April 28 was the 2009 Business Plan Competition Investment Round—our marquee event of the year!  It was a start-up extravaganza with 230 judges (entrepreneurs, investors, community supporters) hearing simultaneous pitches from 33 teams (selected from 90 entries—a banner year!) representing colleges and universities across Washington State.  Booths were set up in a trade show format and teams worked to attract judges to their booth to pitch their start-up idea and business model.  Each judge had $1,000 CIE dollars to “invest” and the following 16 teams who received the highest investment will now advance to the Sweet Sixteen Round on May 21. 

With many thanks to our judges and sponsors, we offer our congratulations to the 2009 Sweet Sixteen:

3 Phase Energy Systems, UW - Green technology that harnesses wasted exhaust energy and feeds it back into the grid.
Pete Agtuca, Ian Courtnage, Bo Hight, and Ben Reiber

AuraViz, UW - Safe and affordable 3D dental imaging.
Stephanie Barnes, David Beck, Brady Bernard, and Jeremy Horst

Big Canvas, UW - We take mobile/always-connected communication to the next level, beyond texting and Twitter, by offering richer media expressed through photos and creative arts to our users.
Adam Goldblatt and Satoshi Nakajima

ecowell, WSU - Will design, deploy and manage a network of litter-free, beverage dispensing kiosks that allow users to customize their drink, and pay 50% less than bottled beverages while doing so.  Kiosks will offer automatic customer identification, environmental messaging, and targeted advertisements.
Brian Boler, Reid Schilperoort, Donald Tilton, and Andy Whitaker

Energizing Solutions, UW - Washington corporation with patent pending technology to help industrial facilities switch from predictive to preventative maintenance on their electric motors, cutting maintenance costs by more than 70%.
Brian Pepin, Marc Ramme, and Anthony Simon

Green Windows, UW - Plans to revolutionize green building as we know it, through an innovating new technology that will offer windows that change color and shade on demand with a flip of a switch. This technology will put new control in the hands of building designers and users alike. Green Windows will engage in the development and licensing of the technology to architectural glass manufacturers.
Greg Humphreys, Jeff Litton, and Jianlei Shi

HydroSense, UW - A revolutionary water sensor that detects fixture-level usage from a single point in a home or business.
Jon Froehlich, Tim Campbell, Conor Haggerty, Jenna Lee, Zach Okun, Vandan Parikh, and Debbie Tran

MicroDose, Seattle U - Software which enables autonomous communication and insulin dosing decisions between a Continuous Glucose Monitor and Insulin Pump. This effectively creates an artificial pancreas to be used in the treatment of diabetes.
Bob Kircher, Don Matheson, Jensen Mauseth, and Richard Mauseth

Myyeyou, UW - Online Professional networking sites providing professionals with services for full cycle of career development.
Ke Ding, John Jin, Amir Kabbara, Winnie Lin, Nathan Morris, Patrick Tsao, and Chuan Yu

Nanocel, UW, Seattle U - Provides high performance liquid cooling solutions to the electronics market.
Todd Fishman, Dustin Miller, Mehar Pratap Singh, Noah Stockton, and Daniel Rossi

Nanofacture, UW, Seattle U - Rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases.
Jae-Hyun Chung, Stephen Hawley, Kyong-Hoon Lee, Simon Lee, Bonnie Lehenbauer, and Kieseok Oh

Nova Theranostics, UW - An innovative medical solutions company dedicated to providing early detection of life-threatening and debilitating diseases via the development of biocompatible, nanoparticle agents
Micah Adler, Guillaume C.-Bouffard, Amanda Mathes, and Jeffrey Stevens

Olive Only, SPU - Product line that uses olive oil as its foundational ingredient.
Loren Downs, Kevin McFarland, Joshua Russell, Sarah Schooley, Joel VanderHoek, and Jason Williams

Shockmetrics, UW - Technology that is able to detect shock in patients before it becomes terminal.
Ryan Bergsman, Erik Roby, and Anthony Rodriguez

Sisalwood, UW - A sustainable alternative to hardwood for interior design and furniture.
Jason Hahn, Payan ole-MoiYoi, and Lindsey Sheets

Soluxra, UW - Will revolutionize global renewable energy production with application of its ultra-low cost, next-generation organic polymer photovoltaic (OPV) solar cell technology in residential solar panels, electricity-generating windows, and building facades.
Lawrence Chiu, Alex Jen, and Angus Yip

Alternates

Lumana Credit, UW - Micro-lending institution that targets rural villagers in Ghana who lack access to other forms of credit. In addition to capital, we provide business management training and enterprise development support to our clients.
Eric Appesland, Karin Avenelleda, PJ LaFemina, Maresa Lennebacker, and Samantha Rayner

Gear Up Sports, UW - Rents youth football equipment directly to parents via exclusive agreements with youth football associations.
Mac Lavier, Krista Moore, Scott Rosenthal, and Derek Shipley

A special thanks to the sponsors of the 2009 Business Plan Competition!

Learn more about the 33 Investment Round Teams.