Five final-round teams will compete for valuable prizes on Friday, February 23 in the College of Management's seventh annual Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition.

Participation in the annual Business Plan Competition is open to all Georgia Tech students and alumni who've graduated within the last five years. Intended both to educate and facilitate startups, the competition often leads to the creation of real technology-based businesses.

Of thirteen teams that entered this year's contest, five advanced from preliminary presentations to the final round, which is closed to the general public in order to protect intellectual property. The public can attend the awards presentation at the IMPACT Speaker Series event at 4:30 PM Feb. 28 in LeCraw Auditorum. Following the IMPACT lecture featuring Joyce LaValle of Interface, a reception for competition participants and guests will be held in the atrium of the Management building.

The public is also welcome to attend a reception and trade show from 6 to 8 PM on Thursday, February 22 at the Interface Showroom in Technology Square (75 Fifth Street), during which all thirteen contest participants are invited to feature displays and explain their businesses. The team that does the best job selling itself to judges will win $500. Teams will also compete for $500 in the Elevator Pitch Contest, in which they get only one minute to verbally sell their business concept – the amount of time they might have in an elevator with a potential investor.

At the awards ceremony February 28, other prizes announced will include first-, second-, and third-place winners in the overall competition as well as recognition for the other two finalists; the Most Fundable Award, a services package (legal, financial, etc.) for the company considered most ready to enter the marketplace; the Sustainability Award, given for the plan that best addresses environmental concerns and/or demonstrates social responsibility; and the Undergraduate Team Award, a new honor added this year to involve more undergraduates in the competition. The total value of the awards is $67,000, with $10,000 going to the first-place victor in the Final Round Competition and $45,000 worth of services to the Most Fundable winner.

Teams competing in the final round include:

. Intelligent Drug Delivery Technique, a polyketal-based drug delivery system that can increase the efficacy of drugs by more accurately targeting affected cells. The team – including Bryan Bell, Stephen Yang, and John Frazer – aims to create marketable technology that can be licensed to existing drug companies to make their drugs better, extend their patent life, and add value to drug manufacturers and patients.

. Pharmaceutical Intelligence, a bioinformatics company including team members John Daniels, Crystal Gilpin, Rick Priester, and Shanker Subramaniam. The company’s software is based on a platform algorithm that can expedite the pharmaceutical drug discovery process and target cures for major diseases.

. Sustainable Refrigeration Inc., a nonprofit organization including team members Inn Inn Chen, Royal Law, and Yang Lin. They will develop the technology for a low cost, environmentally friendly refrigerator for both domestic and medical use. The group also aims to microfinance the manufacture and distribution of the model in developing nations.

. TIGON Nanostrategies, which includes team members Matthew Rhyner, David Madden, Tom Rafferty, and Meadow Clendenin. Their company provides the next generation of clinical imaging agents to doctors. Its nanotechnology-based probes will locate cancer and other diseases early on, making disease management easier, cheaper, and more successful.

. Yaplet LLC, including team members Cristina Might and Matthew Might, who aim to tap existing but unrealized Web communities. The company offers a free online chatting service that allows Web users to connect with each other in real time through Web sites they already visit.

Sponsors of the 2007 Business Plan Competition include askforensics, Ford Motor Company, HLB Gross Collins P.C., McMahon Willis Design, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, and Palo Alto Software

For more information, contact Kathleen Kurre at or 404.385.7569.

Related Links
• Business Plan Competition Homepage

Contact Information

Hope Wilson
Director of Communications
404.385.0580


Brad Dixon
Assistant Director of Communications
404.894.3943