Hello from Rice University!
The 2007 Rice Business Plan Competition is underway and the first two presentations were very good.
The weather is cooperating so all of our out of town visitors have a flavor for the weather…Sorry about the pollen guys.
Flight 5 Update 1
Cateko Diagnostics from Rice University with some technology from UTMB went first.
Heather Borden, Robert Norsworth and Mike Lowe lead off our flight with the presentation on Cateko. Cateko will offer two medical tests that diagnose a woman’s risk of preterm labor. One test prior to pregnancy and another near delivery.
I liked the presentation and I understood the concepts. Unfortunately, the team didn’t get to finish their presentation. I am guessing that they had 2-3 minutes left to go. Everyone can see the benefit of extend term pregnancy and the impact to the child and the insurance/hospitals, not to mention good mom and dad.
Good presentation guys and good luck.
Next up, Certo Labs from the University of Toronto. Certo is a scientific instrumentation company aiming to commercialize a novel lab instrument known as the Automated Sample Extractor to be used by the Pharmaceutical and Food Industries.
The two presenters were very personable young men and I really enjoyed their passion and humor. Their product and its potential value was not as clear as I would have liked to see. The young men have done a great job of getting larger and well established companies in their sector to back their sweat equity. I think their plans needs a bit more work before making a run at a competition of this type.
Good presentation and good luck to you as well.
I have to break now….UCLA with EyeLight is up next.