Finalists Compete Friday in Business Plan Competition Finals

By james hellegaard | 4/10/2019

Five finalists will compete Friday, April 12 in the annual Florida Atlantic University Business Plan Competition, hosted by FAU’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship and the College of Business.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 101 of the Office Depot Center at the FAU College of Business, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. Team presentations will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The competition encourages FAU students, faculty, staff and recent graduates to pitch their game-changing ideas for a chance to obtain funding for their new ventures. The five finalists are:

Champions Empowering Champions assists college students who have experienced homelessness or foster care by building a lifelong support network and helping them develop essential life skills so students can earn their college degree and begin a successful career.
Daisy is a nonprofit organization that aims to facilitate the donation of feminine hygiene products to homeless and at-risk women by selling “period kits” to shelters or homeless resource centers. Daisy’s founder, Amanda Barstow, is a 2019 Kenan Social Engagement Program scholarship winner.
Life-Metrics is an activity tracking mobile iOS app that puts together data we generate about ourselves and combines it with machine learning to provide personalized insights into our lives and how our actions, habits and thoughts impact our well-being.
MILÁMU aims to help eliminate skin deficiencies and enhance natural beauty by crafting 100 percent natural essential oil blends. The company also offers a line of bracelets and accessories made from semi-precious stones and pearls. In an effort to positively affect the community, MILÁMU partners with a different philanthropic organization and donates up to 20 percent of purchases to the cause. Through July 31, MILÁMU will collaborate with One Tree Planted to promote global reforestation by planting one tree for every $1 donated.
NERD is an autonomous robotic delivery service specializing in food and snack delivery on college campuses. Using autonomous robots, NERD solves the last-mile delivery problem and helps increase staff and student productivity throughout the day.

Jeffrey Shaw will deliver the keynote speech from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Shaw is host of the popular business podcast “Creative Warriors,” and is also a TEDx speaker, a featured storyteller on “The Moth,” and a nationally acclaimed keynote speaker at creative and business conferences. Shaw also will be signing copies of his books at the event. This will be followed by the awards ceremony from 1:30 to 2 p.m.

First prize is $10,000, second prize $5,000 and third prize $2,500. The best interdisciplinary team and the People’s Choice winner each will be awarded $1,000.

Along with prize money, teams compete for legal and business services, space at FAU’s Tech Runway and the opportunity to present their business plan to local angel investors, venture capital groups and more. Competitors have the opportunity to meet and network with successful entrepreneurs, and resources are provided to aid students in the creation and implementation of their businesses.

SBA Communications is the event’s sponsor.

-FAU-

Tags: students | community | faculty and staff | alumni | business