April 22, 2008
New Mexico Business Weekly
Advanced Pulmonary Solutions wins business plan competition
NMBW Staff
Advanced Pulmonary Solutions has won first place in the Anderson School of Management's 2008 University of New Mexico Technology Business Plan Competition.
Team members Kevin Stevenson, Robin Perini and James Baldwin won the $25,000 Michael Gallegos prize for Entrepreneurship as well as legal services from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Their winning plan aims to commercialize innovative, non-invasive diagnostic tools for a wide array of bacterial infections of the pulmonary system.
Surya Skincare team members Steven Renfro, William Reichard, Miles Nelson, Klaus Mueller and Peter Duselis took home the second place Technology Ventures Corp./Lockheed Martin $10,000 prize for their plan, which builds on patented nanotechnology to offer the first optically transparent sunscreen able to claim complete protection against cancer-causing UV radiation.
Third place went to Meghan Norvell and Isaac Estrada of ABQari Wellness, who presented plans to produce innovative, high-quality nutraceutical compounds. These compounds are designed to reduce the risk of such diseases as prostate cancer, inflammation and connective tissue injury. The pair received the $5,000 vSpring Capital prize.
Ten teams competed in the third-annual UNM Technology Business Plan Competition. In addition to the $40,000 in prize money, venture capital partners also offered more than $100,000 in seed funding as incentives for the students looking to form their own high-tech startups in New Mexico.