2015 Competition

Judges Tap Spinal Singularity for First Prize in Knapp Venture Competition

The 34th annual Knapp Venture Competition rewarded medical device startup Spinal Singularity with first prize of $15,000 for its product Connected Catheter. The teamwork of Derek Herrera (EMBA ’15), Zach McKinney (Ph.D., biomedical engineering ’15), Beth Johnson (EMBA ’15) and Chandrashekar Hariharan (EMBA ’15) paid off as they accepted the prize from Bud and Betsy Knapp, who endowed the competition in 1997 to secure it as an Anderson tradition.

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2015 Winners

First Place

Spinal Singularity

$15,000

TEAM: Derek Herrera, EMBA '15; Zach McKinney PhD Biomedical Engineering '15; Beth Johnson, EMBA '15; Chandrashekar Hariharan, EMBA '15

We design connected medical devices to improve the quality of life for people dealing with Spinal Cord Injury and Disease (SCI/D). Spinal Singularity leverages unique combinations of existing technologies to create an exponential impact on the lives of the people we serve.

Second Place & People's Choice

Rankmi

$7,000 + $2,000

TEAM: Enrique Besa '16; Roberto Moldes '16; Olivia Valdés

Rankmi is a web-based app that allows companies to assess, analyze and develop their employees' skills, performance and engagement. We want to transform HR by bringing talent management practices to the cloud, in an affordable and accessible solution to companies of all sizes in the Latin American market.

Third Place (tie)

For Luxe and Love

$3,000

TEAM: Adriana Delor '15; Ankin Laysha '16; Rachael Byers

A jewelry experience company with minimum commitment and maximum customization. For Luxe and Love allows women access to a temporary ownership of high-quality jewelry basics, and the option to customize upon purchase, in the under-served $400-2000 retail price jewelry subscription/rental market.

Third Place (tie)

FundOpp Capital Inc.

$3,000

TEAM: Fark Tari '15; Ilya Tokhner; Ross Reagen

FundOpp is an online investment platform for vetted, alternative investment. It connects accredited investors with previously inaccessible asset classes. The company's beachhead market will be in commercial real estate.

Fourth Place

Swift Analytics

$2,000

TEAM: Margaret Wei, MD/MBA '16; Ronald Tong '16; Matthew Inouye '16; Rustann Solomero '16; Brian Ouyang '16; Bianca Gonzalez, PhD Neuroscience 2015

Swift Analytics is a smart watch mobile application for monitoring Parkinson's Disease symptoms and tracking medication compliance. The application will allow physicians to better target interventions while decreasing Parkinson's disease related costs.