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09 Dec 2014, 14:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: We are pleased to share our annual report. The 2013-14 academic...

We are pleased to share our annual report. The 2013-14 academic year was a remarkable year for the Polsky Center, characterized by numerous achievements of students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

Read more about our year in entrepreneurship and innovation!

To learn more about our curriculum and work within the entrepreneurial community, or to find out how you can help advance our programs, please contact Micheline Pergande, senior associate director of marketing at 773.702.7732.

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11 Dec 2014, 22:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Spotted in the January issue of @instylemagazine: @uchicago...

Spotted in the January issue of @instylemagazine: @uchicago #startup @fitnesscubed, on a list of 31 “little resolutions” that will make a big impact.

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16 Dec 2014, 13:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Guest Post: UChicago Team Wins Second Place at Undergraduate Venture Capital Competition

Today, we share a guest post from Clarissa Murra, a fourth year economics student in the College. In late November, Clarissa, along with her team of undergraduates participated in the third annual national Undergraduate Venture Capital Investment Competition (uVCIC). Read on to learn more about their experience!

Fourth year student Clarissa Murra (center) and the University of Chicago uVCIC team after placing second in the 2015 competition.

Recently, I traveled with four other University of Chicago students, as well as Jerry Huang, senior program director of entrepreneurship in the Career Advancement office, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to compete in the national Undergraduate Venture Capital Investment Competition.

The gist of the competition was for each university team to act as a venture capital firm (the organizers deemed our team ‘Firebird Capital’) and evaluate three startups in order to ultimately choose one to invest in. The competition took place on Saturday, November 22, lasting from the morning until late afternoon. Friday morning came, and the team grabbed an Uber to the airport. Within two hours, we had landed. After unpacking at the Springhill Suites Hotel, we had dinner at a Korean restaurant, where we exchanged stories and ideas for the next day. After a great meal and conversation, we headed back to the hotel, and immediately got to work. We situated ourselves into one of the conference rooms, and analyzed the three startup decks the organizers had emailed the night before. By the time we had finished due diligence research and analysis for Saturday, it was 3:30 in the morning, several emptied junk food containers laid on the table, and we were all ready for bed.

Saturday morning came and we drove over to the UNC campus around 7:30 a.m. After a quick Starbucks run, we joined the other teams, organizers, and judges in a large room to discuss the day’s schedule of events. Introductions were exchanged, and each team was shown their study room where they were to conduct their evaluations, due diligence, and more after each startup’s presentation.

Only two teams would face off in the final negotiation round. By 2 p.m., we were in the top two after being judged on our due diligence meetings with each of the startup’s management teams as well as valuations and final investment decision. The ultimate winner was based on the final negotiation round with the CEO of the startup. Our team ended up placing second, and each of the judges told us afterwards how close it had been, with just one vote determining the winner.

Ultimately, it was a fun, rewarding, and enriching experience that not only deepened friendships, but also my interest in venture capital.

Thanks for sharing your story, Clarissa!

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30 Dec 2014, 08:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Cybersecurity will be key to managing risk and reputation

Cybersecurity will be key to managing risk and reputation:
Increased connectivity in health care. Smoother deliveries in e-commerce. Wider interest in social-impact initiatives. Chicago-based innovators, entrepreneurs and technology leaders made those predictions and more as the big ideas of 2015.

Executive Director Ellen Rudnick weighs in on the topic of cybersecurity.

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06 Jan 2015, 13:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Caremerge Raises $4 Million To Expand Its Care Coordination Platform In Senior Health Care

Caremerge Raises $4 Million To Expand Its Care Coordination Platform In Senior Health Care: CHICAGO, Jan. 6, 2015 — Caremerge LLC, a revolutionary communication and care coordination platform for the senior care industry, announced today a $4 million first institutional financing …
Congrats to Asif Khan, ‘03, and the Caremerge team on their big announcement today.

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23 Jan 2015, 14:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Guest judges Kathleen Brandenberg, Mark King and Luke Westra...

Guest judges Kathleen Brandenberg, Mark King and Luke Westra from user design firm IA Collaborative share advice at the Polsky Center E2 Quick Pitch event on January 22, 2015.

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26 Jan 2015, 16:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Starr Marcello, COO of the Polsky Center, kicks off the first...

Starr Marcello, COO of the Polsky Center, kicks off the first session of the i-Corps Site Program Winter Cohort. We have nine fantastic teams in our program this quarter.

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26 Jan 2015, 16:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: 10 things you need to know about the world's water crisis

10 things you need to know about the world's water crisis: The Chicago Innovation Exchange, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Social Enterprise Initiative are co-hosting a very special screening of the award-winning new entrepreneurial documentary Slingshot. Come join us to watch a fantastic film and talk with like-minded innovators about Dean Kamen and the film. Popcorn and drinks will be provided! SlingShot (https://www.slingshotdoc.com/) focuses on inventor Dean Kamen and his work to solve the world’s safe water crisis. Iconoclast, Kamen, is a modern hero. His inventions, mostly medical devices, help people in need and ease suffering. There are several documentaries currently being produced about the world’s dire water challenges. SlingShot is a film about an indomitable man who just might have enough passion, will, and innovative thinking to create a solution for a crisis that affects billions. A quirky genius with a sharp wit and a provocative worldview, Kamen is our era’s Thomas Edison. He takes on the world’s grand challenges one invention at a time. Best known for his Segway Human Transporter, Kamen has reconceived kidney dialysis, engineered an electric wheelchair that can travel up stairs (the Ibot), reworked the heart stent, built portable insulin pumps, founded FIRST robotics to inspire young students, and on and on. Holder of over 440 patents, Kamen devotes himself to dreaming up products that improve people’s lives. For the last 15 years, he has relentlessly pursued an effective way to clean up the world’s water supply. Fifty percent of all human illness is the result of water borne pathogens. Dean Kamen has invented an energy efficient vapor compression distiller that can turn any unfit source of water (seawater, poisoned well water, river sludge, etc.) into potable, safe water without any need for chemical additives or filters. Kamen has nicknamed his device the SlingShot as in the David and Goliath story. In Kamen’s imagining, undeveloped countries are filled with little Davids, and just like the biblical slingshot and stone, the SlingShot device is the tiny piece of technology that is going to take down the gigantic Goliath of bad water.
1) Currently, more than 1 billion people have no access to safe water for personal requirements.2) 4,900 children under the age of 5 die per day due to water and sanitation problems.3) 30,000 people die every week from diseases caused by unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions.4) Women in water-stressed regions walk on average 3.5 miles everyday to get water to their homes.5) A five-minute shower in America uses more water than the average person in a slum in a developing country uses throughout an entire day.6) 1 in 9 people do not have access to an improved water source.7) In developing countries, dirty water is a greater threat to human safety than violent conflict.8) Dripping faucets in developed countries lose more water than is available each day to more than 1 billion people.9) By 2025, close to 3 billion people will live in water scarce regions of the world.10) Water and sanitation are some of the most powerful preventive medicines available to governments to reduce infectious disease.Join the Polsky Center and come watch Slingshot, the documentary, on Wednesday, Feb. 4th at the Chicago Innovation Exchange. Free event and popcorn will be served. Register: bit.ly/1Ct2quG

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28 Jan 2015, 14:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Should I Apply to a Startup Accelerator?

Should I Apply to a Startup Accelerator?: You’re in the early stages of building your start-up, and you’ve been hearing about accelerator programs. What’s the benefit of an accelerator? Is it worth the equity or the time? Should you be applying for one? How do you choose the right one? This event will address all of these questions and more, and prepare you as the applications open for Summer 2015 accelerator programs. You’ll get to meet leaders from different accelerator programs, connect with entrepreneurs who have been through accelerator programs in the past, and connect with your fellow entrepreneurs.
We are looking forward to talking to entrepreneurs about start-up accelerators on Tuesday, February 17th @Chicago Innovation Exchange.

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16 Mar 2015, 11:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Building entrepreneurship - Business School - Companies & Management Video - FT.com

Building entrepreneurship - Business School - Companies & Management Video - FT.com: There are several ways business schools can help an entrepreneur, Sunil Kumar, dean of Chicago Booth School of Business, tells FT Business Education Editor Della Bradshaw. The most important factor, he says, is the networking opportunities

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17 Mar 2015, 10:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: These Are The Top 20 US Accelerators

These Are The Top 20 US Accelerators: Exciting #SXSW
announcement: Polsky Center’s Edward L. Kaplan, ‘71, New Venture Challenge is
named #4 accelerator program in the U.S. according to research by Yael
Hochberg, Susan Cohen, and Dan Fehder of the annual Seed Accelerator Rankings
Project. #seedrank (seedrankings.com) read the coverage in TechCrunch: These
Are The Top 20 US Accelerators

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18 Mar 2015, 09:00

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Honored to announce the Edward L. Kaplan, ‘71 New Venture...

Honored to announce the Edward L. Kaplan, ‘71 New Venture Challenge was named a top 5 accelerator program in the US. Why? #ChicagoNVC alumni say the program offers “very strong mentorship, ecosystem and exposure to customers and potential investors.” Read more —> link in profile. @chicagobooth @uchicago

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26 Mar 2015, 10:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Reconnex Takes Top
Prize at Global New Venture Challenge Finals...

In first place, members of Reconnex receive their award

Coingo delivering their pitch to the audience

PSafeO presenting to the judges

3rd place winners, PSafeO, receive their certificates

2nd place winner: TBL Capital Management Reconnex Takes Top
Prize at Global New Venture Challenge Finals 2015
On Thursday, March 19, seven executive MBA finalist teams came
together to present their new business plans with the hopes of being named the
winner of the 2015 Global New Venture Challenge (GNVC). Traveling from very far
(as well as very near), the twenty-five executive MBA participants based out of
London, Singapore, and Chicago brought a fair dose of friendly competition to
each of the seven presentations. And with $20,000 of prize money on the table, each
team brought their A-games as well.
Differing from their full-time MBA counterparts that will
compete in the original New Venture Challenge (NVC) in May, these executive MBA
finalists are all current senior-level managers in their “real lives.” Accordingly,
in addition to balancing countless hours spent working on their GNVC business
plans with a full Booth class load, these students also have a full-time career
to maintain – a feat worth commending for each and every finalist.
The day kicked off with a few words of welcome and praise
from Dean Robert Gertner, followed promptly by the start of the first
presentation. Each team received 25 minutes to convince the panel of judges of
their business plan’s clarity and viability for real success outside the world
of academic hypothesis. And, as each of the teams learned very quickly, 25
minutes can be over before you know it.
The finalist teams in attendance were Coingo and MedicalOne
from Singapore; Meaning Engines from London; and MakeXchange, PSafeO, Reconnex,
and TBL Capital hailing from Chicago. And while all of the teams presented extremely
interesting business proposals to solve a wide range of problems, a few teams
stood out above the rest.
In third place, winning $3,000, PSafeO (standing for
“Personal Safety Circle”) presented an ingenious plan to help solve the
widespread problem of sexual crimes against women in developing countries,
specifically India. Next, in second place and winning $7,000, TBL Capital was
praised for their exciting and creative business idea of how to offer a more
efficient and profitable reverse mortgage.
And finally, taking home first place glory and $10,000 in
prize money was Reconnex, a business plan from the Chicago campus. Reconnex is
an app designed to engage university alumni with event programming, career
opportunities, and networking prospects, uniquely curated for every user based
on their location, schedules, professional interests and career paths. The GNVC
judges were hugely impressed with both the quality of the team’s presentation as
well as the extensive development of their business plan.
All in all, it was a full and exciting day for everyone
present. The judges kept the contestants on their toes by asking tough
questions, and each of the teams rose to the challenge.

And last but not least, the best of luck goes
out to PSafeO as they continue on to compete in the Social New Venture
Challenge later this spring!

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20 Apr 2015, 12:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Via @chicagobooth:
#ChicagoBooth #BusinessSchool #MBA #UChicago...

Via @chicagobooth:
#ChicagoBooth #BusinessSchool #MBA #UChicago #MBAProgram #Chicago #GradSchool
(#RepostWhiz app)

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23 Apr 2015, 13:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Spotlight On
ExplORer: From I-Corps to NVC and BeyondLast we...

Spotlight On
ExplORer: From I-Corps to NVC and Beyond
Last we spoke withDr. Alexander Langerman and the ExplORer team, they were wrapping up their
participation in the UChicago I-Corps SiteProgram, a Polsky-run program supported by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) that helps university scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs explore
whether their research and early-stage business ideas have commercial potential.
For the ExplORer team (consisting of Dr. Langerman, Dr.
Marko Rojnica, Jennifer Fried, Raza Jafri, Pranjal Bohara, and Sri Bodapati), their
experience in the UChicago I-Corps program as well as their award from the UChicago Innovation Fund
has helped turn their surgical app idea into a reality. The ExplORer system, which
is the flagship product of ExplORer Surgical, is the first-ever interactive
surgical workflow software that works to promote optimal teamwork and
communication within the operating room.
Inspired by their own experience in the operating room and
feedback from surgical colleagues across the country, the ExplORer team has
designed their app to help satisfy the pervasive need for having the right
tools at the right time in the operating room. Up until this point, there has
been a marked absence of transparent data and available information for
hospital staff that covers tools and tasks used in the OR. And this is what the
ExplORer system is built to solve.
When asked to discuss the moment they knew this business
solution was a good idea, the team responded that it happened with their very
first prototype trial. They elaborated, “one nurse told us ExplORer was like
having a ‘Garmin’ for the operating room.” The team has been thrilled by the
amount of positive experiential feedback they’ve received so far.
And their future just keeps getting brighter! Currently incubating
at the Chicago Innovation Exchange and hoping to advance to the Edward L. Kaplan, ‘71, New VentureChallenge finals this May,
ExplORer is eager to keep their strong momentum moving forward. They have a
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant pending as well as an
application to participate in NSF’s National I-Corps program. Additionally,
they are in the process of piloting their updated ExplORer software in several
ORs across various hospital systems in order to prove out and refine their
value proposition.
Stay tuned for more coverage on ExplORer as we continue to track
their progress and success in growing their venture.

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30 Apr 2015, 14:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Booth Earns Strong Finish at the Global Venture Capital...

Booth Earns Strong Finish at the Global Venture Capital Investment
Competition (VCIC)
Five current second-year students—Miguel
Arcinas, Brian Blaney, Kara Davey, Jennifer Fried, and Josh Rogers—led Booth to
the Global Venture Capital InvestmentCompetition (VCIC) finals for the
first time since 2011 over the weekend of April 9-11, 2015.
After winning the Energy Foundry VCIC at Chicago
Booth in January, and blowing away the competition at February’s Central Regional Finals in Austin, the Booth team spent three days competing
at the Global VCIC at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
In preparation for the Global competition, the Booth team spent weeks
honing their skills and meeting with experts in venture capital within the global
Booth network. In a span of three days at the Global VCIC, the Booth team
reviewed business plans and handled due diligence for six start-ups. Ultimately
they chose one, and negotiated their term sheet with the chosen entrepreneur.
Throughout the whole day they also faced tough questions from a judging panel
of 20 leading venture capitalists from around the world. The Booth team placed
in third at the Global VCIC, ultimately beating out teams representing over 60
of the top business schools in the world to make it to that point.
The Booth team’s top finish at
the Global competition showcases Chicago as a hotbed for new talent in the venture
industry. “The competition gives
students a unique opportunity to participate in the conversation between
start-ups and the VC community,” said Jason Blumberg, MBA ’05, CEO of Energy Foundry, the Chicago-based VC
fund that invests in energy innovators in the Midwest and title sponsor of the VCIC program at Booth.
“We’re extremely proud of the team’s performance this year, and to support a program
that fosters the kind of skillset that’s needed for future participants of both
the start-up and venture ecosystem in Chicago and beyond.”

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01 May 2015, 15:01

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FROM Booth Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship: Profile on Aluminate: Making Alumni Connections More...

Profile on Aluminate: Making Alumni Connections More Personalized Company Name: Aluminate (previously Reconnex)Industry: Social NetworkingYear Founded: 2015NVC Track & Year: GNVC 2015Team Members: Prem Iyer (CEO), Anthony Saladino (CFO), and
Paijat Sahaj (CTO)
The Global New Venture Challenge (GNVC) is an extension
of the Polsky Center’s Edward L. Kaplan,‘71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) business launch program, which is tailored to students
in Chicago
Booth’s Executive MBA program. An exciting aspect of the GNVC that sets it
apart from the other NVC tracks is its expansive reach across the world: the
GNVC boasts over 80 coaches, judges, panelists, and guest speakers to support
students on each of Chicago Booth’s Executive MBA program campuses: Chicago,
London, and Hong Kong (formerly Singapore).
Reconnex, which took home first
place at the 2015 GNVC Finals in May, already unveiled a new name—Aluminate.
Their business works to create better value within alumni networks by providing
users with personalized information delivered with the ease of a mobile phone app.
The Polsky Center checked in with Prem Iyer, CEO of Aluminate and graduate of
the Chicago Booth Executive MBA Program (XP-84), for an update on their
venture:
Polsky Center: Who is on your team and what
are your backgrounds?

Prem Iyer: “Parijat
Sahai leads our product development efforts. He has co-founded two startups,
was listed as Google’s top 1,000 Android developers worldwide, and has spent 15
years leading mobile application development teams. Anthony Saladino leads our
financial strategy. He was CFO of a division of Ryan Homes, has managed a $500
million P/L, was valedictorian at UVA, and holds his MBA from Booth. I have
been part of three startups, two of them SaaS, the last acquired by IBM, and my
current one being a Sequoia Capital/Salesforce.com portfolio company. I have
held channel and sales leadership roles in technology companies, and have been
in IT for 17 years.”PC: Where did you find the inspiration for
Aluminate?
Iyer: “Too often, I’ve traveled to a city where I knew a ton of people,
but didn’t have an opportunity to reach out to them. In addition, I found out
after I left, that other people I knew (who lived somewhere else) were in that
other city at the same time as me, and we missed the chance to reconnect. I
thought there had to be a better way of letting people I know and care about
(personally or professionally) find out where I was, besides e-mailing a huge
contact list every time I got on a plane.”PC: Who are you hoping to help or what
problem are you hoping to solve with Aluminate?
Iyer: “When deciding on an
initial target market, we realized: who is more interested in reconnecting with
their networks than alumni of business schools? Many [students], if not most,
came to build valuable networks, and part of that is staying in touch with each
other, especially in person. When speaking to the [Alumni Relations] directors,
we found that getting alumni engaged was a big challenge for them, as most
simply deleted emails and other communications from the school. A platform that
provides recommendations for other alumni to meet, only events that matter to an individual alum, and career
opportunities that match an individual’s career trajectory and desired
locations, is what [both the Alumni Relations department and individual alumni]
were looking for.”PC: What has been your most encouraging
moment so far?
Iyer: “Our most encouraging
moment was really a ‘period’ when the first 20+ schools we spoke to all
confirmed the need for our solution.”PC: How did your education at Chicago Booth
support you with developing your business?
Iyer: “Taking the Building theNew Venture class with ProfessorWaverly Deutsch was a huge
catalyst for us. While we had an ‘idea’ before the class, we had a much more
refined target market, business model, and value proposition after the class. Taking
that experience into the GNVC program made the GNVC even more valuable. GNVC
provided us further refinement of our concept, but also helped us shape the
message into a crisp pitch that got the attention of investors and people in the
industry.”Stay tuned for more updates on
Aluminate as they continue to forge ahead.

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