Rock Chalk startup: KU offers pitch contest for students, faculty
September 28, 2015 | Ashley Jost
The University of Kansas is gearing up for a new pitch competition set for Oct. 7.
The inaugural ‘Celebration of Innovation: A Startup Showcase‘ will feature 10-minute pitches from six KU faculty-led startup companies and five that are student-created.
The student startups will be ranked by a team of judges, and the company that clinches the No. 1 spot will pitch alongside the 2015 Pipeline fellows at the Pipeline Innovator of the Year celebration in January. Based in Kansas City, Pipeline is a regional organization that works to build entrepreneurs through an annual fellowship program.
The event starts at 1 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Bioscience and Technology Business Center on KU’s west campus.
In addition to pitches, guests can attend a panel discussion at 1:45 p.m. on technology acquisition. The panel includes Dave Baloga, director of research at Hill’s Pet, Brett Leeth, managing director for innovation and corporate development for Koch Industries and Robert Zolynas, vice president for research and development at Bayer Healthcare.
Pitches start at 3:15 p.m., and students will be judged on delivery and business opportunity. At 5 p.m., the day wraps up with a networking reception presented by KU and BIOKansas. During the reception, the annual Baxendale Innovation Award that’s presented to a faculty member who made an outstanding contribution to the commercial industry, will be announced.
“The University of Kansas continues to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset among our faculty so that they’re always thinking about starting companies or translating their discoveries into new products that change the world,” Julie Nagel, interim president of KU Innovation & Collaboration and interim associate vice chancellor for innovation & entrepreneurship, said in a news release.. “This event is a great opportunity to see KU startup companies commercializing the latest life science, medical device and cutting-edge technologies generated as a result of over $250 million in research conducted annually at KU.”
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