Four teams of UWM students placed in this year’s New Ventures Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Lubar School of Business. Every year since 2006, the contest had awarded prize money to student entrepreneurs who can enter from any discipline on campus. This year’s event, funded by La Macchia Enterprises, doled out $18,500 in accordance with these results:
Grand Prize, $8,000
Health Connection’s Snapchat-like mobile platform, Health Snaps, enables health care providers to communicate with their patients through instructional videos, messaging and visual progress tools. Unlike Snapchat, the app allows patients to store and keep shared information. (Jordan Mather, senior, marketing)
Second Prize, $4,000
Zen Gen Yoga is a family-focused yoga studio that will feature environmentally friendly products and practices. (Brandi Hayes-Fink, senior, marketing, and Alisyn Vermey, junior, kinesiology)
Third Prize (tie), $2,000 each
AlphaCore Solutions is a technical project management service that provides commercial prototype guidance for engineering and design initiatives using an established network of experienced subcontractors. (Alex Francis, Ali Bakhshinejad and Robert Morien Jr., graduate students, mechanical engineering)
BookLive is a mobile and web app that connects entertainers and public speakers with clients and event planners. (Jared Judge, graduate student, music).
Five additional teams received $500 honorable mention awards.
Judges and mentors for this year’s competition included:
- Alan Katz, president, Katz Consulting
- Jim Hunter, Bostrom entrepreneur-in-residence, UWM Lubar School of Business
- Satish Nambisan, professor, joint appointment, UWM Lubar School of Business and College of Engineering and Applied Science
- Paul Stewart, Bostrom entrepreneur-in-residence, UWM Lubar School of Business
- Abby Taubner, manager, gener8tor
- Jude Anders, consultant, Shoreline Concepts LLC
- Ellie Berg, S. Small Business Administration
- Craig Davidson, serial entrepreneur and lecturer, Lubar School of Business
- Dave Hildreth, president, BOOST Associates and chairman, Executive Agenda
- David Irwin, senior vice president, Fiserv
- George Satula, chairman, The Executive Committee
La Macchia Enterprises is the parent company of Mark Travel and Trisept Solutions.
