Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition Draws Innovative Companies Targeting the 40+ Marketplace

Business Wire, March 23, 2007

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Enormous business opportunities are being created around the world as countries grow older. In the United States alone, baby boomers now spend more than $2 trillion per year on goods and services.

Recognizing these opportunities, entrepreneurs around the globe are developing products and services geared for consumers ages 40 and older.

The 2007 Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition at Santa Clara University attracts new ventures from entrepreneurs, early-stage companies, and college students around the world. The competition is co-produced by Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business and Mary Furlong & Associates.

Last year's competition drew more than 70 business plans, from as far away as New Zealand and The Philippines. Plans submitted last year included treatments for glaucoma and sleep apnea, brain stimulation games, sexy sleepwear for mature women, and services that help retirees buy property in Latin America.

"The Boomer Business Plan Competition is a great place to find entrepreneurs who have a vision and an idea to solve a problem around an enormous market," said Michael Goldberg, a partner at Mohr, Davidow Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture firm that invests in innovative early-stage businesses.

The deadline for entering the competition is April 20. For more information, visit www.boomerventuresummit.com/competition.> All plans will be reviewed by Silicon Valley venture capitalists and boomer market experts. Twenty semifinalists will be selected and announced on April 28. Five finalists will then be chosen in each of two categories: Health and General.

A panel of judges will review the finalist plans and choose two $10,000 grand prize winners at the 2007 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit, which takes place on June 19 at Santa Clara University. For more information about the Summit, please visit www.boomerventuresummit.com.

This year's panel of finalist judges includes Charles (Chip) F. Baird Jr., managing partner, North Castle Partners; Jody Holtzman, director of strategic analysis, AARP; James L. Koch, executive director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society and professor of management, Santa Clara University; Aileen Lee, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Ilya Oshman, vice president and general manager, Pfizer Strategic Investments Group; Emilio Pardo, chief brand officer, AARP; Bijan Salehizadeh, M.D., partner, Highland Capital Partners; Robert Stein, president and CEO, American Society on Aging; Brad Vale, Ph.D., vice president, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp.; Vance Vanier, M.D., partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures.

Screening judges include Robert Stein, president and CEO, American Society on Aging, and Sandra Timmerman, assistant vice president and director, MetLife Mature Market Institute.

About the co-producers

Founded in 1926, the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University was one of the first business schools in the country to receive national accreditation. Its undergraduate business program was recently acknowledged among the best across the U.S., and its MBA and Executive MBA programs are ranked 12th and 21st, respectively, in the nation among graduate business programs. More than 80 percent of its 1,100 MBA students are working professionals in Silicon Valley. More information is available at www.scu.edu/business.> Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) is a proven team of business innovators, comprised of talent from marketing, editorial, business, online content and community. Mary Furlong, Ed.D., the firm's founder and CEO, has guided the offline and online 40 market strategies of leading corporations and nonprofit organizations for more than 20 years. Furlong is Dean's Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, and previously founded SeniorNet and ThirdAge Media. Her latest book, "Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace," was published in February 2007. More information is available at www.maryfurlong.com.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,377 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master's universities, California's oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.