Lobo Rainforest News
By STC, December 10, 2019
A group of entrepreneurially-minded faculty and students recently completed training through the University of New Mexico’s I-Corps site program. On November 25, 16 commercialization teams gave final presentations to program mentors, experienced entrepreneurs and investors, who gave the participants valuable feedback to help them take their inventions to the next level of development for funding, startup and licensing opportunities.
The University of New Mexico became an I-Corps (Innovation Corps) site in fall 2017 and has now completed its fifth cohort. The NSF-funded I-Corps program at the Lobo Rainforest Building is a partnership between STC.UNM and the Innovation Academy. The program is offered during the fall and spring semesters and is open to faculty and students at UNM and its branch campuses who want to learn how to commercialize their STEM-related technologies. Each team consists of a UNM faculty member, student, and business mentor.
The cohort of 16 teams met in September and completed the program’s 10-week entrepreneurial training course. Each team received $3,000 to develop their technologies, complete customer discovery, and develop a business model using the business model canvas. Two teams from AFRL-NM also participated in the National Labs Lobo Rainforest I-Corps program, funded by AFRL-NM and Sandia for teams from the national labs who want to participate in the UNM program. The fall 2019 teams worked on the following technologies:
- UNM Teams
- A blockchain-based alternative to your favorite social media
- An eco-friendly baby bottle that eliminates the hassle and stress of feeding on the go while preserving our planet
- A phone app to change the way business cards are utilized
- A protective, water-repellent coating that solves problems from excess moisture on surfaces
- A patch method to diagnose traumatic brain injury
- An assistive add-on device for white canes, that uses sensors and hap-tic feedback to provide a broader detection
- A hard-shelled cart that deploys for temporary shelter/ sleep.
- A proprietary photo booth software
- Palm-free soap and home goods that reduce the environmental impact of palm products
- A profiler device that is used to characterize the surface texture of different materials in various applications
- A passive, alert sensor patch for leaks
- A semi-autonomy system (robot) and infrastructure design
- An automated, e-commerce add-in to allow customers to create real-time design of products in an easy-to-use platform
- A self-cleaning filtration system for environmental monitoring
- Air Force Research Lab – New Mexico teams
- IoT-based Solution to Water Management in Rural Areas
- Toolbox of the Future for aircraft maintenance
To apply to participate in the Lobo Rainforest I-Corps program in spring 2020, complete the online application at http://loborainforest.com/icorps/.
By STC, December 3, 2019
Albuquerque – December 3, 2019. During an inspiring night at the Lobo Rainforest Building in downtown Albuquerque, five student entrepreneur teams went head to head and pitched their big ideas to an audience of business leaders, entrepreneurs and enthusiastic supporters.
The Comcast Pitch Deck Competition was co-hosted by STC.UNM and the UNM Innovation Academy, the University of New Mexico’s technology-transfer and economic-development organization and entrepreneurial studies program. Sponsored by Comcast and Nusenda Credit Union, the competition offered a platform for student entrepreneurs who want to start or are already operating an early-stage company to present and launch their innovations. Comcast provided a $20,000 prize pool for the five finalists who pitched their innovative ideas and early-stage companies to investor judges before an audience of more than 100 attendees.
The winners were:
- First Place $10,000 Prize: Erik Strobert, Chemical Engineering, UNM, Perspective Components Inc. – seamless integration of artificial intelligence and gimbal hardware to deliver the world’s smallest Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) camera system
- Second Place $5,000 Prize: Alissa Chavez, Communications, UNM, EasyFlo – eco-friendly baby bottle
- Third Place $2,500 Prize: George Boujaoude, Computer Science, UNM, Tomas Manzanares, Computer Science, UNM, and Christian Seely, Computer Science, UNM, Bitekast – podcast listening platform advancing the way we listen to podcasts
- Finalists $1,000 Prize each:
- Anna Kuuttila, Master of Business Administration, UNM, and Sara Kuuttila-Webbert, Liberal Arts, UNM, Smarter Starter – children’s educational products tailored for children ages 0-4
- Sam Crooks, Computer Science, UNM, Film Spots –online platform to scout and reserve film sites
“Partnering with STC.UNM and the Innovation Academy has been a fantastic experience. Our Comcast team is impressed by the talent and creativity showcased by these outstanding student entrepreneurs,” said Chris Dunkeson, Area Vice President, Comcast. “These students represent some of the best young talent in Albuquerque, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for them.”
STC CEO Lisa Kuuttila stated that the student finalists learned how to effectively plan a business model, how to attract investors, and how to market-test their business models to adapt to customers’ needs. They were able to also network with and receive coaching from successful entrepreneurs. “The preparation and coaching really helped them present with more confidence and professionalism. Pitching is not easy, so they did a terrific job!”
“The progress our students made was tremendous,” added Innovation Academy Executive Director Rob DelCampo. “While this isn’t the final step in their entrepreneurial education, it is certainly a great step in the right direction.”
About Comcast
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest high-speed internet, video, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services. It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed internet, phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Innovation Academy
The Innovation Academy is a mindset shared by the UNM Community that asks “how do we teach and learn best so that students are prepared for life beyond college?” Based on the Rainforest theory of a bottom-up approach to innovation, iA encourages different people and groups to come together to create. It is a cross-pollinating approach to finding solutions to problems and developing new ideas. It is based on the belief that solutions can be found when people with different backgrounds and skills come together to work on real problems and needs coming from companies and the community. This type of experiential, or hands-on, learning prepares students to be successful in careers and work places in the real world and deepen their core subject knowledge. Visit innovationacademy.unm.edu/ for more information.
About STC.UNM
As the technology-transfer and economic-development organization for the University of New Mexico (UNM), STC.UNM (STC) protects and commercializes technologies developed at UNM by filing patents and copyrights and transferring them to the marketplace. We connect the business community (companies, entrepreneurs and investors) to these UNM technologies for licensing opportunities and the creation of start-up companies. STC’s vision is to play a vital role in New Mexico’s economic development and to be a leader in technology commercialization. Under the leadership of CEO Lisa Kuuttila, STC is substantially growing its program using the Rainforest model to develop an innovation economy in New Mexico. Visit our website at www.stc.unm.edu.
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Media Contacts
Julianne Phares
julianne_phares@cable.comcast.com
505-218-0961
Denise Bissell
dbissell@stc.unm.edu
505-272-7310
Also see Kevin Robinson-Avila’s December 3, 2019 article, “Students win $20,000 in new ‘Pitch Deck’ competition,” from the Albuquerque Journal, reprinted below
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Students win $20,000 in new ‘Pitch Deck’ competition
By Kevin Robinson-Avila / Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019 at 2:04pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Five teams of University of New Mexico students shared $20,000 in cash prizes Monday night in a new “Pitch Deck” competition sponsored by Comcast and Nusenda Credit Union.
Students pitched about the progress they’ve made in building novel startup companies to three judges from venture capital firms at UNM’s Lobo Rainforest building at the Innovate ABQ research and development zone Downtown.
Perspective Components Inc. won the $10,000 first-place prize for proprietary gimbal hardware it built to improve the efficiency and quality of imaging systems on smartphones and cameras, which it will use to break into the security surveillance market. That company also won the $10,000 first-place prize in October’s “Balloon Pitch,” organized by the ABQid business accelerator.
Alissa Chavez, a UNM student who previously earned national attention for inventing a “Hot Seat” to alert adults about babies left in cars when she was just 14, won the $5,000 second-place award for her new “EasyFlo” baby bottle for parents on the go, which stores formula and water in a single bottle for quick, easy feeding.
A team of computer science students won $2,500 for a new platform they’re building to share chunks, or bites, of podcast presentations. Two others won $1,000 each for an online platform to scout and reserve film sites, and for an e-commerce business offering specialized educational materials for children under 4.
UNM’s Innovation Academy and the Science and Technology Corp., UNM’s tech-transfer office, will now make the event an annual competition that differs from their five-year-old, twice-annual Elevator Pitch.
The Pitch Deck requires extensive preparation for a deep, 10-minute dive into what a startup is offering, its business plan, financial projections, customer validation, and more, said Academy Director Rob DelCampo. The Elevator Pitch only offers lightning-fast presentations to promote a business idea.
“It’s a showcase for student startups to progress to the next level,” DelCampo said. “It’s an investment-style pitch to show whether a startup has something real to offer that could attract investors.”
It’s open to university students statewide, although 23 of the 25 participating teams came from UNM, including the five finalists, likely because the event is so new, DelCampo said.
UNM President Garnett S. Stokes called it a “next-level” competition to advance student entrepreneurship and training.
“These students are New Mexico’s new economic drivers,” Stokes told event participants. “Over the past three years, STC and Innovation Academy programs and events have helped students launch more than 60 startups.”
Comcast contributed the $20,000 in prize money, plus $5,000 for event-related costs. Nusenda also gave $5,000.
“As we look to the future, these student businesses will grow and become part of the economy bedrock,” Comcast Area Vice President Chris Dunkeson told the Journal. “We want to give young entrepreneurs a chance to show what they can do and help them move forward.”
By STC, December 6, 2019
In 2018, STC.UNM and the Innovation Academy received a grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support student and community entrepreneurs and provide training and technical assistance at all UNM campuses. The grant funds the New Mexico Rainforest EDA University Center, a training program in the fundamentals of entrepreneurship for students and community members at all UNM campuses around the state.
Over the past year, the program has produced 12 seminars that are now available for viewing online at the University Center website. The posted seminars, presentation slides and additional materials are available free to anyone who wants to learn the basic ins and outs of creating and growing a business in New Mexico.
The seminars are presented at UNM’s main and branch campuses and are taught by site mentors and other community professionals who are experienced entrepreneurs and investors. Participants have the option to attend in person or remotely via live webstream. Best of all, the seminars are then posted to the website for anyone to view again or for the first time. Additionally, the site mentors provide follow-up services through individual mentoring and connecting participants to resources that will help them to reach their goal of starting or growing a new business.
The posted seminars also include an online assessment that viewers can take if they want to receive class credit towards their degree or want to receive credit towards a Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Below is a list of the seminars now available for viewing on the website:
- “Business Idea Generation”
- “Pitching and Presenting Your Idea!”
- “Market Analysis”
- “Business Model Canvas”
- “Collaborative Problem Solving Through Design Thinking”
- “Networking and Business Development”
- “Pathways to Success—Small Business Ownership”
- “UNM-Gallup University Center Info Session and Meet a Mentor”
- “Sustainable eCommerce Business for Students”
- “How to Write, Practice and Record Your Pitch”
- “Selling Without a Store”
- “Taxes and Business Startups”
The next seminar will held at UNM Taos on December 9, 2019 and cover “Strategic Networking: Maximizing Your Connections to Grow Your New Business.” Registration is available at https://strategicnetworkingnm.eventbrite.com.
Students and community members also have access to a series of courses based on an eCommerce platform designed to help establish a digital presence by creating websites for their new and growing businesses. The Create.Sell.Bank series of introductory and next-level courses are available in the fall and spring for undergraduate and graduate credit or credit towards the certificate.
A new community-focused, 16-week program, the “e-commerce Rainforest” will launch in January 2020. Participants will experience a variety of innovation based e-commerce processes for building a business online. The program is open to anyone for $47. Registration will be available at NMRainforest.com.
“The EDA funding has allowed us to spread the Rainforest program for developing innovation and economic ecosystems across the state to boost regional economic development,” said STC CEO Lisa Kuuttila. “In just its first year of operation, the New Mexico Rainforest University Center Program has created strong rural-urban linkages and collaborations with our Native American and Hispanic rural communities, areas of focus that are especially relevant for New Mexico. We anticipate even greater growth moving forward!”
For more information about the New Mexico Rainforest University Center Program, contact Cecilia Pacheco at cpacheco@stc.unm.edu.
Albuquerque – November 25, 2019 – On December 2, New Mexico’s university students will have a new opportunity to compete for prize money to fund their early-stage, promising business ventures.
STC.UNM and the UNM Innovation Academy will co-host the Comcast Pitch Deck Competition. This year, Comcast and Nusenda Credit Union will sponsor this platform for student entrepreneurs to showcase their innovations and hone their pitching skills in front of investors. The $20,000 prize pool, funded by Comcast, will be awarded to the five best individual or team presentations: Student entrepreneurs will compete for a $10,000 first place award, a $5,000 second place award, a $2,500 third place award, and $1,000 each for fourth and fifth place.
“We’re proud to power the dreams of these dynamic student entrepreneurs to help them grow and launch their businesses,” said Chris Dunkeson, Area Vice President, Comcast. “These students represent some of the best young talent in Albuquerque, and we feel confident that our investment will return dividends for our local community.”
“STC and the Innovation Academy are thrilled to be partnering with our community sponsor Comcast for this event,” said STC CEO Lisa Kuuttila. “This is a wonderful experiential learning experience for new and current student entrepreneurs from not only UNM and its branch campuses but for students at all New Mexico colleges and universities. The Comcast Pitch Deck Competition allows us to take our entrepreneurial training programs to the next level and we are very grateful to Comcast for their generous support in helping us to achieve this goal.”
Innovation Academy Executive Director Rob DelCampo added: “This contest meets a critical milestone for our student entrepreneurs. The opportunity to do an investment-style pitch in this setting really complements the other educational opportunities we already offer.”
Pitch deck competitions go further than the typical elevator pitch by including visual representations and summaries for a new company, business plan or startup vision. The goals of a pitch deck are to spark interest from potential investors, meet investors and give entrepreneurs more experience presenting to large audiences. Judges look for quality of message delivery through non-verbal cues, (voice, eye contact, gestures, movement) and persuasive and creative content which “connects all the dots” toward commercialization.
The student finalists recently submitted five-minute videos, and their preliminary slides for review by the judges. Finalists have access to resources and coaching to help them prepare for the final, live round on Dec. 2. The five finalists competing in the finals are:
- George Boujaoude, Computer Science, UNM, Tomas Manzanares, UNM Computer Science and Christian Seely, Computer Science, Bitekast – A podcast listening platform advancing the way we listen to podcasts.
- Alissa Chavez, Communications, UNM, EasyFlo – An eco-friendly Baby Bottle
- Sam Crooks, Computer Science, UNM, Film Spots – Online platform to scout and reserve film sites.
- Anna Kuuttila, Master of Business Administration, UNM and Sara Kuuttila-Webbert, Liberal Arts, UNM, Smarter Starter – Children’s educational products tailored for children ages 0-4
- Erik Strobert, Chemical Engineering, UNM, Perspective Components Inc. – Seamless integration of artificial intelligence and gimbal hardware to deliver perfect recordings.
The event is free and starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Lobo Rainforest Building. Community members, family, friends and supporters are invited to attend the final round. The five finalists will present 10-minute pitch decks to investor judges with five additional minutes of Q&A. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served. To register your attendance go to ComcastPitch.Eventbrite.Com.
About Comcast
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest high-speed internet, video, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services. It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed internet, phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Innovation Academy
The Innovation Academy is a mindset shared by the UNM Community that asks “how do we teach and learn best so that students are prepared for life beyond college?” Based on the Rainforest theory of a bottom-up approach to innovation, iA encourages different people and groups to come together to create. It is a cross-pollinating approach to finding solutions to problems and developing new ideas. It is based on the belief that solutions can be found when people with different backgrounds and skills come together to work on real problems and needs coming from companies and the community. This type of experiential, or hands-on, learning prepares students to be successful in careers and work places in the real world and deepen their core subject knowledge. Visit innovationacademy.unm.edu/ for more information.
About STC.UNM
As the technology-transfer and economic-development organization for the University of New Mexico (UNM), STC.UNM (STC) protects and commercializes technologies developed at UNM by filing patents and copyrights and transferring them to the marketplace. We connect the business community (companies, entrepreneurs and investors) to these UNM technologies for licensing opportunities and the creation of start-up companies. STC’s vision is to play a vital role in New Mexico’s economic development and to be a leader in technology commercialization. Under the leadership of CEO Lisa Kuuttila, STC is substantially growing its program using the Rainforest model to develop an innovation economy in New Mexico. Visit our website at www.stc.unm.edu.
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Media Contacts
Julianne Phares
julianne_phares@cable.comcast.com
505-218-0961
Denise Bissell
505-272-7310