DEERFIELD, Illinois

The creation, care and nurturing of academic startups is a high profile aspect of what technology transfer offices do. The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), highlighted this important aspect of the profession by hosting two business plan competitions during the AUTM Ventusdre Forum held during the AUTM 2012 Annual Meeting, March 14 – 17 in Anaheim, Calif.

The business plan competitions focused on two distinct areas–IT/physical sciences and life sciences.

There were four IT/Physical Sciences Business Plan Competition finalists and four Life Sciences Business Plan Competition finalists. All finalists represented companies based on university technologies. The companies competed before a panel of venture capitalists for two $10,000 prizes—one in each area. All finalists received valuable feedback from the panel that will help them develop and grow their companies. Thermal Conservation Technologies (TCT) won the IT/physical sciences prize. TCT is an early stage company committed to energy preservation and sustainability through the utilization of high-performance vacuum insulation. The first product by TCT is Klimate Kontrol, a patented technology, which presents novel improvements for more reliable and efficient cooling in cold chain transportation exclusively licensed from University of Illinois at Chicago.

Vigilant Biosciences Inc. (VigilantBIO) took home the $10,000 prize in the life sciences category. VigilantBIO is developing innovative products to enable early intervention to improve health and modify potentially adverse health outcomes. The company’s initial focus is on the development of a low-cost, easy-to-use and selective adjunctive screening test for oral cancer based on technology exclusively licensed from the University of Miami. More information about VigilantBIO may be found at www.vigilantbiosciences.com.

“We were very pleased with the quality of companies represented in this year’s competition and we hope to expand the Venture Pitch Competition in years to come” says Alan Bentley, AUTM Vice President for Annual Meeting. “The AUTM Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of academic technology commercialization professionals under one roof, and is a unique opportunity for venture capitalists to access the latest academic breakthroughs ripe for investment” adds Bentley.

The Venture Pitch Competition will be offered again next year, at the AUTM 2013 Annual Meeting.

Feb. 27 – March 2, San Antonio, Texas.

For more information or to arrange an interview with AUTM, contact Jodi Talley at +1-847-559-0846 or jtalley@autm.net.