Smart solutions for home, wealth and health sweep Business Plan Competition

Pullman, Wash. - Intelligent technology to enhance the staples of life - personal wealth, health care, recreation, food and a healthy environment - were the top business ventures recognized at Washington State University's 23rd annual Business Plan Competition Thursday, April 30.

WSU College League team, Opulence AI, won the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories $10,000 grand prize.

Opulence AI, created by Carson College of Business entrepreneurship student Aidan Finnegan and co-founders Ben Swanzey and Royse Cozzens, is an artificial intelligence system enabling residential contractors to streamline every stage of building a home.

The WSU Center for Entrepreneurship (CfE) hosted the competition, where 120 venture teams from WSU, other universities, and Washington state high schools competed in three different leagues, vying for cash and in-kind prizes totaling more than $50,000.

Business ideas included intelligence platforms that analyze personal finance decisions for optimum wealth building, help health care providers detect patients at risk for addiction, and support millennial women to grow their creative side through crafting. Other ideas included an intelligent device that returns golf putts, a sandwich shop with rotating global cuisine, a sustainable use for invasive starfish that benefits the aquarium industry, a sports photography business and a medical rewarming system extending viability of donated organs from mere hours to years.

The competition provides experiential learning that helps students build practical skills - confidence, collaboration and strategic thinking - that prepare them for careers, venture launch and life beyond WSU.

Teams were evaluated on presentation, ability to solve a customer problem, value proposition, market opportunity, competitive advantages, go-to-market strategy, financials and investment analysis. The teams were also evaluated on the merit of their ideas and business plans.

"Our teams represent a remarkable cross section of majors and interests from across the university," said Marie Mayes, CfE interim director. "The competition provides experiential learning that helps students build practical skills - confidence, collaboration and strategic thinking - that prepare them for careers, venture launch and life beyond WSU."

The top five teams of the WSU College League, comprised of WSU students, and the top four teams in the Foster Garvey Open and the High School leagues, advanced to in-person finals on the WSU Pullman campus.

An awards banquet immediately followed final presentations, where teams participated in a trade show to share more about their innovations.

Emmy award-winning TV journalist Nikki Torres ('16) was master of ceremonies for the banquet. Dan Lynch ('84) an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, delivered a keynote address on his journey from WSU football to Central and Eastern Europe as a venture capital investor and back to the U.S. as an angel investor.

Sponsors included Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Dave Divine ('00), Lee & Hayes, Foster Garvey, Believe in Me, Submittable, Jeff ('93) and Erika Barrom ('90, '00) College Hill, Gesa Credit Union, Mark Wuotila ('69), Spokane Angel Alliance, The Robert ('78) and Carolyn Wolfe Family Giving Fund and the Carson College of Business Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.

The winning teams are:

Media Contacts

• Marie Mayes, Center for Entrepreneurship, WSU Carson College of Business, 509-335-5628, [email protected]
• Sue McMurray, Carson College of Business, 509-335-7578, [email protected]