NEW: RI Business Plan Competition Announces 7 Finalists
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Seven established and aspiring entrepreneurs have been chosen as finalists in the 2012 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition—which will award more than $200,000 in prizes, including $40,000 in cash to a top winner—it was announced today.
The plans include proposals for consumer, manufacturing, and Internet companies.
Winners will be announced May 3 at RIBX 2012 (Business EXPO) at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, which is free to the public. All finalists will make brief presentations of their business ideas.
Finalists were selected, as follows:
Entrepreneur Track
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Buy with Heart – An online service that will allow consumers to easily find social enterprise products and services. Principal applicant: Kelly Ramirez, Providence.
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JumpOffCampus – A new company that wants to partner with universities to provide a free online resource for their students to find safe and affordable housing near campus. Principal applicant: Mark Abramowicz, Providence.
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Siren Marine, Inc. – Has developed a waterproof GSM/GPS device that monitors any marine asset's critical systems and is controlled and operated via any standard cell phone. Principal applicant: Daniel Harper, Mystic, Conn.
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Splitwise – An Internet-based system that advises people about fairness and shared bills and automatically pays people back to balance their share. Principal applicant: Jonathan Bittner, Providence.
Student Track
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JC Wind – A manufacturing company that will create carbon-fiber based wind turbine blades with an attractive strength/weight profile at less cost. Principal applicant: James McGinn, Brown University.
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Overhead.fm – An affordable web app that will provide a customizable stream of music for in-store use, licensing music directly from artists/labels. Principal applicant: Stephen Hebson, Brown University.
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Solar4Cents – A manufacturing company that will produce cost, thin-film copper, zinc, tin, and sulfur solar cells for solar panel manufacturers. Principal applicant: Sean Pennino, Brown University.
Sponsors of the 2012 Competition
A record 51 organizations have sponsored the 2012 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, as follows:
Lead sponsors of the 2012 competition are Davol Inc., Johnson & Wales University, Providence Journal Charitable Foundation, Rhode Island Commodores, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, University of Rhode Island, along with Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, Embolden, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP, and Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co., Ltd.
Also supporting the competition are: AM 790, Amica Insurance, Bank Rhode Island, Bryant University, Braemar Energy Ventures, Business Development Company, Care New England, Center for Women & Enterprise, Centreville Bank, Cherrystone Angel Group, Citizens Bank of Rhode Island, Collette Vacations, Fidelity Investments, FM Global, Gilbane, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, GTECH Corporation, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Nortek Inc., NuLabel Technologies, Point Judith Capital, Providence College, Providence Business, News, RI Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RI Science & Technology Advisory Council, RI Small Business Development Center, Slater Technology Fund, Tech Collective, Teknor Apex, Verizon, and Ximedica.
Also, Bank of America, Banneker Industries, Inc., CVS/Caremark, Freedom National Bank, Hayes & Sherry Real Estate Services, InsureMyTrip.com, Schneider Electric, ShapeUp, Taco, Inc., and TD Bank.
About the Competition
Established in 2000, the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition has become an important element of the Rhode Island entrepreneurial landscape. To date, it has awarded more than $1 million in prizes to competitors developing companies across many industries.
In addition to awarding prizes, the competition hosts educational events in the months leading up to the application deadline in early April. Complete competition information, including rules, application procedures, guidelines, and business plan resources, is available at www.ri-bizplan.com.
