Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

GovCup helps jump-start PristineCal

Get in Touch

By Scott Meacham

Copyright © 2013, The Oklahoma Publishing Company

It’s been a year since the PristineCal team competed in the 2012 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, Oklahoma’s statewide collegiate business plan competition.

PristineCal, a finalist in the graduate division, won the interview competition in their industry category and team leader Stacey Brandhorst won the pitch competition.

After graduating from Oklahoma State University, Brandhorst and Rachel Mui, another team member, took part-time jobs and went to work to turn PristineCal into an actual business.

“The Governor’s Cup was a catalyst,” Brandhorst said. “It gave us confidence. We learned about resources. It also gave us seed capital to help pay for our testing and website. Still, it’s been a lot more difficult than we thought. We’ve had every entrepreneurial pitfall you can think of, from technology challenges to investors who said they would invest and then didn’t.”

Using a revolutionary technology developed at OSU by Dr. Allen Apblett, PristineCal will provide the first-ever heavy metal and strontium free commercial grade calcium powder.

i2E kept PristineCal on our radar screen. When we started the Oklahoma Proof of Concept Center to commercialize university-based technologies, PristineCal became a client.

The Oklahoma Proof of Concept Center “has helped us get more in touch with our customer base, improve our costs and metrics, and fine tune our business model.” Brandhorst said. “i2E also connected us with a mentor in the chemical industry with startup experience, a whole Rolodex of contacts, and years of expertise.”

Brandhorst and Mui are averaging about 15 contact calls per week, learning where PristineCal’s products best fit into the value chain. In the Governor’s Cup, they had a 60-page plan that focused on calcium supplements. Now they are down to a single sheet of paper with nine prioritized action items and focused on calcium powder.

“From the Governor’s Cup to now, you might not recognize the company,” Brandhorst said. “We’ve made a lot of good strides.”

i2E programs like the Oklahoma Proof of Concept Center and Governor’s Cup improve entrepreneurs’ opportunity to succeed. The Proof of Concept Center provides the focus and frame to take a breakthrough technology through market identification and solutions to job creation. The Governor’s Cup lets college students experience firsthand both what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur as well as the potential rewards that await entrepreneurs who succeed.

And, with companies like PristineCal, the Governor’s Cup sometimes even produces actual companies.

Scott Meacham is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state appropriations from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Contact Meacham at [email protected].

DID YOU KNOW? Oklahoma has gained more than 20 small businesses from the Governor’s Cup Competition.

Click here to read the entire post at newsok.com

 

 

  • admin
    admin

More News

Loading...
Black doctor smiling with stethoscope
Blog, i2E
02.09.23

Titan Intake Automates Patient Referrals to Accelerate Care

Read more
man and woman reviewing paperwork at a table
Blog, i2E, News
01.10.23

Stories of Oklahoma Innovation: Building a Startup

Read more
woman in lab conducting a study
Blog, i2E
12.13.22

Bayesic Technologies Improves Effectiveness and Efficiency of Data Analysis in Healthcare

Read more
Bison grazing fields
Blog
11.30.22

Bison Underground Merges Nature, Science, and Technology to Tackle Climate Change

Read more
African American family sitting on couch reading and chatting
Blog, E3, i2E
11.22.22

Fokes Connects Families, Caregivers and Care Agencies for Smoother Communications and Care 

Read more
i2e blog post graphic
Blog, News
11.03.22

Introducing: Stories of Oklahoma Innovation

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.28.22

Oklahoma Grown! i2E Invests in BIO startups

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Moleculera Labs BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma State University BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

ECHO Investment Capital BIO

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
OKC, OK 73104
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

100 S. Cincinnati Ave – Suite 514
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources

© 2022 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Facebook Twitter Linkedin

Programs

  • E3
  • ACT Tulsa
  • Love's Entrepreneur's Cup
  • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E