New Venture Competition Winners Announced!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UC Santa Barbara's New Venture Competition Winners Announced

Santa Barbara, California, USA

Friday, May 22, 2014

Six student teams from UC Santa Barbara took home more than $40,000 in cash prizes last night at the 16th Annual New Venture Competition Finals, hosted by the Technology Management Program. The teams who competed in the finals had been working on perfecting their pitch and refining their business plans in preparation for tonight over the past 8 months. Through countless hours of hard work and dedication under the aid of seasoned mentors from the central coast community, as well as their academic advisors, these young innovators truly encompass the spirit of true entrepreneurs.

There were nine awards given to the six teams. The teams were placed in two categories, Tech-Driven-involves commercializing a new technology or scientific breakthrough that may be in its nascent stages of development and hence requires a significant investment of time and resources, and may not address an existing market demand-and Market Pull-new ideas that can address an existing customer need with a comparatively small investment of time or resources. All six teams were eligible to win the Grand Prize, the Eling's Prize, and the People's Choice award.

-And the winners are....

• Grand Prize- $10,000: Milo (As pictured above: Bob Lansdorp, Netz Arroyo, Daniel Imberman & Evan Strenk; Not pictured: Co-founder & former team member - Allie Pedersen)
• Elings Prize- $5,000: ChemoGuard Diagnostics (Brett Cook, Alex Sercel, Dayton Horvath & Letitia Mueller)
• People's Choice-$2,500: Milo
• Tech-Driven- 1st Place-$7,500: Milo
• Tech-Driven, Tied for 2nd Place-$2,500 each: Caugnate (Steffen Gauglitz, Benjamin Nuernberger, Nate Kirchhofer, Evin Sellin & Oliver Townsend)  and ChemoGuard Diagnostics
• Market Pull- 1st Place-$7,500: INSiiGHT (Katie Koehler, Rush Patel & Mathieu Rodrigue)
• Market Pull, Tied for 2nd Place- $2,500 each: Sesamo (Lars Bjaalie, Luan Viera, Adam Toth & Jordan Hughes) and Slightly Nutty (Tyler Isaac, Megan Miranda & Jacob Skaggs)

The Technology Management Program at UC Santa Barbara is dedicated to the development of business and innovation in an increasingly technology-based global economy. TMP offers driven, innovative, and entrepreneurial students an in-depth understanding of business principles and professional skills vital to their success after graduation. Graduate and undergraduate students receive a cutting-edge curriculum of theory, practice, and mentorship that is at the intersection of technology, business, and social science.