Undergraduate and graduate student teams from the University of Arkansas, John Brown University, Arkansas State University and Harding University walked away from the 17th Annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup competition with $134,000.
Winners were announced at Arkansas Capital Corp.'s "The Clash for the Cash" awards luncheon on Tuesday. Forty-one teams from eight universities across the state competed, with finalists selected by a panel of 30 judges.
More: Video of the event is available here.
The first place overall winner in the graduate category was Rejuvenics Technologies from the UA. The startup, which won $25,000, is commercializing a drug-delivery system for cancer patients that releases chemotherapeutic treatment at the site of tumors, limiting the treatment's exposure to normal tissue.
The idea is to reduce the side effects that interrupt a patient's regimen and increase completion rates for pharmaceutical companies.
The first place overall winner in the undergraduate category was AgChron Technology, another UA team, which took home $25,000. It also won the first place agricultural award, earning them an additional $5,000.
The startup plans to sell a microchip that can be inserted into an animal's ear to trace livestock throughout the supply chain. A handheld device sends an electronic signal to the tag and stores information on that animal.
The second place overall winners in the undergraduate and graduate categories were Easy Dam of John Brown University and Grox Industries of the UA, respectively. Each won $15,000.
Easy Dam also won a $2,000 award in the elevator pitch competition, which was judged by the luncheon audience. Easy Dam plans to sell a lightweight, self-filling and affordable barrier to protect homes from flood damage.
Grox uses platform technology to develop products with cross-linked (bonded) graphene oxide. It also won an Innovation Award and $5,000.
The four teams will go on to compete in the Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State Competition on May 30-31 in Las Vegas. The competition's first and second place winners will share $118,000 in cash awards. The first place overall winner will earn $30,000; the second place winner will take home $20,000.
Other Governor's Cup winners were:
- Pasture Parent of A-State, which was third overall in the undergraduate category and went home with $10,000.
- RED BioBattery of UA, which was third overall in the graduate category and also took home $10,000.
- Vitele of Harding University, which won an Innovation Award and $5,000.
- Ghost Pot Busters of John Brown University, which won $2,000 for its elevator pitch and a $3,000 agricultural award.
Faculty advisors for overall winners received $2,000.
Jeff Amerine of Startup Junkie in Fayetteville and Jeff Stinson of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in North Little Rock received the C. Sam Wells Award for Entrepreneurial Education.