Could a new age nail startup, a recording studio based in the cloud or a chemical-free disinfectant be UChicago's next breakout startup?
It's possible. These are all startups that are among the 30 student ventures selected to move forward in the main track of University of Chicago’s 2017 New Venture Challenge.
It’s an annual competition that’s heralded in Chicago and across the world alike—it’s repeatedly been named among the top accelerators nationwide and has launched the likes of Braintree and Grubhub. This will be its 21st annual competition, and over the last two decades NVC companies have generated over $575 million in funding and delivered $4 billion in returns to investors.
Last year TransparentCareer (pictured above), a startup that offers crowdsourced career and compensation information, won the top prize of $90,000.
30 startups have been selected to move to Phase II, which is also called the “classroom phase”. They’ll be split up into two classes, one taught by Steve Kaplan and the other taught by Ellen Rudnick and Mark Tebbe, to develop their business plans and pitches. After three months of work and a final presentation, 10 will be chosen to move forward to a final competition.
Here’s a look at the 30 startups that are moving forward in the 2017 New Venture Challenge: (descriptions per Polsky Center)
4Women - 4women will offer a non-invasive, self-administered HPV test.
AMOpportunities - AMOpportunities is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book U.S. clinical experiences.
AnySpace - AnySpace is a dual sided online platform that connects venues spaces with users who plan private events.
AutoMech - AutoMech is a digital platform that connects consumers (vehicle owners) to service providers (auto repair shops) to make the process of vehicle servicing completely seamless.
Banyan - Banyan is a B2B local food e-commerce platform that makes it easier, cheaper and more efficient for buyers and sellers to transact in local foods by automating repetitive tasks, digitizing cash flows, and making local distribution more efficient.
ClostraBio - ClostraBio is a discovery and preclinical stage pharmaceutical company developing safe, clinically effective therapies for patients whose life-threatening allergies limit their quality of life.
Commercializing Diamonox - Through a proprietary point-of-use nanotechnology, Commercializing Diamonix can use simple water as a chemical-free disinfectant that is more efficient and effective at eradicating bacteria than chlorine or UV.
EZZA - EZZA is nail care tailored for modern, professional women.
F&A Specialty Foods - F&A Specialty Foods is working to improve the quality of the category offering of processed salmon products in the U.S. market.
Galilexo - Galilexo offers law firms customized software solutions designed to streamline and enhance certain of the manual processes used in legal transactions and provide powerful analytics.
HelloHealthy - HelloHealthy manages health and fitness programming for multifamily communities and the residents that live within them.
Lancealot - Lancealot is a marketplace and tool kit to help organizations and individuals connect with freelance video creators and manage their collaborations.
LemonBox - LemonBox is an online platform offering customized nutrition recommendations via big data analytics to the Chinese population.
MediLinx - Medilinx is a digital platform and EHR cloud-based software provider which aims to connect doctors, patients, suppliers and payers, while running a machine-learning healthcare data analytics system that provides market insights to improve the health sector in Mexico through cost saving initiatives.
MoveSimple - MoveSimple is a web-based platform that simplifies the relocation process for international students moving to the US and connects them to personalized housing, utilities, and service providers.
OpenPAC - OpenPAC expedites and decreases the cost of patient placement upon discharge from the hospital by coordinating the transfer of information between hospital electronic medical records and skilled nursing facility software.
Part Analytics - Part Analytics is a cloud based analytics platform that takes structured, unstructured, public and private data to provide actionable insights for Procurement and Engineering professionals in electronics industry.
PhytSolutions - Phyt Solutions is dedicated to improving human movement and quality of life by providing physical therapists and other movement professionals with products offering variety and efficiency at affordable prices.
Portefini - Portefini is an e-commerce platform making an effortless, personalized menswear shopping experience by focusing on curated, aggregated content organized to give men instant styling advice.
RWEDI Solutions - RWEDI Solutions is commercializing a novel water treatment technology invented at Argonne National Laboratory that reduces water consumption, chemicals use, and operating costs for cooling tower owners and operators.
SmarterCloud - SmarterCloud’s mission is to enable growth and mature stage enterprises to better control their cloud infrastructure.
Spiff - Spiff's is a relationship management platform that can be customized and tailored to cultivate high priority relationships.
Switched Source, LCC - Switched Source is an early stage start-up commercializing power electronics solutions for utilities.
Tao Fiber - Tao Fiber harvests sap directly from peach trees and kettle brews it into "tree-?juvenating" Táo Fiber Infusion, rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and other minerals, creating teas that are inspired by traditional Chinese recipes.
Tenemun - Tenemun helps financial institutions make better credit decisions and expand their customer base by providing deep credit-risk insights using machine learning algorithms and behavioral analytics of non-financial data.
The Mint - The Mint offers hotel-style housekeeping services to urban residents for $8 to $15 per day.
Triple Inc. - Triple develops augmented reality software for retailers that allows their customers to view furniture in their home before they buy.
Vest - Vest is a modern 401(k) provider, that makes retirement plans accessible to the 85% of small and medium-sized businesses currently without them by simplifying administration and recordkeeping while increasing employee financial wellness.
Waaves - Waaves is the premier recording studio in the cloud for independent musicians to create new, original music.
Wisgene - Wisgene is a DNA and RNA sequencing company that provides IP protected sequencing kits for biological research with highly implicated effects on human health.
Note: Two additional startups were added to the Phase II list of teams after the original announcement. These two startups are:
Sinsal LLC is leading the world in research of modular desalination systems for brackish water. Our current technology will fit into a standard 40 foot shipping container and can desalinate up to 21.5 million gallons per year.
Verdant Financial Services’ mission is to provide a means for depositing cash reserves from Marijuana Related Businesses with a financial institution and to provide the fair opportunity for credit services to facilitate small business expansion in the Cannabis industry.
