In the film industry, it's the Academy Awards. In racing, it's the Grand Prix. And in college business plan contests, it's the annual Global MOOT CORP(r) competition at The University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business.
Armed with business plans that have won honors in regional competitions, thirty business school teams from top-ranked universities around the globe will converge on Austin next week to vie for a total of $115,000 in prizes and a chance to catch the eye of interested investors.
This year's competition runs from April 30-May 3 and includes an opening round on the first day in which all thirty teams compete. The five finalists that are chosen then compete for the grand prize, a $100,000 early-stage bridge loan. Teams not chosen as finalists are able to compete in the Money Rounds for smaller prizes.
The Global MOOT CORP(r) competition, which has been dubbed the Super Bowl of business plan competitions by Business Week magazine, represents an auspicious convergence of preparation and opportunity.
The best and brightest MBA student entrepreneurs bring meticulously researched business plans and present them to judges who are successful venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and financial services providers. Even if their team does not win, students are given an invaluable opportunity to refine their presentation skills and obtain feedback from seasoned investors.
"This competition is very, very important to our team and our school," says Nathasorn Boontanorm, a competitor from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. "We see it as irreplaceable real-life practice in the theories that we have learned in class. We've been looking forward to having a chance at the Austin competition for many years."
The Chulalongkorn team will be pitching a product called Periocure. Made with extract from an herb grown only in Asia, PerioCure is an affordable substitute for antibiotics used in the treatment of periodontal disease. According to research, it has been shown to be 100% effective and caused no side effects in clinical trials.
Other participants in this year's global competition include teams from the Wharton School of Business, Oxford University, Babson College, University of Michigan, London Business School, Bond University and Carnegie Mellon.
Their business proposals run the gamut from a process that transforms manure into electricity to educational services that target ethnic communities in California. Although the business plans from this year's entrants are an eclectic selection, several of the products and services focus on eco-friendly, clean energy solutions as well as technology advances that would benefit the healthcare field.
According to Dr. Gary Cadenhead, director of the MOOT CORP(r) program, all of the plans represent much more than classroom exercises -- they are built around viable products and services that can be taken to the marketplace.
"The value for the competing teams is in how well this process simulates the real-life challenge of soliciting start-up funds from investors," says Cadenhead. "If these students get financial backing, they can go out and actually launch their venture."
Founded in 1984 by two enterprising University of Texas MBA students, the MOOT CORP(r) competition is the first and longest-operating, intercollegiate, new-venture competition in the world. The prestigious event woos judges from institutions such as the NASDAQ Stock Market, Ernst & Young and Inc. magazine. Approximately half of each year's entering teams launch their ventures after the competition. Recent winners include Private Concepts, now in FDA trials for a revolutionary cervical cancer test, and Isochron Data, a wireless monitoring venture successfully launched and sold to private investors in 2002.Â
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MOOT CORP 2003 CompetitionParticipating Universities and Ventures
Division I
Plasvacc USABond University, AustraliaPlasvacc's technology is a proprietary production process for animal blood plasma production. The technology allows for multiple products based on animal species.
BioMedFlorida A & M UniversityBioMed will develop and market Baby Pulse, a wireless, real-time pulse monitoring system for home health care of infants.
Lion Rock TourIsMEThe Chinese University of Hong KongTourIsME Company is a Hong Kong based technology company that operates in tourism management and advertisement services.
HeadStart CentralLondon Business SchoolHeadStart Central provides premium after-school educational services targeting ethnic communities within California that place high value on such services.
KidSmart CorporationUniversity of GeorgiaKidSmart Corporation has developed a new, patented vocal smoke detector that will significantly reduce the number of deaths and injuries to children during residential fires.
Ferrate SolutionsBabson CollegeFerrate Solutions will manufacture and distribute a new water treatment chemical, potassium ferrate. Ferrate can treat contaminated water two to four times more effectively than current chemicals.
Division II
Team HydrasureBond University, South AfricaTeam Hydrasure will produce and market hydraulic pump and cylinder test rigs making it simpler for the client to test and repair pumps and cylinders.
Flexible PackagingInstituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)Flexible Packaging is a project where foil, plastic or paper is printed and cut for manufacturers of food and pharmaceutical industries needing smaller amounts of high quality packaging materials at a competitive price.
MineWolfWissenschaftliche Hochschule f_r Unternehmensf_hrung (WHU)MineWolf offers a 100% effective mechanical demining service using a mobile, lightweight crawler tractor equipped with a patented toolbox system which ensures low operational costs.
Urban PawsUniversity of PortlandUrban Paws will strive to make busy urban dog owners' lives easier by providing dog daycare and several complementing services in one convenient location.
BioPharmaChulalongkorn UniversityBioPharma manufactures and markets PerioCure invented by a Thai research team. PerioCure, an affordable, effective alternative to imported antibiotics, is used in the treatment of periodontal disease.
Maroon BiotechUniversity of ChicagoMaroon Biotech was founded to create and commercialize a new class of drugs to treat cellular damage associated spinal cord injuries, heart attacks and strokes.
Division III
ENE-SUN Light Energy SolutionsEscuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE)ENE-SUN intends to develop, assemble, market and sell portable solar power units to consumers, initially in the California market.
Aqua EssenceUniversity of OregonAqua Essence is a low-cost, easy-to-use and environmentally sound arsenic removal solution that exceeds the regulatory requirement and protects communities from arsenic in drinking water.
International Cash ConnectionsUniversity of GeorgiaInternational Cash Connections will serve the international remittance needs of Georgia and Florida Hispanic immigrant populations through the sale of its Casalink card.
NetImmuneCarnegie Mellon UniversityNetImmune develops and markets software to protect hospital computing infrastructure from cyber attack, preventing unauthorized disclosure of patient health information and quantifying network security liability.
PETCOFundaçao Getúlio Vargas (FGV)PETCO's main activity will be the collection of used pet bottles and the subsequent recycling of them, targeting the sale of the end product to the Latin America beverage industry.
Micro MRIUniversity of PennsylvaniaMicro MRI licenses a technology that measures bone microstructure non-invasively, using regular MRI scanners. This will revolutionize diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of osteoporosis and bone metabolic disorders.
Division IV
eleDermSan Diego State UniversityEleDerm is a new business venture that uses innovative proprietary technology for dermatology applications. EleDerm will capitalize on the rapidly growing $4.3 billion market for anti-aging products.
SoftStitchUniversity of Western OntarioSoftStitch software will inspire creativity and enable consumers to design their own needlecraft patterns using a simple, quick and enjoyable software tool.
Latech Co. Ltd.Thammasat UniversityLatech Co. has developed a process that removes harmful allergenic proteins from natural rubber products during manufacturing. Healthcare workers endure chronic dermatitis, asthma and other reactions due to these proteins.
ED ProtocolsRice UniversityED Protocols, Inc. has developed a software solution to fully automate Emergency Department based Observation Centers. There are 1,500 such centers in the United States.
AdventechUniversity of OxfordAdventech is commercializing a patented and proven fuel delivery system for combustion engines that increases fuel efficiency by over 30% while decreasing emissions.
Mobius MicrosystemsUniversity of MichiganMobius technology enables less expensive, smaller, more functional electronic products that consume less power by integrating clocks, in the form of patented intellectual property, directly on to microprocessors.
Division V
PlasiaTEKUniversity of ManitobaPlasiaTEK is currently poised to launch its first medical device, the ultrasound-based Endvantage, which will revolutionize the way anesthesiologists and emergency responders perform endotracheal intubations.Â
Global Smart SystemsUniversidad de los Andes - UniandesGlobal Smart Systems is an in-store marketing research company that has developed information systems on shoppers' behavior in traditional distribution channels.
Aeris HoldingsCase Western Reserve UniversityAeris Holdings will develop the RESystem, a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell based solution that transforms biogas directly into electricity, without pollution, for the global agricultural marketplace.
SelectioneeringUniversity of ArizonaSelectioneering is an Internet based scheduling application targeted at the healthcare industry. Selectioneering's choice-based scheduling approach promotes increased staffing equity over the standard optimization algorithms.
FluorometricsUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillFluorometrics will design and manufacture Micro X-ray Fluorescence machines and consumables. These machines and consumables will be marketed and sold initially to medium and large pharmaceutical companies.
Organic Energy SystemsThe University of Texas at AustinOrganic Energy Systems capitalizes on global initiatives for clean energy by making and marketing economical and environmentally-friendly distributed energy systems using next-generation biomass fuel technologies.
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