East Central University dominated the 2015 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Awards on April 16 at the Bricktown Events Center in Oklahoma City, sweeping the top three places in the Small Business Division.
Keynote speaker and awards presenter at the dinner attended by more than 400 people was Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin. The winning team in the Small Business Division was awarded $10,000 while second place earned $8,000 and third pace $4,000.
Team member of the winning Suite Seat team in the Small Business Division was Miles Mitchell. Stacey Bolin was faculty advisor for all three Small Business Division winners. Second place was Gourmet Grub, while third place was Back-Spin.
Meanwhile, Magnetic Solutions, Inc., from Northern Oklahoma College, was named the first Robert E. Craine Outstanding Venture Award winner. The award was created to honor the late Robert E. Craine, a Tulsa investor, businessman and supporter of the Governor’s Cup.
Other winners in the annual competition included AerOcean from the University of Tulsa, first place in the High Growth Graduate Division, and Raw, University of Oklahoma, first place in the Undergraduate Division.
First and second places in the High Growth Undergraduate and Graduate divisions advance to the Tri-State competition in Las Vegas next month against teams from Arkansas and Nevada.
Team members of AerOcean were Philip McCoy, team leader, and Joshua Donaldson, Jared Starkweather and Gann Swann. Faculty Advisor was Todd Otanicar.
Team members of Raw were Ali Davis,, team leader, and Lauren Abston, Quincy Tresemer, Caitlin Zuerker and Cici Zhou. Faculty Advisor was Lowell Busenitz.
First place teams in the High Growth divisions earned $20,000 each while second place earned $10,000 and third place earned $5,000.
Second place in the High Growth Graduate Division was ParaNano from the University of Central Oklahoma, and third place, CMR Innovations, St. Gregory’s University.
Second place in the High Growth Undergraduate Division was Spur from the University of Oklahoma, with Pulse, LLC, University of Central Oklahoma, third.
“The Governor’s Cup is home grown entrepreneurship at its best,” said Scott Meacham, CEO of i2E, Inc., which manages the competition. “I love the intensity that the students bring to the technologies for which they are writing and pitching business plans. I expect to see many of these businesses working their way through our investment pipeline in the next few years.”
Winners of a $5,000 Oklahoma Business Roundtable Paulsen Award scholarship that can be use on any Oklahoma campus in the Fall 2015 semester were Miranda McNabb, East Central University, Small Business Division, Austin Evans, University of Tulsa, High Growth Undergraduate Division, and Joshua Donaldson, University of Tulsa, High Growth Graduate Division.
Winners of the annual pitch completion were: Miles Mitchell, East Central University, Small Business Division; Ali Davis, University of Oklahoma, High Growth Undergraduate Division and Chelsea Larsen, University of Central Oklahoma, High Growth Graduate Division.
Winners of Interview portion of the competition were: CMR Communications, LLC, St. Gregory’s University, AT&T Information Technology/Communications; Raw, University of Oklahoma, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Healthcare; Pulse, LLC, University of Central Oklahoma, i2E Student Generated Technology Design; AerOcean, University of Tulsa, OG&E Energy and Environmental; and XtremeMarine, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Business Roundtable Manufacturing, Material Science and Transportation.
The competition is managed by i2E, Inc., which provides business advisory services and investment capital to many Oklahoma startup companies.
Small Business Division
First place – Suite Seat, East Central University
Second place – Gourmet Grub, East Central University
Third place – Back-Spin, East Central University
High Growth Undergraduate Division
First place – Raw, University of Oklahoma
Second place – Spur, University of Oklahoma
Third place – Pulse, LLC, University of Central Oklahoma
High Growth Graduate Division
First Place – AerOcean, University of Tulsa
Second Place – ParaNano, LLC, University of Central Oklahoma
Third Place – CMR Innovations, St. Gregory’s University
Robert E. Craine Outstanding Venture Award
Magnetic Solutions, Inc., Northern Oklahoma College
Oklahoma Business Roundtable Paulsen Award Scholarship Winners
Small Business Division, Miranda McNabb, East Central University
High Growth Undergraduate Division, Austin Evans, University of Tulsa
High Growth Graduate Division, Joshua Donaldson, University of Tulsa
Pitch Winners
Small Business Division – Miles Mitchell, East Central University
High Growth Undergraduate Division — Ali Davis, University of Oklahoma
High Growth Graduate Division – Chelsea Larsen, University of Central Oklahoma
Interview Winners
AT&T Information Technology/Communications – CMR Communications, LLC, St. Gregory’s University
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Healthcare – Raw, University of Oklahoma
I2E Student Generated Technology Design – Pulse, LLC, University of Central Oklahoma
OG&E Energy and Environmental – AerOcean, University of Tulsa
Oklahoma Business Roundtable Manufacturing, Material Science and Transportation, XtremeMarine, University of Oklahoma
