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Two teams from the University of New Brunswick impressed judges and spectators alike and took home the prizes at this year’s New Brunswick Innovation Foundation’s (NBIF) BREAKTHRU business plan competition.
The students who wrote the business plan for KnowCharge won the silver prize for their invention of a special conductive paper that, when used as an alternative to plastic based protective packaging, can eliminate the damage that static can cause during shipping. This new technology is a cost-comparative and environmentally sustainable alternative to plastic-based protective packaging.
Roughly 30% of all electronics produced failures are because of static discharge and costs the electronics industry over $80 billion per year. This new conductive paper could save electronic manufacturers millions of dollars. If proven successful in North America, this technology will surely be used around the world.
As the silver prize winner, KnowCharge Inc. received a $50,000 prize in equity investment from NBIF, as well as $10,000 in in-kind branding and marketing, legal, accounting, IT consulting, business mentoring, and website and hosting services.
Based in Fredericton, N.B., KnowCharge Inc. is lead by Chris Marshall, and MBA students Rob Morrow and Edgar Gallibois. The team was formed by UNB’s Activator Program, an initiative of the faculty of business administration and International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre (IBEC). The program is designed to help MBA students earn a concentration in entrepreneurship while getting experience working on real-life start up ventures. Students are matched with entrepreneurs looking to transform their ideas into a business reality.
In addition to the silver prize, KnowCharge Inc. shared the prize for best university venture with another UNB team, “Smart Skin”.
Using nanotechnology to detect and measure pressure, Smart Skin is an artificial touch-sensitive skin for prosthetic limbs. The super-thin film works with existing myoelectric control systems to provide control of touch, much like the skin of a real hand.
The Smart Skin team is made of up of MBA and Engineering students (Imran Khan, Irenia Roussel, Sabeer Zaman and Dr. Felipe Chibante), led by Kumaran Thillainadarajah. They received the $60,000 prize for best young entrepreneur as well as the prize for the most outstanding presentation and the viewer's choice award. The team travelled to Toronto in May to pitch their business plan on the set of CBC's Dragon's Den.
Because the team is sworn to secrecy regarding the outcome of their pitch, we'll have to wait until the show airs next fall to learn how they fared with the dragons!
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