Eight teams of student entrepreneurs have advanced to the semifinals of the Shocker New Venture Competition, presented by Wichita State University Center for Entrepreneurship.
Final round presentations are open to the public and will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, May 2, in Devlin Hall Room 107 for prizes of up to $17,000.
At the conclusion of the final presentations around 4 p.m., there will be a public reception in the lobby of Devlin Hall to honor all contestants, judges and sponsors. Award winners will be announced at 5 p.m.
The business concepts, teams and WSU professors advising them are:
Angel Drive
Angel Drive provides mobile technology to improve driving safety. Its Fatigue Alert app detects drowsy drivers by monitoring visual indicators of drowsiness such as head nodding, head rotation and eye blinks. If it detects drowsiness, the driver is alerted. The Fatigue Alert app has been developed for iPhone, Android and Google Glass.
Team: Jake Ellis, Christina Siu
Faculty advisor: Jibo He
CardioKite
The CardioKite is a small, disposable and non-invasive device that measures an athlete’s ECG trace to determine if the individual is at risk for exercise-induced sudden cardiac arrest.
Team: David Jorgensen
Faculty advisor: Jeremy Patterson
InCompass
InCompass is a two-sided mobile application. On one side, consumers are provided a continuously updating list of entertainment, specials and deals. On the other side are promotions from businesses, artists, bands and others. InCompass can be thought of as an ever-evolving, modern, social and personalized entertainment/dining section of the Sunday newspaper.
Team: Nic Wentling, Joran Matson, Christian Taylor, Ramsey Jamoul
Faculty advisor: Chris Broberg
INOv8v Technologies
INOv8v Health Technologies patent pending physiological assessment and biofeedback fitness system provides API interface software to control and adjust cardiovascular fitness equipment based on physiological biofeedback. Their non-invasive, electrode-free and strap-free system continuously captures physiological measures (e.g., heart rate, respiration rate, lactate threshold) with the use of a webcam, smartphone- or tablet camera that provides feedback.
Team: Heidi VanRavenhorst-Bell
Faculty advisor: Jeremy Patterson
Pocket Closet
Shoppers scan barcodes of products (clothes, shoes, accessories) upon which Pocket Closet will automatically retrieve items within the users location. If users purchase an item, they can “hang it” to My Closet where their wardrobe can be organized. Users will be able to share their purchases and outfits through Facebook and Twitter. Push notifications will allow Pocket Closet to notify users when they are near stores that have items that complement their current wardrobe or carry items on their wish list.
Team: Yola Robert
Faculty advisor: Kirk Ring
The Right Step
The Right Step is an innovation to increase safety in the use of an ordinary medical walker by correcting position and form.
Team: Curtis Weis, Luke Barnhart, Stratton Lange, Truong Nguyen
Faculty advisor: Gaylen Chandler
Smart Water Irrigation
The Lawn General is a sprinkler monitoring system that uses real time data to ensure optimal water and can lower water usage by up to 42 percent.
Team: Scott Sutherland, Amanda Henning, Trevor Darmstetter, Landon Unruh, Pieran Yang
Faculty advisor: Chris Broberg
WEPSY
WEPSY (WEarble Positioning SYtem) modules and services track an individual’s location through a webpage, mobile app and/or text message. WEPSY is discretely integrated into clothing items such as kids’ shoes.
Team: Ivan Quiroz, Diego Diaz
Faculty advisor: Visvakumar Aravinthan
Lou Heldman
“We had strong positive reactions from business community judges to the 20 student teams exhibiting in the Trade Show,” said Lou Heldman, interim director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. “We hope many of the teams from the New Venture Competition will move from concepts to profitable businesses, based in Wichita."
The competition began in late February, with 68 teams filing intent-to-compete forms. Based on two-page business summaries, the field was narrow to 32 teams, who then submitted 10-page business plans, including financial projections.
Twenty teams advanced to the Trade Show, held April 25, at Charles Koch Arena. Trade show entries were judged by about 150 business people, who were given 10,000 Shocker Dollars to invest in teams they believed to have the best chances for successfully launching.