FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Six teams from the University of Arkansas have advanced to the graduate and undergraduate divisional finals of the 15th annual Donald W. Reynolds Collegiate Business Plan Competition.

The winners will be announced at the Governor’s Cup awards luncheon on Wednesday, April 22, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The winning teams in the graduate and undergraduate divisions will each win $25,000.

Additionally, an elevator pitch competition will be held live at the luncheon, in which luncheon attendees will use text messaging to select the winners in the undergraduate and graduate categories. The top graduate and undergraduate elevator pitch winners will each receive $2,000.

The U of A has won the graduate division at the Governor’s Cup 11 consecutive years, and placed the top three teams in the graduate division in four of the last five years. In 2014, LumaDrop, which developed a plan to commercialize an eye drop for macular degeneration, led the U of A sweep of the top three places in the graduate division.

This year, four teams – Baby Booster Supplements, BioBridge LLC, Kordate Solutions Inc. and M-Power – advanced to the finals of the graduate division. BioBridge also was named a finalist in the graduate innovation category, which carries a first-place prize of $5,000. Baby Booster is also being considered in an agriculture category, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate teams and carries a first-place prize of $5,000.

Baby Booster has developed a prenatal protein formula for women. BioBridge is creating an online marketplace that would connect researchers to suppliers of human biospecimens. Kordate Solutions is creating a pharmaceutical company that specializes in using a novel chemical to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. M-Power will sell solar window units in developing countries, with the Dominican Republic as its first market.

Two U of A teams — Conner Innovation and G.S.S.-Grow. Supply. Sustain.; made the finals of the undergraduate division competition, with Conner Innovation also competing for the $5,000 first-place prize in the innovation category. Also, two U of A undergraduate teams, Con Quesos and Hilltop Beer Co., are also being considered in the agriculture category.

Conner Innovation has developed a tool that cleans debris from clogged culverts and low water bridges. G.S.S.-Grow. Supply. Sustain. uses sustainable, hydroponic growing technology to supply the hospitality industry in Ethiopia with high commodity crops, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Con Quesos has created a concept for fast-casual taco fusion restaurant. Hilltop Beer is a craft brewing company focusing on college students and young professionals.Under the guidance of Carol Reeves, associate vice provost for entrepreneurship, the U of A has fielded competitive graduate student teams at state, regional, national, and international business plan competitions since 2002. During the past decade, students have won more than $2.3 million in cash at these competitions. 

“It is exciting to see entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas so well-represented at the Governor’s Cup,” Reeves said. “The awards ceremony is always a highlight for our teams and we hope our tradition of success will continue this year.”

Baby Booster has advanced to the finals of the InnovateHER Business Challenge, a nationwide competition for entrepreneurs to develop products and services to enhance the lives of women and their families. The 15 finalists will compete for the top three prizes on May 8 at Washington, D.C.

Baby Booster’s team includes:

• Jonathan Marshall, a master in business administration student in the Sam M. Walton College on Business
• Kyle Oschman, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Darren Quinn, an M.B.A. student in Walton College

BioBridge, which is creating an online marketplace that would connect researchers to suppliers of human biospecimens, finished third at the 2015 Brown-Forman Cardinal Challenge at the University of Louisville, winning $3,000.

BioBridge’s team includes:

• Dave Bellomy, an M.B.A. student in the Sam M. Walton College of Business
• Kristen Byrne, a doctoral student of poultry science in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
• Ben Dye, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Bryan Loyd, a master of accountancy student in Walton College
• Ariel Spencer, an M.B.A. student in Walton College

Kordate Solutions strives to create a pharmaceutical company that specializes in using a novel chemical to treat the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. The team formed around the research and intellectual property from the lab of Shannon Servoss, an associate professor of chemical engineering at the U of A.

Kordate Solutions’ team includes:

• Vincent Audo, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Kenny Bierman, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Rob Ekwerekwu, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Michael O’Brien, a master of accountancy student in Walton College
• Joseph Post, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Phillip Turner, a doctoral student of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering

M-Power will sell solar installations in developing countries, with the Dominican Republic as its first market.

M-Power’s team includes:

• Mirna Ordonez, a student in the Graduate Certificate of Entrepreneurship program in Walton College
• Amy Estes Turner, an M.B.A. student in Walton College
• Keaton Smith, an M.B.A. student in Walton College

Con Quesos has created a concept for fast-casual taco fusion restaurant.

Con Quesos’ team includes:

• Natalie Banister, an interior design student in the Fay Jones School of Architecture
• Amanda Burge, an interior design student in the Fay Jones School
• Omar Kasim, a business management student in the Walton College

Conner Innovation has developed a tool that cleans debris from clogged culverts and low water bridges. The team is comprised of four freshmen pre-medical students: Grant Connor, Olivia Deyer, Jack Guo and Thomas Lynch.

G.S.S.-Grow. Supply. Sustain. uses sustainable, hydroponic growing technology to supply the hospitality industry in Ethiopia with high commodity crops, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. G.S.S. took the $5,000 first-place prize at the Global Student Business Plan Competition in Jamaica in March.

G.S.S.’s team members are Danielle Dozier, a senior in horticulture, landscape and turf sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences; and Charles Muturi, a senior in international relations in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Hilltop Beer is a craft brewing company focusing on college students and young professionals, with a distributed “nano-brewery” growth model aimed at the Southeastern Conference university towns. Its team is comprised of Sam Brehm, a finance student in Walton College, and Zach Hixson, a civil engineering student in the College of Engineering.