Claflin University’s Second Entrepreneurship Business Competition Set for Monday, February 9
Feb 05, 2015
Innovative ideas for health care, the arts, business and more will be presented during the 2015 Entrepreneurship Business Competition next week at Claflin University.
The competition begins at 5 p.m. Monday, February 9, in the Grace Thomas Kennedy Auditorium. There, five interdisciplinary teams of Claflin undergraduate students will have 15 minutes to share their detailed, well-researched business plans before a panel of judges, who will select how the teams will share in monetary prizes totaling $10,000 in a contest that loosely resembles the popular ABC television show “Shark Tank.”
“The competition’s purpose is to promote student ideas and new venture creation in the areas of business and science,” said Dr. Robin Davis, director of Claflin’s Center for Entrepreneurship and assistant professor of management in the University’s School of Business. “Each team has been mentored throughout this process and received assistance in developing their plans.
“The students have worked intensely over the past six months, and are excited and ready to present their ideas to the public.”
The five teams competing in Claflin’s second Entrepreneurship Business Competition are:
- 1.ICHI.GO (translation application software) by Qirat Abdullah, Pradip Khanal and Asfar Rashid
- GLUC Alert (blood glucose monitoring alert device) by Helen Bryant, Myrtle Bryant and Hema Patel
- ZIP (full service membership intermediary) by William Ndukwe and Clayton Sparrow
- Live Chair (Bluetooth application for barbershops) by Maame Addo, Michael DeVore, Brandolyn Mack and Caitlyn Marsh
- Prolific (artistic entrepreneurship center) by Erica Baker, Andre Dawkins, Calista Phair and Daniel Simmons
In addition to sharing in prizes ranging from $300 for fifth place to $5,000 for first place, the top three teams will have the opportunity to compete in regional business competitions in Atlanta, Ga., and Charlotte, N.C.
Emcee for the evening will be Tony “Gee” Green of WFMV 95.3 FM. Competition judges will be Nathaniel Barber, senior vice president for South State Bank; Kaaren Hammond, chief executive officer of KaaPri Enterprises, a marketing and public relations firm in Camden; Tammy Tyler, owner of the retail clothing store Sizeview in Orangeburg; and R. Gregg White, South Carolina deputy director for the United States Small Business Administration. Special guest will be Amy Love, director of innovation at the South Carolina Department of Commerce.
For more information about Claflin's Entrepreneurship Business Competition, contact Davis at 803-535-5685 or rodavis@claflin.edu.