed in the CVC in 2009. Founder Eric Dobson says: “since we presented at CVC, we have been able to raise $2.0M in Series A equity capital and have completed an acquisition/merger.  So, we are well positioned and finally got the capital to move into our growth phase.” He went on to say that winning their category “gave us credibility with a number of individuals and groups.  It also helped in our vetting process by forcing us to refine our offering and our message. CVC was an important stepping stone on our way to success.”

Government Grants including SBIR and STTR Funding

For many early-stage innovative university technologies the opportunity to receive SBIR and STTR funding to launch their startups and commercialize their technology is the immediate goal. CVC serves as the basis for the development of the commercialization plan and can help lead to initial funding.

SoyMeds, a UNC Charlotte spinoff that is developing medical products with soybeans, has been able to grow through SBIR funding. Founder Ken Piller has procured over $1.5 million in SBIR financing since winning CVC in 2006. Ken said “the prize money from CVC came at a critical time and paid for key startup needs.”

HypatoSys, another UNC Charlotte spin-off, has raised over $2 million from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop their technology. Founder Mark Clemens say: “our Company’s real strength has been in the development of the technology, but competing in the Charlotte Venture Challenge really made us focus on the business development aspects.  The coaching that we received was invaluable not only in the competition, but also in putting together a business plan for a subsequent successful SBIR Phase II grant application.  The exposure that our company received in CVC has also allowed us to greatly expand our network of potential future investors.”

Acquisitions

As reported in TechCrunch and Wired, YAP was sold to a Fortune 100 Tech Giant which was first reported by CVC Alum here.

Yap founder Igor Jablokov has had this to say: “CVC allowed us to publicly test a refocused idea for a new enterprise and gauge the public’s reaction to it, especially since iterative feedback is the lifeblood of innovation. Thanks to the positive reception at the event, we were able to find our first investor and board member, shortly thereafter completing a financing process to launch our Company.”

Ometric Sold to Fortune 100 Halliburton

At CVC investors are often in the audience and Ometric was able to capitalize on this when they received an initial investment of $250,000 from Trelys Funds, an early CVC service provider. The founder of the company Jason Williamson was proud to report this back in 2011: “We just concluded the sale of Ometric to Halliburton a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the royalty payment that the University of South Carolina received is $2.75 million making it the largest in the school’s history!”

Pivots

CVC defines a Pivot as a change in direction or a change in business model. Sometimes these changes are small and other times they are quite significant. The CVC process has proven to be an excellent testing ground for innovative new ideas and business models.

Nanotech, now United Protective Technologies, has had a number of pivots since its participation in the CVC including a name change from its original name Nanotech. Founder Brent Barbee says: “I will say that the CVC event for us was the trigger point for the development of our business/technology culture. Since the event we have moved from a 10k sf leased space to 20k sf in our own building. We have expanded our product and coatings portfolio, and now not only supply protective films and coating to US military customers, but to several large domestic and foreign non-military OEM’s. UPT has grown from 5 to 21 employees, with 75% holding Engineering or Science based degrees.”

Bioptigen, based in Morrisville, NC, came to Charlotte to initially test their idea. Founder Eric Buckland said: “CVC was great opportunity for Bioptigen to test its mettle in an early-stage business plan. It forced us to think about our business model, both in preparation for CVC and as an outcome. The reviewers and panelists were well informed and very insightful. We have had lasting benefit through a strengthened business plan and valuable relationships developed with the service provider and investment community.”

InSituTec is an early stage nanotechnology company that spun out of UNC Charlotte and is now located in Concord, NC. Founder Shane Woody says about growing the company: “we have found our success commercializing measuring tools for emerging nanotechnology markets. The CVC program was instrumental in helping us connect and establish an advisory board including VCs, legal and business professionals. The guidance and lessons learned were invaluable to guide and direct our company forward.”

** The Charlotte Venture Challenge was historically known as “Five Ventures.” The competition was renamed in 2012. We have adjusted references to the former name accordingly above.

14 New Technology Innovations Presented

There are 254 Fortune 500 companies represented in Charlotte, NC. The companies on the Fortune 500 list have gotten where they are through innovations in diverse industries. The 1st Annual Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC) Pitch Day brought together corporate innovation executives and innovative new technologies from throughout Charlotte.

The 1st Annual CVC Pitch Day took place at UNC Charlotte on December 6th, 2012. Pitch Day is the lead into the 2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge Start-up competition. The Pitch Day event featured 14 presentations of innovative new technologies in three categories consisting of UNC Charlotte Masters and PH.D. Students, UNC Charlotte Faculty and Researchers, and members of the Inventors Network of the Carolinas. Cash prizes were awarded, but the main goal of the event was to accelerate the growth of new technologies by exposing innovators to business executives, entrepreneurs and investors.

Each presenter made a three-minute pitch and responded to questions from the judging panel. The judging panel made up of innovation executives from Lowes, Electrolux, Belk, Husqvarna, Ingersoll Rand, and Blackarch Partners. Mike Weaver a member of the Inventors Network of the Carolinas described his experience as follows “My goal from the start was to get IMI smartShelf slide presentation sets into the hands of each judge and work for a follow up face-to-face meeting. That happened already so I am a big CVC Pitch Day winner.”
The category winners included Student category winners Nicole Laville and Arnab Pal for their Glucose Sensor technology; Faculty and Researcher category winner Richard Giles for his BioFuels production technology; and Inventors Network of the Carolinas category winner Pam Delhotal for her Gilly Mobility Assist Device. Cash prizes were awarded to the 1st and 2nd place winners of each category, made possible by the Hauser Family Fund.

Student Category:
1st Place Team – Glucose Sensor – Nicole Laville, Arnab Pal
2nd Place Team – Magnetic Gear Technology – Theresa Myers, Soheil Razmyar

Faculty and Researcher Category:
1st Place Team – BioFuels Production – Richard Giles
2nd Place Team – Laser Surgery Application – Vasily Astratov

Inventors Network of the Carolinas:
1st Place Team – Gilly Mobility Assist Devices, LLC – Pam Delhotal
2nd Place Team – IMI smartShelf – Mike Weaver

A sold out crowd of over 300 people gathered at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in April 2012 to meet the final 18 finalists of the 2012 Charlotte Venture Challenge. The competition attracted 117 startups from throughout the southeast to compete for $113,500 in prize money making it the region’s largest competition.

The 117 competitors competed in multiple rounds in six distinct categories: Consumer Products & Services, Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Information Technology and Informatics, New Energy & High Tech, Social Enterprises and Student.

Eighteen finalists waited with anticipation for their names to be called as one of the 9 teams to make a final five-minute pitch and respond to rapid-fire questions from the judging panel. Having already competed earlier in the day to determine the $10k category winners the teams now were pitching to win the $50,000 grand prize.

The judging panel included multiple perspectives from experienced investors. Panelists included Paul Grim, Sunbridge Capital, John Cambier, Idea Fund Partners, Marjorie Benbow, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Rajeev Kulkarni 3D Systems, and Mike Marvin, MDM Advisors.

Prior to the evening event the 18 finalists went before panels of experienced angel investors to determine the category winners and who would present at night. The Ben Craig Center hosted 20 angel investors from throughout the Carolinas that brought their knowledge and investment dollars to judge the finalists in Charlotte.

The $10,000 Category winners included New Energy and High Tech category winner InfoSense, Inc (Charlotte, NC); IT and Informatics category winner Deal Cloud (Charlotte, NC); Consumer Products and Services category winner Mobile Potential (Asheville, NC); and Life Science and Biotech category winner Qualiber, Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC). The student category winner was Instruct Health from Queens University. The social enterprise category winner in partnership with Queens City Forward was Bamboo Apparel (High Point, NC). The J. Chris Murphy award was awarded to the top UNC Charlotte student team PipePro.

Over the course of the evening the audience reviewed each of the pitches in preparation for their chance to choose the People’s Choice winner. When the audience was asked to cast their vote via text message the $1,000 People’s Choice Award went to Deal Cloud of Charlotte, NC. All 18 finalists will receive cash prizes.

The Charlotte Venture Challenge grew significantly this year with 117 applicants from the Carolinas, VA and TN. This year’s 18 finalists were: Instruct Healthcare, PipePro, The Pucker Butt Pepper Company, iBid2Save.com, CanDiag, Inc., InfoSense, DealCloud, Parasol Technologies, and YOUniversity Drive, all from Charlotte; Qualiber, Inc., Proximitas, Good Fit and Directed Deposits, all from Chapel Hill; Orthovative Technologies from Winston-Salem; Bamboo Apparel from High Point; Dynamo Micropower from Durham; Mobile Potential from Asheville; and Friendeo from Blacksburg, VA.