Finalists Selected to Advance to the 2019 Alumni New Venture Challenge

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is pleased to announce the eight teams advancing to the first-ever finals of the Alumni New Venture Challenge (ANVC), the newest track of its nationally-ranked Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge. The ANVC is a global program dedicated to supporting all University of Chicago alumni who are in the process of launching and developing their startup ventures. Of the teams advancing to the ANVC Finals, six teams include graduates of Chicago Booth, three teams include graduates of the College, and one team is lead by a graduate from a non-Booth master’s program.

Of the teams advancing to the finals, one team will represent the Europe, Asia, and the East Coast regions. Two teams will represent the West Coast region, and three teams were selected to advance from the Midwest region. During the various regional semifinals, teams pitched their business plans to panels of distinguished judges and venture capital. All advancing teams will meet in Chicago on May 2 for the ANVC Finals.

The 2019 finalists are:

Asia
Duuno // Duuno is a research-based, online platform that teaches foreign languages to children 1 to 12 years of age using the Duuno Method (short-duration, high-frequency, 1-on-1 lessons with native speakers.

Europe
Taplingua //Taplingua enables hotels to train their frontline workers in foreign language skills via their phone, helping them increase customer satisfaction, revenues, and efficiency while reducing training costs.

East Coast
Cibus Health // Cibus Health provides medically-tailored meals through an aggregator platform, supporting health and recovery.

Midwest
Vroom Delivery // Vroom Delivery is the first e-commerce platform designed for the $237B convenience store (c-store) industry. Vroom’s unique model allows stores to deliver all of their products, including regulated items such as alcohol and tobacco.

SimBioSys //SimBioSys empowers comprehensive precision medicine in Cancer Care through its computational medicine platform to improve patient outcomes and eliminate cost of ineffective treatments. SimBioSys TumorScope is its cloud-based modeling application that allows physicians to create a personalized virtual 3D tumor for a patient and assess the efficacy of treatment regimens via simulations.

Care Advisors // Care Advisors helps hospitals get paid more from the government through their Medicaid enrollment software which automates the manual process of enrolling patients in Medicaid.

West Coast
Begin //Begin is a premium, organic direct-to-consumer business for infant and toddler formula.

Den Living // Den Living builds beautiful, human-focused living-spaces that make city dwelling more affordable and humane. The first product is a full-size private bedroom that allows roommates to share rent without sacrificing privacy. This modular room can be added within a dwelling in 3 hours, and rented like furniture at a monthly price comparable to a cell phone plan.

Since 1996, the Polsky Center has helped launch more than 230 startup companies still in operation today that have gone on to raise more than $915 million in funding and more than $13 billion in exits through its NVC program. Grubhub, Braintree/Venmo, and Simple Mills are examples of three national brands that got their successful start through the NVC.

Registration is now open to attend the 2019 ANVC Finals. >>

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