A mobile solution to the severity of epileptic seizures. Helmets designed to reduce concussions in high impact sports. A locally sourced grain-to-glass spirits distillery.

These are just a few of the seven final teams, announced Nov. 7, vying for $70,000 in seed money to start a new company during this year’s Olin Cup entrepreneurship competition.

Five of the finalist teams are student-owned or supported ventures and in the running for an additional $5,000 prize given to the best business proposal submitted by a Washington University student team.

“The quality and diversity of the ideas was exceptional this year and once again our judges asked, ‘How is it that the entrepreneurs and ventures keep improving every year?’  We think that the answer is that the culture of entrepreneurship continues to expand and improve,” says Ken Harrington, managing director of the Skandalaris Center.

Contestants submitted an executive summary of their proposed business to enter the competition. From that initial field of 40 entrants, 17 semifinalists were chosen to compete in the “elevator pitch” challenge that required a two-minute presentation of the business idea to a diverse team of judges representing several regional alumni, service providers and other members of the support community for entrepreneurs.

This year’s finalists are (* indicates student-owned or student-supported venture):

• Epi Squared*, developing an implantable mobile solution to reduce severity of epileptic seizures;
• Farmplicity*, an online marketplace making it easy for chefs to source local food;
• Genetix Fusion*, developing the next generation of transfection kits for biomedical researchers;
• Nanopore Diagnostics*, developing products that provide immediate molecular diagnostic testing;
• Stumpy’s Spirits*, locally sourced grain-to-glass premium spirits distiller;
• SynerZ Medical, developing an outpatient device for treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes; and
• Zymplr, developing a helmet designed to reduce concussions in high impact sports.

The final hurdle for the entrepreneurs will be writing and presenting a full business plan in January 2014. The finalists will each submit a business plan and give a 25-minute oral presentation to the judges with a question-and-answer period as the final phase of the competition.

The Olin Cup winners will be announced Jan. 30, 2014, at an awards ceremony.

The Olin Cup was created as a cross-campus activity in 1988 by Olin Business School, and has awarded funding to winning commercial ventures since 2003.

The competition is sponsored by Olin Business School, RubinBrown, Polsinelli and the St. Louis Regional Chamber.

-News Release by Neil Schoenherr, WUSTL Public Affairs

Photo credit: Ken Yee, Flickr