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Boulder, CO – December 17, 2002 - A
team of graduate students from the University of Colorado landed $12,500
and a boost of confidence about their business savvy during last week's
business plan competition at CU's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Signifi team — Nate Beckwith, Jason Jenkins, John Poole and Holly
Shelton — won the top prize among graduate students for their plan
involving new laser-engraving technologies that can handle anything ranging
from toy-store trinkets to precious jewelry.
Signifi not only won $2,500 in prize money from CU's Leeds School of
Business but also captured the coveted Seagate/CTEK business incubator
award for $10,000, which includes a year's worth of support and advising.
The competition was judged by local entrepreneurs, business members and
venture capitalists."
FBN President David Spiro, mentor for Team Signifi said: “It was the
easiest consulting job I ever had.
They have a great product, wrote a great business plan and are a
great team. They had stiff
competition and deserved to win.”
”David is being uncharacteristically modest,” said Signifi President Jason
Jenkins. “His advice and
experience made an incredible difference to our presentation.”
The annual event is a culmination of semester long efforts by students
pursuing master's degrees in business who take a class to develop a
feasible business model for real-world implementation.
Every year, at least one team has been able to launch its business since
the event's inception eight years ago, said Kathy Simon, who directs the
Deming Center, which works to bring engineering and business students
together.
Past incubator award winners include Phasics in 2001 and Roving Planet in
2000. Both now operate as real businesses, which should bode well for
Signifi and its future.
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The Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center
for Entrepreneurship is a joint program of the Leeds School of Business and
the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. Founded in 1995, it was endowed in 1998 by the
Demings. The center provides program support to undergraduate and graduate
level entrepreneurship courses, including coordinating the annual business
plan competitions.
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