The Rice University Business Plan Competition Announces 2005 Winning Teams

Business Wire, April 19, 2005

HOUSTON -- World's Largest University-Based Intercollegiate Business Plan Competition awards over $200,000 in cash and prizes to top competing MBA teams

The Rice University Business Plan Competition, which took place April 7 - 9 at Rice University, is pleased to announce the winning teams from 36 competing schools from all over the globe.

During the three-day competition, hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, student MBA teams presented business plans to a panel of over 130 distinguished judges, which were selected based on their expertise in investing and entrepreneurship and their interest in supporting early stage entrepreneur for new venture start-up companies.

The Rice Business Plan Competition has become the largest and richest intercollegiate university-run business plan competition in the world, based on the number of schools competing on campus. The winners of over $200,000 in prizes were announced at the Saturday night Awards Banquet attended by nearly 600 individuals, headlined by keynote speaker Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans and founder of Cogene Ventures and Cogen Technologies.

The Grand Prize was awarded to The University of California Los Angeles' (UCLA) Auditude, a company that has developed a suite of technology services for automatic tracking of broadcast advertising to assist broadcasters with accurate execution. The team from Auditude was awarded:

--$100,000 Investment Prize from The GOOSE Society of Texas, a group of six highly successful entrepreneurs, including: Rod Canion, Arthur A. Ciocca, Terry M. Giles, Jack M. Gill, PhD, Michael Holthouse, and Leo Linbeck, III, (the "Grand Order of Successful Entrepreneurs").

--$20,000 cash award from HP (Hewlett-Packard Company)

--Up to 1 year office space provided by the Houston Technology Center and technology support from 1-Service

--Roundtrip Airline Tickets on Continental Airlines

--The development of a company web site and hosting services for one year from RentTheSite.com

--Automatic entry into the 2005 MOOT CORP competition in May 2005

The first place team was not the only school to go home with cash and prizes. Other winners included:

2nd Place Team - Northwestern University (Kellogg): Spark Parking
    $15,000 cash award from Shell Technology Ventures

    3rd Place Team: University of Michigan: Incept BioSystems
    $7,500 cash award from Finger Interests

    4th Place Team: London Business School: Mi Viejita
    $2,500 cash award from Finger Interests

    5th Place Team: University of Chicago: Midway Pharmaceuticals
    $2,000 cash award from Administaff

    6th Place Team: University of Pennsylvania (Wharton): Green Mobile
    $2,000 cash award from Administaff

    7th Place Team: University of Louisville: NanoMed Delivery
    $2,000 cash award from Administaff

All seven finalists also received free software from Microsoft and free website and hosting services for up to a year provided by RENTthesite.com.

Other cash and prizes awarded to the competing schools included:

Murphree Venture Partners Wildcard Round Winners

        First Place Team: London Business School: Mi Viejita
        (advanced to Finals)

        2nd Place Team: Columbia University: Differential Dynamics
        $1,500 cash award

        3rd Place Team: MIT - Osio Corporation (Presbytek Inc.)
        $1,000 cash award

        4th Place Team: New York University: Auricle
        $1,000 cash award

        5th Place Team: University of Texas (Austin ): Dragonfly
        Diagnostics
        $750 cash award

        6th Place Team: Brigham Young University: Princess Sweet
        $750 cash award

    Fulbright and Jaworski Challenge Round

        Flight A
        $500 - First Place: University of Illinois: Microlution, Inc.
        $250 - Second Place: Arizona State University: Halo Cups, Inc.

        Flight B
        $500 - First Place: Stanford: PrepMe Corp.
        $250 - Second Place: Babson College: Inanovate

        Flight C
        $500 - First Place: Rice University: Auto Loan Services
        $250 - Second Place: University of Georgia: Webmasters
               International

        Flight D
        $500 - First Place: Boston University: TeleEMG
        $250 - Second Place: SMU: Gobletts

        Flight E
        $500 - First Place: University of Toronto: Gradecast
        $250 - Second Place: Carnegie Mellon University: Special
               Frontiers

        Flight F
        $500 - First Place: University of Tennessee: Ion/Plasma Health
               Solutions
        $250 - Second Place: University of Maryland: Arcxis
               Biotechnologies

    Austin Ventures Elevator Pitch Competition

        First Place: MIT - Osio Corporation (Presbytek, Inc.): $1,000
        Second Place: University of Michigan: Incept BioSystems: $750
        Third Place: UCLA: Auditude: $750
        Fourth Place: Harvard University: AquaFloor: $500
        Fifth Place: Rice University: Auto Loan Services: $500

    Special Awards

        Cogene Ventures Life Science Award
        $2,000 - Best Life Science Business Plan
        University of Michigan: Incept BioSystems

        Conley Rose IP Powerhouse Award
        $2,000 - Best Intellectual Property
        Columbia University - Differential Dynamics

        Energy Valley Award
        $2,000 - Best Energy Business Plan
        Columbia University - Differential Dynamics

        Chase Hispanic Business Plan Award
        $2,000 - Best Business Plan from an Hispanic Team
        London Business School - Mi Viejita

        Houston Venture Capital Association (HVCA) Outstanding Written
        Business Plan Award
        $2,000 - Best Written Business Plan
        University of Michigan: Incept BioSystems