LANSING ? Syzygy Biotech Solutions, a Grand Rapids biotech company, won the $100,000 SmartZone Award at the Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest business plan contest at the James B. Henry Center on the Michigan State University campus.
Syzygy produces biological reagents for use in DNA amplification, a fundamental and growing part of all DNA testing, related medical developments and research. The company is based at the West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative, an incubator run by Grand Valley State University. A sales office and product depot is located in the Michigan Life Science and Innovation Center in Plymouth.
The award is sponsored by the Michigan SmartZones and funded through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, administered by Ann Arbor SPARK.
The $25,000 GLEQ Grand Prize Award in the Emerging Company category was presented to Clean Energy Innovation. The Runner Up Award of $10,000 in the Emerging Company category was captured by MitoStem.
Clean Energy Innovations has developed a proprietary control system for the enhancement of power storage devices such as rechargeable batteries, resulting in a substantial improvement in the charging and discharging characteristics. It is adjustable to accommodate different battery chemistries (such as Li ion and NiMH). MitoStem is utilizing and perfecting various protein delivery methods to make the generation of induced pluripotential stem cells more efficient. By opening up the supply of this critically limited research reagent, they are facilitating stem cell researchers and expediting their development of therapeutics.
The top six teams competing for the GLEQ Grand Prize in the Emerging Company category pitched their plans to a panel of investment judges made up of Martin Dober, senior vice president, entrepreneurship and innovation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Pete Farner, partner at TGap Ventures; Ken Kousky, president, Blue Water Angels; Paul Neeb, president & CEO, RealBio Technology Inc. Jan Gensheimer of Seracon Consulting.
Presentation scores were added to scores on the companies? written business plans to determine the overall winners. Finalists in addition to the winning companies included, NextCAT, SurClean, The Mackinac Technology Company, and Vortex Hydro Energy.
The Emerging Company awards were presented by Jack Ahrens, managing partner, TGap Ventures and chairman of the GLEQ Board of Directors.
In the New Business Idea category, DeNovo Sciences, of Ypsilanti received the First Place Award of $5,000 and, ONL Therapeutics of Ann Arbor was awarded the Runner Up Award of $2,500. DeNovo Sciences is developing a microfluidic and imaging platform for early detection of metastatic cancer by isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells in blood. The award was accepted by Priyadarshini Gogoi, co-founder. Raili Kerppoli accepted the award for ONL, who has developed an ophthalmic pharmaceutical to prevent vision loss due to photoreceptor cell death. The New Business Idea awards were presented by Michelle Crumm, co-founder, Adaptive Materials, and member of the GLEQ Board of Directors. Adaptive Materials, an Ann Arbor-based portable fuel cell company, was the 2003 GLEQ Grand Prize winner.
The sixth annual Automation Alley Innovation Award for Advanced Manufacturing in the amount of $12,500 was presented to Chuck Salley CEO of NextCAT. Detroit-based NextCAT has developed catalyst technology that allows the use of low cost feedstocks for biodiesel fuel and simplifies the production process, with an estimated savings of up to $1.00 per gallon.
A first-time GLEQ GLITR Award was announced to honor the contribution made by the Great Lakes Innovation and Technology Report and it’s editor, Matt Roush, to Michigan’s entrepreneurial community. The winner of the GLEQ GLITR Award, Clean World Fuels, was selected from business summaries submitted in a two-day Business Plan Blitz and will receive airtime with Matt Roush on WWJ Newsradio 950. The winning plan was submitted by Matthew Vale, the company’s director of communications and operations. Macomb Township-based Clean World Fuels is developing a cooling system to create an efficient hydrogen-on-demand generator for diesel-fueled engines.
Greg George, GTI Advisors, was awarded GLEQ Coach of the Year . Greg coached three companies this cycle. Terry Duperon, one of his entrepreneurs, said that Greg?s work altered the course of his company?s launch and likely success.
Kenneth Faris, president of Battle Creek-based Twinzy Toys, was selected for the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award. His GLEQ coach Sandra Cochrane, MI-SBTDC Tech Team consultant, reported “I’m excited to see Ken receive the GLEQ Spirit of Entrepreneurship award. He demonstrates the entrepreneurial enthusiasm and commitment needed for success.”
The Angel Tax Credit and Next Step Fund honors were announced by Sam Hogg, president of Giftzip.com, a 2009 New Business Idea category winner, and director of venture development, NextEnergy. Twenty-three companies qualified through the GLEQ Business Plan Competition to offer prospective angel investors the opportunity to apply for the 2011 Small Business Investment Tax Credit. Sixteen of those companies are being reviewed by the Next Step Fund for loans up to $50,000.
GLEQ, now in its eleventh year of continuous operations, is a nonprofit educational program designed to accelerate the formation of high-growth companies in Michigan. GLEQ leverages a roster of volunteer business and investment experts to provide training, coaching and mentoring. Entrepreneurs in the business plan competition receive as many as four written critiques from members of the investor community.
The 2012 GLEQ Business Plan Competition opens for registration on Monday, August 22. Awards will be announced at ACE?12 in January 2012.
Additional information is available at GLEQ.Org
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