After two months of dedication, six teams advanced to the final round of the Shocker New Venture Competition on Friday, April 27, at Wichita State University.
The competition, hosted by Wichita State’s Center for Entrepreneurship, serves as an opportunity for college students from across the state to take key steps in developing and launching a new business venture.
The 2018 Shocker New Venture Competition winners are:
- 1st place: Prenatal Hope
- 2nd place: AdviseMe
- 3rd place: Nervii
- 4th place: Cy5
- People’s Choice Award: Deep Blue
- Directors Award for Trade Show Excellence: Heart-to-Heart
- Healthcare Innovation Award: Prenatal Hope
Prenatal Hope is developing a pH detection device, Pedicel (patent pending), that is fast, accurate and reliable with the purpose of testing for fetal acidosis while in utero. By selling directly and through a combination of subscriptions, the business model will be self-sustaining.
AdviseMe provides an interactive interface for students and advisors to help students select courses, plan their path to graduation and explore degree options/mentors.
Nervii developed a real-time nerve-imaging tool using 3D orientation and Raman spectroscopy to make it easier for surgeons to see nerves within tumors. When launched, the product will improve patient outcomes and save hospital systems time, money and liability.
Cy5 is a temporary tattoo for accurate, unobtrusive and ubiquitous heart rate tracking – with a wireless, battery-less and flexible design. It requires no charging or Bluetooth pairing, and the information is effortlessly transmitted back to the user’s phone.
DeepBlue has developed an expandable, maintainable and highly maneuverable Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), along with an underwater wireless communication system that will open up new possibilities for aquatic data collection.
Heart-to-Heart aims to eliminate the wired connection between patients and electrocardiogram machine via a compact case that remains with the patient and transfers cardiac data wirelessly. This device will keep patients from becoming tangled in wires, and will prevent inaccurate readings.
The entire competition was a tight race as teams pitched their ideas to a variety of judges and audiences. To start the competition, an application and a three-minute video were submitted. A selection board reviewed the videos and invited 30 teams to compete. Those teams continued to refine their ideas through a 10-page business plan they then submitted.
Judges from within the business community reviewed the various teams’ plans and made their assessment. Of those that were reviewed, only 16 teams advanced to the next round, the Trade Show.
At the Trade Show, teams were allowed to impress the judges with any display, prototypes and presentation they had prepared.
Six teams were given the chance to present to a panel of judges. The judges included some of the sponsors for this year’s competition: Foulston Siefkin, IMA Financial, INTRUST Bank, High Touch Technologies, Lubrication Engineers, NetWork Kansas, R.D. Henry & Co., Riverside Health Foundation and Jeff & Kelley DeGraffenreid.
The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master’s and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State’s Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university’s vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.