I’ve run into some of you at the Boulder Denver New Technology Meetups held the first Tuesday of every month at CU Boulder. I hope you can all come out to support a Bard Center Alumnus who will be presenting July 1.

I was pretty excited to see that Jeff Kohn, the 2nd place Bard Center Business Plan Competition Winner in 2007, is going to be one of the presenters. I love hearing your success stories so please do call (contact us) or email me (catherine.kunst -at- ucdenver.edu) with updates! 

I hope to see you all there! Be sure to register - these meetups fill quickly.

Time and Date: Tuesday, July 1st at 6:00PM
Location: Wolf Law Building CU Campus Wittemeyer Courtroom (First Floor)

The presenters include:

Gnip
Presented by Peter Williams & Jud Valeski
Gnip will be demo’ing its first step in what will be a suite of pragmatic data portability solutions for today’s web services.
How the group can help: product feedback and utilization by relevant parties
http://gnipcentral.com

mobileXware
Presented by Jason Ryer, Joel Lenorovitz
Demo’ing mobileXware’s flagship product, xFit, that helps people achieve their fitness goals by putting Fitness in the Palm of Your Hand
How the group can help: We are looking for general feedback on our product
http://www.mobileXware.com

Dizgo, Inc
Presented by Jeff Kohn
Dizgo’s web-based advertising platform (Advertising Management Portal) and show its mobile integration and SMS delivery of real-time, hyper local content.
How the group can help: looking for potential syndication partners, get feedback from potential users, encourage people to opt-in to receive great local (downtown Boulder) discounts-on-the-go!
http://www.dizgo.com

DandyId
Presented by Sara Czyzewicz, Arron Kallenberg, and Anthony Dimitre
DandyId.org is a repository for users’ service identifiers and API for third-party sites.
How the group can help: a) signing up for a dandyid and adding their identifiers to our system, and b) use our widget or services API.
http://www.dandyid.org

mShopper
Presented by Jeff Kohn
We will demo an innovative, market-leading mobile commerce (shopping) application that runs on most web-enabled cell phones.
How the group can help: looking for potential syndication partners, get feedback from potential users, encourage people to opt-in to receive great local (downtown Boulder) discounts-on-the-go!
http://www.mshopper.com

Lijit
Presented by David Fero and Micah Baldwin
Lijit is launching a new ad platform for publishers.
How the group can help: General feedback around the efficacy of an advertising platform for publishers within their search results.
http://www.lijit.com

blitzlocal
Presented by Dennis Yu
High level overview of social advertising using Facebook
http://www.blitzlocal.com

Tensegrity Prothetics, the 2006 Bard Center Business Plan Competition winner, was recently covered on Engadget, which writes about new technologies and tech gadgetry. The blog is very well read, and it consistently ranks in the top 10 in the world.

Congrats to the Tensegrity team!

Tensegrity prosthetic foot promises to make walking easier on Engadget

A few weeks ago, Richard Bard introduced me to Luis Solis, the CEO of GroupSystems.

On June 25, GroupSystems is hosting their Expediting Innovation Spotlight Series in Denver at the Curtis Hotel (1405 Curtis Street, Denver, CO). This is a free event with limited seating so register soon!

The GroupSystems Expediting Innovation Spotlight Series features leaders from government, defense, business and education sectors sharing how they are driving innovation and change within their organizations. 

Learn more & register here.

The 7th Annual Business Plan Competition is now complete. The finalists did an amazing job with their presentations this morning.

Dave O’Brien, our current entrepreneur in residence and CEO of the Business Catapult, along with Jono Shuster of the Entrepreneurial Standards Forum, worked with each finalist to improve their oral presentation. I did not see a single powerpoint slide with a cramped income statement or balance sheet this year. In every case the value proposition was clear. Awesome job everyone. Huzzah!

Let’s hear it for our winners who were awarded more than $100,000 in cash and in-kind services.

1st Place. Developing Minds Software, Dawn & Mason Gregg, Michael Erskine, Colette Hanley, Lynn Sargent. This is the 2nd year that Developing Minds Software entered the Bard Center Business Plan Competition. Their perseverance has certainly paid off. Developing Minds Software serves families and educational institutions challenged with serving the developmentally disabled children by allowing practitioners to systematically collect data, assess the student progress, and adapt student programs to the changing needs.

2nd Place. Gobai-Culturally Inspired Cuisine, Kaidan Nguyen. Look for this novel restaurant to launch near 17th and Pearl sometime in the coming year. Gobai will create fresh and healthy Vietnamese-inspired dishes made with quality ingredients that are fresh from local farms to the customer’s plate. Gobai is designed to reawaken the fast casual restaurant industry with recipes that are nutritious and eclectic, that is served with the speed of traditional fast-food restaurants.

3rd Place. Snoasis Medical Inc., Robert Tofe - a Bard Center Incubator Company. Snoasis Medical is a biomedical company that offers dental regenerative products for use in both hard and soft tissue applications. Snoasis Medical products target periodontal disease and damage caused by trauma and gingival recession.

4th -6th Place (in alphabetical order)

Healthy Travels, Raj Joseph - Winner of our first International Award sponsored by the IIB and CIBER at the University of Colorado Denver. Healthy Travels is a global healthcare service enabler that offers a comprehensive medical tourist solution by providing a premier healthcare experience outside of the United States coupled with unique first class travel opportunities during the recuperation and recovery phase.Robotics Assisted Gait Training, Timothy S. Nicklas

Robotics Assisted Gait Training , Tim Nicklas - Winner of our NonProfit Award sponsored by New Century Ventures and the Ward Family. Robotics Assisted Gait Training is a nonprofit business at Childrens Hospital for installing and operating a system that provides rigorous, customized monitoring for gait training utilizing modern technology that implements tried and trued therapies for patients with gait impairment.

Tissue Genetics Jeffrey Holt, M.D., James Bowman, Kimberly Gibson & Vanessa Clark - was the winner of the Bioscience Award. Tissue Genetics is a biomedical diagnostic company that identifies patients with genetic diseases, helping to determine their optimum course of care. Their novel diagnostic kits will establish a new paradigm for screening for hereditary diseases.

Brad Feld gave an amazing keynote address on the role of failure in the future successes of entrepreneurs.

I thank all of you who were able to attend.

The 7th Annual Business Plan Competition is just around the corner. It’s not too late to reserve a table or a seat for this celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation on June 11 at the Grand Hyatt - Denver.

The six finalists have been chosen. We received a wonderful selection of plans this year.

1. Developing Minds Software, Dawn Gregg, Michael Erskine, Colette Hanley, Lynn Sargent 

Developing Minds Software is dedicated to serving the needs of families, nonprofits, and educational institutions challenged with serving the developmentally disabled children by allowing practitioners to systematically collect data, assess the student progress, and adapt student programs to the changing needs.

2. Gobai-Culturally Inspired Cuisine, Kaidan Nguyen

Gobai will create fresh and healthy Vietnamese-inspired dishes made with quality ingredients that are fresh from local farms to the customer’s plate. Gobai is designed to reawaken the fast casual restaurant industry with recipes that are nutritious and eclectic, that is served with the speed of traditional fast-food restaurants.

3. Healthy Travels, Raj Joseph

Healthy Travels is a global healthcare service enabler that offers a comprehensive medical tourist solution by providing a premier healthcare experience outside of the United States coupled with unique first class travel opportunities during the recuperation and recovery phase.

4. Robotics Assisted Gait Training, Timothy S. Nicklas

Robotics Assisted Gait Training is a nonprofit business for installing and operating a system that provides rigorous, customized monitoring for gait training utilizing modern technology that implements tried and trued therapies for patients with gait impairment.

5. Snoasis Medical Inc., Robert Tofe

Snoasis Medical is a biomedical company that offers dental regenerative products for use in both hard and soft tissue applications. Snoasis Medical products target periodontal disease and damage caused by trauma and gingival recession.

6. Tissue Genetics, Jeffrey Holt, M.D., James Bowman, Vanessa Clark

Tissue Genetics is a biomedical diagnostic company that identifies patients with genetic diseases, helping to determine their optimum course of care. Their novel diagnostic kits will establish a new paradigm for screening for hereditary diseases.

Three excellent judges have been recruited.

1. Chris Onan, Managing Director, Appian Ventures

2. Brian Wallace, Managing Director, Access Venture Partners

3. Mark Mondry, Managing Director, Phronesys LLC 

We have an outstanding keynote speaker, Brad Feld, for the luncheon event.

I found this great video clip of Brad talking about funding one’s venture but I could not figure out how to embed the video clip here.

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you on June 11.

Tonight, students presented their final projects in the Bard Center course Innovation in the Social Sector taught by Tiffany Espinosa. This is a new course for the Bard Center. Some of you may remember Tiffany as the 2005 Business Plan Competition winner. Many of the guest lecturers came back to hear the student presentations. The students presented twelve projects targeted to make the world better - everything from nursing and refugee services to bilingual education, sustainability, and building better non-profit rewards. The ideas were simply terrific. I’m looking forward to seeing some of them turn into real businesses or at least business plans for our 2009 competition. Several of the students have already signed up for Tiffany’s summer course for Business Planning for Social Entrepreneurs to refine their ideas.

As you know, all of this is pretty normal for a Bard Center class. We have wonderful students with great ideas who give outstanding presentations. However, this class ended with something I’ve never seen before in all of my years in higher education. After the final presentation, as Tiffany was closing the class, the students stood and gave her a standing ovation. Wow. Just wow. I’m so glad I was there to see it.

The May 1 deadline to submit your Business Plan is fast approaching. It’s also time to reserve your seats at this fun and exciting event.

The Bard Center for Entrepreneurship
7th Annual Business Plan Competition
Event Fact Sheet

The Award: This event will present awards to six aspiring entrepreneurs and their teams. The Bard Center Business Plan Competition seeks to promote the development of high caliber business plans, recognize the most outstanding plans with cash and in-kind awards from area businesses, and encourage the creation of new businesses. The specific objectives of the Business Plan Competition include:

• Encourage the commercialization of promising ideas and the creation of new ventures
• Be a catalyst for economic development and new business growth in Colorado

Cash Awards

• 1st Place $10,000
• 2nd Place $5,000
• 3rd Place $2,500
• 4-6th Place $1,000

Special Cash & In-kind Awards

• Best Bioscience $5,000
• Best Nonprofit $5,000
• In-kind over $80,000

When:  Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Where:  Grand Hyatt-Downtown Denver (1750 Welton Street)

8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Six Finalists Present
15 minutes followed by 10 minutes of Q & A
             
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Luncheon
Keynote: Bradley Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group
             
1:00 - 1:30 p.m.  Awards Ceremony
Winner acceptance

Cost:  

Presentations: Free and open to the public

Luncheon: $50 (PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED - please register by June 5.)

Sponsorship Opportunities: 

• Platinum Sponsor  $10,000
• Gold Sponsor  $  5,000
• Silver Sponsor  $  3,000
• Table (10 seats) $    500 (no sponsorship benefits)
• Individual Ticket $     50 (no sponsorship benefits)
• In-kind   $  5,000 (services available to finalists)

For more information or to reserve your seat contact the Bard Center at (303) 620-4050 or Bard.Center@cudenver.edu.