Three Winners Named in 2008 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition

PROVIDENCE – (May 6, 2008) – Three local entrepreneurs who are developing companies that help track missing people, preserve living human tissue, and offer online games for sports enthusiasts, have been named the winners in the 2008 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. They and four other finalists shared $170,000 in prizes.

The winners were announced today at Business Expo 2008 at the Rhode Island Convention Center, sponsored by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.

MissingPatient.com, led by Timothy Holmgren of Westerly, was the winner in the entrepreneur track. His start-up company has developed an integrated approach for making important information quickly available about a missing person, such as those suffering from Alzheimer’s, to medical professionals, police officers, and private citizens.

Siren Medical, founded by Mark Drew, a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, was the winner in the student track. His company is developing a low-cost technology that can help save severed digits and limbs at the site of an accident for transport to a surgical facility.

The winner of the newly introduced high school track was David Litwin, a junior at The Wheeler School in Providence, who heads D-Liteful Gaming, a company that is creating an online video game that incorporates economics and business with sports.

The entrepreneur and student track winners each received prizes valued at $54,500. The high school track winner was awarded a $1,000 prize. The prizes, which included cash and in-kind services, were donated by companies and organizations principally from Rhode Island.

Finalists in the entrepreneur track were Vitrimark, led by Arijit Bose of Providence, which uses a unique technology to detect prostate and breast cancer in their early stages, and Replicator, headed by Joseph Flaherty of Watertown, Mass., which uses custom manufacturing technology to create costume jewelry.

Finalists in the student track were CHMR Solutions, from Brown University, headed by Colin Keogh, a company that removes heavy metals from Brownfield sites, and Digital Wingman, also a Brown University team, led by Jake Powers and Brian Rider, that integrates 3D, high-definition floor plans with e-commerce.

All finalists in the entrepreneur and student tracks received $15,000 in prizes, the first time the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition awarded prizes to finalists.

“We received more applications and a greater variety of plans than ever before in the five competitions we have held since 2001,” said Competition Co-chair Garrett B. Hunter, president of the Business Development Company of Rhode Island. “The quality of the plans was extremely high, and the judges felt all the semifinalists had good business ideas that they should actively pursue.

“We congratulate everyone who applied. We also thank this year’s record number of 35 sponsors and the judges for their commitment to making the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition the most prominent community-sponsored competition of its kind in New England.”

This year’s competition attracted 58 business proposals from six states, including Texas, as well as plans from Russia, Sweden, and India. Business plans focused on a range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, the Internet, and healthcare, in addition to software and biotech firms.

Plans were also received from Brown University, Bryant University, Johnson & Wales University, New England Institute of Technology, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University, Salve Regina University, Babson College, and George Washington University.

To be eligible to win, applicant had to agree to establish or maintain operations in Rhode Island.

About the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition

The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote entrepreneurship and the development of start-up and early stage companies in Rhode Island, is supported by 35 local organizations, including public and private companies, universities and colleges, and public agencies.

Complete competition information, including rules, application procedures, guidelines, and business plan resources, is available at www.ri-bizplan.com.