A team of students from Strathclyde Business School achieved an honourable mention for their Elevator Pitch at the international TCU Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures Competition in the USA (April 5-6).
Students from 56 universities took part in the annual competition for socially conscious businesses, while more than 50 entrepreneurs, investors and bankers served as judges, including finals judge John Henry, host of "Hustle" and honoured as Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur.
In a close, inspiring competition, nine winners were chosen out of 56, plus two special awards and six awards for the Elevator Pitch.
Team members were Florian Schabus, Sian Welsh and Nicolas Kirsch. On behalf of the team, Sian said, "Winning the award we all felt very proud that our hard work had paid off – especially considering the standards we were competing against including people who were in partnership with NASA patented technology! It's fair to say we couldn't stop smiling all evening."
The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship students won a cash prize of $250 for their Elevator Pitch for their business idea, Tremodent, a toothbrush that uses motion stability technology to enable people with Parkinson's to brush their teeth.
Sian explained, "Our business idea is a revolutionary designed toothbrush that incorporates a high speed servo control system that allows for stabilisation of the toothbrush head by counteracting the movements caused by uncontrollable tremors. It was an idea that I originally had when applying for the engineering department but when I transferred to the Business School, it was an idea we were able to integrate into our course and incorporate into our group project.
"The TCU competition was absolutely incredible and surreal. We feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity for such an opportunity. When we arrived there was a lot of excitement amongst the team, but very quickly we were able to settle down and get to work."
Sian admitted the first 15 minute pitch was ‘a little nerve racking' but it turned out to be the best one they had done. On the second day of the competition they moved on to the 90 second pitches followed by questions in the morning. Out of all the teams only 6 could make it through to the finals in the afternoon - and the Strathclyde team was delighted to be one of them.
Sian said, "Once we found out we had made it into the final of the 90 second pitches the nerves quickly went away and we were very positive about our final pitch. Once it was over there was a feeling of relief amongst us and we were able to relax and celebrate in the evening about our success. Overall it was an amazing experience and something we will always hold up high in our list of achievements."
Sian said the team's plans are now to apply for more venture and enterprise competitions and look to get more funding so they can develop the product and take it forward. "This is something we are all definitely interested in doing. We are really looking forward to seeing what the future will hold for Tremodent."
This is the ninth year for TCU's Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures® Competition, presented by the TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the TCU Neeley School of Business and co-founded by Dallas real estate and technology entrepreneurs Nancy Tartaglino Richards and Lisa Barrentine of First Preston HT.