Exigence Technologies, left to right: Javier Nudler, Sheri Governo, Patty Rosher, with competition judge Chuck LaFlèche, President & CEO, St. Boniface Hospital Foundation.
Asper School entrepreneurs score big at investment competition
Two graduate student teams from the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business have achieved excellence at the 2014 Stu Clark Investment Competition by presenting business plans for innovative new technologies developed at the U of M.
Exigence Technologies won the Environmental division in the business plan presentation round, which qualified them to compete in the championship round. They placed third in the idea pitch competition, fourth overall, and ultimately ranked as the top Canadian team.
Exigence presented a business plan for commercializing a treatment for hospital fabrics that completely eliminates bacteria. U of M researcher Song Liu, from the department of textile science in the Faculty of Human Ecology, developed the technology. The team is now working in close collaboration with Lui and the U of M’s Technology Transfer Office to commercialize the technology and incorporate the company.
The second Asper team, Don’t Be Skiddish, took second place in the Safety & Technology division after a suspenseful tie-breaking round against a team from the University of Louisville. Don’t Be Skiddish presented a business plan for magnetic sensor and Bluetooth technology that prevents truck and trailer wheels from skidding.
“We are very proud of both teams this year,” says Stuart Henrickson, I.H. Asper Executive Director for Entrepreneurship at the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship. “Both teams exceeded expectations by lining up suppliers, forming manufacturing and operations alliances, developing their customer market, arranging the proper intellectual property, and – most importantly – putting together attractive strategies for potential investors.”
Hosted by the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship from March 14-15, the Stu Clark Investment Competition is Canada’s premiere business competition, and is judged by senior leaders and executives from a variety of private and public sector organizations. This year, the competition welcomed 16 graduate student teams from across North America – and one from as far away as Thailand – to compete for a grand prize of $20,000 and a berth at the 2014 Global Venture Labs Investment Competition at the University of Texas this May.
2014 Competition Results
Business Plan Competition
- 1st Place: Disease Diagnostics, LLC – Case Western Reserve University
- 2nd Place: Innoblative Designs Inc. – Northwestern University
- 3rd Place: Systemica Health – University of Louisville
- 4th Place: Exigence Technologies – University of Manitoba
Top Canadian University
- Exigence Technologies – University of Manitoba
Idea Pitch Competition
- 1st Place: Systemica Health – University of Louisville
- 2nd Place: Disease Diagnostics, LLC – Case Western Reserve University
- 3rd Place: Exigence Technologies – University of Manitoba
Logo Competition
- 1st Place: Respira – Johns Hopkins University
- 2nd Place: BreedEx, Co. Ltd. – Thammasat University (Thailand)
- 3rd Place – Datavis, LLC – University of Arkansas
The Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship encourages the development of new businesses and entrepreneurial thinking among Canadians by encouraging them to consider entrepreneurship as their life’s calling. The Centre was launched on April 1, 2008 based on the generous financial support of Asper School alumnus and oil and gas entrepreneur Stu Clark.
For over 75 years, the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba has been at the forefront of knowledge creation, educating innovative business leaders who contribute ethically to the social and economic well-being of Manitoba, Canada and the world.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.