Semifinalists selected for the 2012-2013 McCloskey Business Plan Competition

Twelve
teams of entrepreneurs will advance to the semifinal round of the University of
Notre Dame’s annual business plan competition, where they will have the chance
to compete for nearly $300,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. The McCloskeyBusiness Plan Competition is the annual year-long contest sponsored by the
Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship at the Mendoza College of Business.

On April 18, the semifinalist teams will pitch their new ventures
before a distinguished panel of judges.  From this group, three to
five finalists
will be selected to present live at 1:30 p.m. on April 19 in the Mendoza
College’s Jordan Auditorium. The final presentations are free and open to
the public.

All who attend will vote for
the Sutherland Family People’s Choice Best Presentation Award.

“This is an exceptionally strong group of competitors,” said
Karen
Slaggert, associate director of the Gigot Center for
Entrepreneurship.   “During the
competition, 233 seasoned professionals – serving as judges and mentors – have
provided invaluable feedback to our McCloskey teams as they developed their
business plans.  These 12 semifinal teams
are very diverse in terms of product and service, and the quality and
sophistication of these ventures is quite impressive.”

The
McCloskey Business Plan Competition is intended for traditional entrepreneurial
ventures that have not yet been launched or are at the earliest stage of
launch. This is typically defined as ventures that have earned less than
$500,000 in cumulative revenue, received less than $500,000 in external
financing, and have been in operation for less than three years. 

A
total of 148
teams entered the McCloskey Competition last fall. In December, 104 teams advanced
to Round 2, where they began to write their business plans. Twelve teams
advanced to the semifinal round.

McCloskey Business Plan Competition semifinalists
are as follows:

·       Concutect: a new instantaneous, accurate concussion assessment service designed to reduce incidences of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

·       DM
Oligonucleotides: a bioservices manufacturing company
that specializes in a rapidly expanding class of drugs that are capable of
regulating a patient’s genetic code to treat a nearly limitless variety of
diseases

·       Empower: a software startup Oak Financial Corp. (Oak) that provides
seamless and innovative banking and money-transfer solutions to underbanked and
mainstream customers in the U.S. and Latin America

·       Frameri Eyeglass
Co.: 
an online Rx eyeglass and sunglass company that focuses on
affordable, fashion-forward designs for glasses with interchangeable frames

·       Green Bridge: an urban aquaponics farm designed as a social enterprise to
produce revenue and create jobs for highly capable young adults with autism in
the South Bend community.

·       Green Energy
Zambia: a social enterprise that seeks to
provide affordable and renewable energy sources utilizing untapped biomass
resources for Sub-Saharan Africa

·       LaLa’s Lemonade: a producer and distributer of all natural, hand-crafted
lemonades

·       Little Bean Creations: a patent-pending, easily installable footrest
for use in a child’s car seat  designed
to reduce discomfort and pressure on the body

·       Green
World Recycling: a
for-profit plastic recycling company based in Haiti that purchases scrap
recyclable plastic from independent suppliers, which is processed into plastic
flake and sold to a worldwide network of end-users.

·       Rotatoreliever: a patent-pending, direct-to-consumer system to treat shoulder
pain.

·       The Indiana Whiskey Company: distiller of “personalized” whiskey products
made in small batches with old-world style Pot Stills

·       Torigen
Pharmaceuticals: a company formed around
technology created at Notre Dame that consists of a model to develop a
veterinary vaccine to combat adenocarcinoma based cancers. 

For
more information about the McCloskey Business Plan Competition, contact the
Gigot Center at (574) 631-3042.

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