Thursday, May 1, 2008

Rhode Island biz plan competition names finalists

Six entrepreneurs have been chosen as finalists in the 2008 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

Three winners, one each from the entrepreneur, student and high school tracks, will be announced May 6 during the Business Expo at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. The entrepreneur and student winners will share $170,000 in prizes, while a winner in a new high school track, introduced this year, will receive $1,000.

The following are finalists in the entrepreneur track:

• MissingPatient.com, Timothy Holmgren, Westerly -- Information sharing system to find missing persons with a website and a call center;
• Vitrimark, Arijit Bose, Providence -- Imaging company using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy to identify early stages of prostate and breast cancer to help drug developers make early decisions on new drugs;
• Replicator, Joseph Flaherty, Watertown -- Combines web-based design tools and custom manufacturing technology to make costume jewelry for teenage girls.

The following are finalists in the student track:

• CHMR Solutions, Colin Keogh, Brown University -- Service-based company removes heavy metals from brownfield sites;
• Digital Wingman, Jake Powers, Brown -- Integrates 3-D, high-definition floor plans with e-commerce to create personalized, scaled renderings of living spaces or workspaces;
• Siren Medical, Mark Drew, Rhode Island School of Design -- Created a low-cost technology for preserving living human tissue.