Asper students earn $10K in 500-second limo ride

Business undergrads steal competition in Indiana

VERONICA CARR STAFF

The Nascent 500 Business Plan Challenge, hosted by Ball State’s Entrepreneurship Center, was won by two of U of M’s own Asper School of Business students, Julian Klymochko and Lindsey Redding.

With only 500 seconds in a limousine travelling around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on March 23, the undergraduates had to pitch their business plan and win over a panel of venture capitalists.

“It was definitely more fun than nerve-wraking. We had already done similar competitions earlier in the year so we knew our pitch inside and out. The fact that it was in the back of a limo was a fun twist,” commented Redding. “I’m completely elated with the whole experience.”

“The venue was so exciting and although the limousine pitch was new, the idea was similar and we were of course very happy with winning,” remarks Klymochko.

With the limo pitch, the final round of the competition also included a formal presentation, a Q & A and another 500-second pitch in the speedway’s pit.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the second-oldest surviving automobile racing track in the world, having being built in 1909.

With 11 other teams from all over America, Klymochko and Redding were ecstatic in their triumph. Their prize included $10,000, a quart of milk, trophies, and a 100-mph victory lap in the Indy 500 pace car.

Klymochko and Redding pitched a new technology product called Nutralease. The product is drug delivery technology designed to improve the solubility of certain drugs in the body.

The students presented as Effiventa Corp., a company they co-founded last term with other students in a course with professor and executive director of the Asper Centre for Entrepreneurship Robert Warren.

The course involves real entrepreneurial initiatives where students create business plans and build a company around a technology created by researchers and developers.

“I think for those students who are interested in entrepreneurship or are interested in getting into the commerce faculty, this program has been so unique and is something not everyone has the opportunity to do with their education. If you can get on board with this class or into some of these competitions it’s so beneficial and worth it,” said Redding.

Klymochko and Redding have also won the Northwest Venture Championship business plan competition in Boise, Idaho, the New Ventures World Competition in Lincoln, Nebraska and came in third at the Enterprise 2007 competition in Vancouver, B.C..