Five final-round teams will compete for a total of $63,500 in prizes on Friday, February 22 in the College of Management's eighth 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 19 teams that entered this year's contest, five advanced from preliminary presentations to the final round. After teams make final-round presentations to judges throughout the day February 22, a reception recognizing the winners will be held at 3:45 PM in the atrium of the Management building. The event is open to the public.

The formal awards presentation will follow the IMPACT Speaker Series event at 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 27 in LeCraw Auditorium. Following the IMPACT lecture featuring Kenneth G. Byers Jr., president of Byers Engineering Company, a reception for competition participants and guests will be held in the atrium of the Management building.

Attend the Trade Show

The public is also welcome to attend a reception and trade show from 6 to 8 PM on Thursday, February 21 at the Interface Flor Showroom in Technology Square (75 Fifth Street), during which 14 of the contest participants will 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. Past participants of the competition will decide the winner of the new BPC Alumni Innovation Award of $500.

Big Winners

Prizes decided February 22 will include first- ($10,000), second- ($5,000), and third-place ($3,000) winners in the overall competition as well as recognition for the other two finalists ($500 apiece).

Other prizes include the Most Fundable Award, a services package (legal, financial, etc.) worth $40,000 for the company considered most ready to enter the marketplace; the GreenGuard Sustainability Award ($2,000), given for the plan that best addresses environmental concerns and/or demonstrates social responsibility; and the Undergraduate Team Award ($1,000).

Teams competing in the final round include:

• AccelerEyes, which was formed in June 2007 to commercialize software solutions for the high performance computing (HPC) market. The HPC market consists of customers who require extreme computational power, including scientists, engineers, and financial analysts. AccelerEyes’ mission is to enable “Personal Supercomputing” and the ability to perform extreme computations on a standard personal computer with commodity hardware. Team members include Chris Meeks, John Melonakos, Matt Nesbitt, Tauseef Rehman, David Silver.
• DiagNano, an early-stage technology company focusing on in vitro cancer diagnostics. The company offers nanotechnology-based products for tissue biopsy analysis to provide clinicians with a patient-specific cancer fingerprint. Team members include Kristina Crockett, Richard Gaddis, M. Eric Galvez, Laura Huffman, and Brad Kairdolf.
• ElectriSense, which produces an indoor localization solution enabling real-time asset tracking using a building’s existing electrical infrastructure. ElectriSense focuses on the healthcare space, where the company’s technology has a unique competitive advantage with its simple plug & play installation, enabling both cost savings for the healthcare provider as well as improved quality of care. ElectriSense aims for this technology to become a core part of every building’s infrastructure. Team members include Shwetak Patel, T.J. Patel, and Erich Stuntebeck.
• Syzygy, which used shape memory technology to develop a unique smart material capable of adapting itself to perfectly fit into a customer’s ear in a truly one-size-fits-all approach. This design creates a personalized fit for earphones, wireless Bluetooth devices, and hearing aids, alleviating the common comfort problems associated with these devices and empowering each user to fully realize the sophistication of today’s audio technology. Team members include Brent Duncan, Justin Helsby, Rob MacKenna, and Walter Voit.
• Travel Relic, which offers customized artwork for people who love to travel. Capturing the significant growth occurring in online publishing, Travel Relic will offer high margin products through a proprietary Web-based process, giving customers a new option for creating custom gifts. Team members include Garrett Schemmel and Will Tate.

Competition Sponsors

In addition to Georgia Tech, sponsors of the 2008 Business Plan Competition include the Institute for Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, Ford Motor Company, GreenGuard, Interface Flor, and the Georgia Tech Business Network.

Team service providers include Hi Tech Partners, HLB Gross Collins PC, Nelson Mullins Riely & Scarborough LLP, Adams Capital Management, Geoff Frost & Bondurant Mixon & Elmore LLP, and PaloAlto Software. Media partners include TechLINKS and startuplounge.com.

For more information, contact Kathleen Kurre at bizplan@mgt.gatech.edu or call 404.385.7569.