Hong Kong team wins Wake Forest MBA Elevator Competition

April 11, 2006

The first international team to compete in the Wake Forest MBA Elevator Competition won top honors by pitching its business plan for a device that distinguishes between acute bacterial or viral infections inexpensively, quickly and accurately.

Students from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology won the event, which included 19 other teams from the nation’s top MBA schools competing on Saturday, April 8, at the Wachovia building in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C. The competition, the first of its kind in the country, is presented annually by the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management.


From left to right: Birgit Vagani, Carl Li and Neha Bhatia

The Hong Kong team members impressed venture capitalists during the two-minute elevator pitch. The team was one of five to make the final round during which additional face time was granted so the teams could make formal boardroom presentations of their proposals. The pitch involved AB OVO Diagnostics’ device that can—within 15 minutes—distinguish between acute viral and acute bacterial infections, through a finger-prick blood sample. Members of the team include Birgit Vagani, Carl Li and Neha Bhatia.

In addition to the Hong Kong team, other finalists were:

• Easter REIT, Harvard, enables homeowners to swap a minority share of their individual home values in exchange for a diversified pool of home investments.
• Fair Market Financial, Harvard, provides low-cost tax preparation for low-wage workers at their work site.
• AudioFusion, Wake Forest, retrains the brain to tune out tinnitus through a combination of sound therapy and directive counseling.
• FS Dashboard, University of Georgia, caters to fantasy sports interests via a web portal.

Department:
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Winston-Salem, NC 27109

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