March-April 2005

Finalists Picked for 7th Annual
UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition

Seven teams have been announced as the finalists of the 2005 UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition. They will be competing for over $50,000 in prizes when they present before a panel of senior venture capitalists at the end of April. Their public presentation and the announcement of winners will be hosted by the UC Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum on Thursday, April 28, in Andersen Auditorium at the Haas School.

Selected after two rounds of judging from among sixty-six original entrants, the finalists developed business plans based on concepts that ranged from MEMS and solar technology to a drug delivery system and a fair trade retail venture.

In addition to the $25,000 Grand Prize, four of the seven teams, Harmonic Devices, Helios, PrismVideo and Telegraph Systems, are eligible for the Technology Prize, given to the team with the best technology developed at UC Berkeley. The Technology Prize carries a $7,500 award.

Vote for Your Choice!

All teams are also eligible to win The People’s Choice award. Voted at the end of the public presentation segment of the program to the team that the audience thinks most likely to succeed, The People’s Choice Award carries a $5000 prize.

All winners, including The People's Choice, will be presented that evening. The Bay Area entrepreneurial community is encouraged to participate in this special evening that will introduce the top new ventures to come out of Cal.

The Finalists

Harmonic Devices uses micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) devices to improve wireless communication devices. This technology is based on research at Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center.

Helios is an energy technology company established to commercialize break-through solar cell technology developed and patented by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California.

Mujisan Pharmaceuticals is an advanced drug delivery company based on a proprietary drug polymer technology, PolyRx, a sustained-release formulation that forms polymers using individual drug molecules that increases safety and allows greater drug load, and time-controlled release.

Plunar provides customizable collaboration software accessible through the Internet where everyone has access to all relevant information all the time, and the right people have control over it and can adapt it to the unique demands of each team.

PRISMVIDEO Inc. uses a new video compression and transmission technology to give new mobile video applications better performance and cost savings. Based on five years of core research performed at the University of California, Berkeley.

Telegraph Systems is the provider of Xtreme DB, which enables enterprise customers to perform dynamic, complex analytics over live streaming data in order to make real-time decisions. .

World of Good, also a Global Social Venture Competition finalist, distributes globally sourced, fair trade gifts and accessories brings ethically sourced handcrafts that generate sustainable livelihoods for thousands of artisans around the world.

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