2019 New Venture Competition Winners Announced

Media Contact: Eric M. Eckert, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-1964
Follow Eric on Twitter: @EricBaylorU
Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

by Gabrielle White, student newswriter, Baylor University Media and Public Relations

WACO, Texas (March 8, 2019) – Teams from Seattle University, University of Oregon and Oklahoma State University won Baylor University’s eighth annual New Venture Competition on Feb. 22-23.

The New Venture Competition is a two-day business plan and elevator pitch competition that showcases collegiate entrepreneurs from across the nation. Students gain personal and professional development through industry-specific mentorship and coaching towards sustainable business plans. Along with this, student entrepreneurs gain exclusive access to accomplished experts and fellow innovators.
“The competition was incredible this year,” said Priscilla James, M.B.A. ’18, program manager of the John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship in the Hankamer School of Business. “All of the top teams deserved to be here because it was obvious that they worked incredibly hard for their ventures.”

The top three overall winners and the elevator pitch winners were awarded grand prizes of up to $50,000. The winners are as follows:

• First place overall and $50,000 award: Renee Owen and Caleb Carr, Vita Inclinata Technologies from Seattle University (Vita Inclinata is the leading developer of chaotic motion control solutions for helicopter search and rescue operations.)
• Second place overall and $25,000 award: Michael Chisholm, Nha Ha and Nicholas Chisholm, Feros Freight Innovations from University of Oregon (Feros Freight Innovations is a company evolving the freight trailer from a box on wheels into a source of value creation that enables trucking companies to move freight cheaper, faster and cleaner.)
• Third place overall and $10,000 award: Brooks Robison and Rabecca Wiseman, Contraire from Oklahoma State University (Contraire deploys a retrofit “control system” to manage the aeration process within mid-sized municipal waste water treatment plans through utilization of proprietary non-biological surrogate real-time testing techniques.)
• First place elevator pitch and $1,500 award: Eugris Diagnostics from University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Second place elevator pitch and $1,000 award: Vita Inclinata Technologies from Seattle University
• Third place elevator pitch and $500 award: Banzo Foods from Ohio University
• Real Foundations Award and $5,000 award: Feros Freight Innovations from University of Oregon
• QuickBooks Award and $1,000 award: Contraire from Oklahoma State University

The New Venture Competition opens doors for companies to help change their respective fields. James said, after the competition, Vita Inclinata announced a cooperative research and development agreement with the United States Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, and the 2018 New Venture Competition second place winner, Orai, recently raised $2.3 million in seed funding.

The entry period for the next New Venture Competition will open in early fall of 2019.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
At Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, integrity stands shoulder-to-shoulder with analytic and strategic strengths. The School’s top-ranked programs combine rigorous classroom learning, hands-on experience in the real world, a solid foundation in Christian values and a global outlook. Making up approximately 25 percent of the University’s total enrollment, undergraduate students choose from 16 major areas of study. Graduate students choose from full-time, executive or online MBA or other specialized master’s programs, and Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The Business School also has campuses located in Austin and Dallas, Texas. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.