The 2012 University of Washington Foster School of Business’ Business Plan Competition had a record amount of seed funding and record participation. Winning start-ups are innovating in sectors like hyper-local agriculture, functional fashion, health care patient tracking technology and alternative forms of mobile advertising.
UW Foster School Dean Jiambalvo says, “If you look at the basis for having a free and prosperous nation, it’s job creation. And where are jobs created? They are created by entrepreneurs.”
At the awards banquet, Connie Bourassa-Shaw, director of Foster’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, announced a new innovation lab to open soon at the Foster School where students can utilize office space to incubate and start ventures.
$25,000 Grand Prize + $2,500 Best Clean-Tech Idea
UW’s UrbanHarvest will grow the healthiest, tastiest and most environmentally sustainable produce available anywhere, all on a rooftop near you. Two students are both Foster School MBAs: Chris Bajuk (MBA/MS Real Estate) and Chris Sheppard (MBA/Juris Doctorate). “We are two locally raised, UW-educated military veterans creating green, sustainable business,” says Bajuk.
A pilot project is underway to build a rooftop, hydroponic greenhouse on a Microsoft garage. They reduce the fossil fuel burn of transporting produce from elsewhere to consume locally. Bajuk adds, “We’re going to be supplying Microsoft food services with their entire lettuce and herb quotient. They currently source it all from Salinas Valley, California.”
Washington Research Foundation Capital sponsored the Grand Prize. CEO Ron Howell says, “We have invested in 57 companies in this [Seattle] area and most of those have been related to technology coming out of the University of Washington. The best of the best this year is Urban Harvest.”
$10,000 2nd Prize
UW’s Xylemed is a cloud-based electronic patient tracking and operations management system that leverages existing information systems to manage hospital workflows—improving communication and safety, while reducing expenses. Students are all enrolled in the UW Foster School of Business Technology Management MBA Program: Ben Andersen, Marc Brown, Anoop Gupta, Jason Imani and Glen Jensen.
CEO Ben Andersen, who created and successfully deployed his new technology called Ember at UW Harborview Medical Center, says, “You would be shocked at the number of hospitals still using white boards as a way to track patients. [Ember] really improves communication inside a hospital. We’re in 55 locations across three medical centers.”
$5,000 Finalist Prize
UW’s JoeyBra, a unique pocketed bra design that allows women of all ages to go to dances, parties, or events without having to worry about bringing a purse. Two Foster undergraduate students founded JoeyBra: Kyle Bartlow and Mariah Gentry.
$5,000 Finalist Prize
UW’s Biking Billboards is a new kind of mobile advertising combining billboards pulled on bicycle trailers with savvy and engaging brand ambassadors to promote our client’s messages. Team includes: Curtis Howell (Foster entrepreneurship undergraduate), Claire Koerner (Foster entrepreneurship undergraduate), Andrea Lieberman and Alyssa Norwood.
$3,000 Low-Income, Senior-Service Prize
UW’s Flash Volunteer offers a set of mobile and social tools to create, discover, track and easily share volunteer service events via a variety of integrated channels. Team consists of Brad Wilke (MBA 2012), Damon Gjording (Executive MBA 2012), Logan Buesching and Janis Lee.
$2,500 Best Technology Idea
UW’s EchoGuide Medical is developing a disposable ultrasound based catheter guidance technology that will address the current high rate of error in placement of catheters during ventriculostomy procedures while reducing cost. Team consists of Daniel Butts, Evening MBA; Edward Lo, PhD bioengineering; Molly Moore, Evening MBA; Revathi Murthy, MS bioengineering; Michael Robinson, graduate in chemical engineering; Ryan St. John, Evening MBA; and Anning Yao.
$2,500 Best Consumer Product Idea
UW’s GroBox aims to make it super easy to grow your own fruits and vegetables in a small amount of space. The entire team consists of UW Foster School of Business Technology Management MBA students: Amador Abreu, Jared McInelly, Aaron Parsley, Steve Stroberger and Murat Yanar.
$2,500 Best Innovation Idea
UW’s SuperCritical Technologies provides a compact power solution that will revolutionize the way we generate and distribute electricity. Team includes Chal Davidson, Evening MBA; Max Effgen, Evening MBA; Nico Spitz, Evening MBA; Brooke Macomber and Josh Walter.
$2,500 Best Service/Retail Idea
UW’s ViewPointe, UW, is a real time software tool that enables emergency response agencies such as police, fire and utilities to collaborate, communicate and track resource locations on an interactive geographic map. Team consists of all UW Foster Evening MBA students: Anna Atlasova, Abhishek Gupta and Ross Town.
$2,500 Best Sustainable Advantage Idea
UW’s Barrels of Hope provides safe, affordable and sustainable permanent shelter solutions to disaster victims and citizens of developing nations. Team: Sloan DuRoss, MBA; Sarah Jeglum, MBA; Corina Popescu, BS civil engineering; Ryan Scott, MBA; Sushant Wad, MBA; and Travis Corigliano.
A record 101 student teams representing colleges and universities across Washington state applied to participate in the 2012 University of Washington Business Plan Competition. 36 teams pitched a who’s who list of 200 Seattle-area venture capitalists and entrepreneurs at the investment round trade show. Sweet 16 teams advanced to semifinals and the top 4 teams polishes their pitches for the final round on May 24, 2012.
Start-up teams at various stages of the competition came from a range of institutions: Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Eastern Washington University, Evergreen State College, Gonzaga University, Northwest University, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle University, University of Washington, University of Washington Bothell, Walla Walla Community College and Washington State University.
The UW Foster School of Business Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship puts on this competition every year.
Kien Ha describes himself as a risk-averse entrepreneur. And given that restaurants are notoriously risky start-ups, Ha went with a concept he knows well – shabu-shabu. Shabu-shabu, or Japanese hot pot dining, is a trendsetting phenomenon that has long driven technology transplants from California to expect its healthy, simple, and affordable food on almost every street corner. Ha’s discovery that Washington is the fourth fastest growing state for Japanese-style restaurants convinced him to launch Shabu Chic at the UW’s 2008 Business Plan Competition.
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