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Winners of the 2008 G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition

April 18, 2008

AWARDS

1st place ($10,000) – Sky Vegetables
2nd place ($7,000) – Parallel Kingdom
3rd place ($4,000) – NxtMile
4th place ($1,000) – ProactiCare

NEW $1,000 Nelson Institute Green Entrepreneurial Venture Recognition – Drive Alternatives

Mini Prize for short business plan entry ($250) - Parallel Kingdom (decided by an independent panel)

SUMMARIES

Sky Vegetables

Sky Vegetables plans to construct and operate commercial, soilless hydroponic greenhouses on the rooftops of supermarkets in the United States. A separate entity from the supermarkets, the company would cultivate vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers year round to transport to the stores for retail sale. The lack of necessary transportation, packaging or storage costs provides Sky Vegetables with a competitive advantage. The company intends to reach its break-even point within 20 months.

Members: Keith Agoada (Senior, Marketing) and Troy Vosseller (JD/MBA)

Parallel Kingdom

Parallel Kingdom is a massive multiplayer online role playing game available on the Google Android mobile phone. The company has the competitive advantage of being first-to-market with a massive multiplayer role playing game for the mobile environment that utilizes the Global Positioning System to allow the player to physically interact with the surrounding virtual world.

Members: Chris Meyer (Senior, ME) and Gene Shiau (Senior, ME)

NxtMile, LLC

NxtMile, LLC is an early-stage company founded in August 2007 by two Wisconsin MBA students. The company is developing a line of running shoes engineered to meet the specific biomechanical need of over-40 and experienced runners. The firm’s shoes will feature a customized, long-lasting orthopedic insole integrated into a replaceable, customized outer shoe. The company intends to have a competitive advantage as the first running shoe manufacturer to provide full mass-customization with a sole focus on the over- 40 and experienced runner market segment. The company is seeking $500,000 in seed capital to complete R&D, produce prototype footwear and begin marketing.

Members: Michael Miller (MBA, Entrepreneurship) and Sean Ebert (MBA, Entrepreneurship)

ProactiCare LLC

ProactiCare LLC was founded in 2004 by two engineers, a geriatric physician and a nursing home administrator. The company developed the patent-pending patient monitoring system, the CareMetric System, to assure proper care is provided to at-risk nursing home patients. The system is a mattress pad imbedded with sensors which transmit data to the ProactiCare’s Data Center to provide care alerts to nurses and facility administrators. The company is seeking financing to cover operating costs with a projected positive cash flow by the 4th quarter of 2009.

Members: Tyler Leeper (MBA)

DriveAlternatives.com

DriveAlternatives.com is a marketing Web site for vehicles using green technology, combining user-generated data and mashup technology. The company seeks to capture the expanding market for alternative fuel autos by providing users with a fuel station database and recommendations from over 100 models of green vehicles based on fuel availability and driving preferences. The Web site will also provide automotive advertisers with a highly targeted niche audience. The company seeks $14,233 in funding before the June 2008 launch date.

Members: Kavi Turnball (MBA, Entrepreneurship)