ParadigMed Ties for Second in Global Business Plan Competition

Photo Submitted

Steven Kayode (left) of ParadigMed is congratulated by LES Foundation Secretary Peter Ross (center). Also pictured is Antonio Gentile of Italy's Universita del Salento, which tied with ParadigMed for second place.

A team from the University of Arkansas that seeks to reduce the spread of heterosexual HIV transmission tied for second at the 2013 LES Foundation International Graduate Student Business Plan Competition, held in Seattle.

ParadigMed, one of six finalists in the competition, won the Global Award and $5,000 for its plan for Circumex, a patent-pending adult male circumcision device that offers a cost-effective, disposable, non-surgical alternative to current circumcision methods and can be used in an outpatient setting. Circumex addresses challenges associated with reducing the heterosexual transmission rate of HIV globally, primarily in Africa.

The Global Award is presented annually to the team whose plan best deals with intellectual property rights and their use in the global business environment.

Stephen Kayode and Tara Mink, both in the executive MBA program in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, founded ParadigMed in the New Venture Development graduate course taught by Carol Reeves, associate vice provost for entrepreneurship at the U of A. Reeves holds the Cecil and Gwendolyn Cupp Applied Professorship in Entrepreneurship in the Walton College.

The LES competition, in its 10^th year, focuses on business plans that not only hinge on groundbreaking technologies and services, but that also emphasize intellectual property strategies that support business goals. The LES Foundation, a foundation of the Licensing Executives Society Inc., received nearly 60 business plan submissions from throughout the United States and Canada, as well as from Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand.

ParadigMed advanced to the finals at two other competitions this year: the Spirit of Enterprise Graduate Business Competition at the University of Cincinnati and the IBK Capital-Ivey Business Plan Competition at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.