NU Venture Challenge Finalists

Apta Flare:

Dan Zheng, IBiS Grad

Jonathan Rosen, Kellogg ’11

Steven Szaronos, Kellogg ’11

Apta Flare is a nanotechnology-based diagnostic that allows doctors to test for “untestable” diseases. The Apta Flare platform will power diagnostics for a variety of diseases for which there is no current blood test, and the first application will be Parkinson’s Disease.

Dry Goods:

Brandon Cornuke, Kellogg ’10

Tim Joyce, Kellogg ’10

Dry Goods is a moisture-absorbing, anti-chafing powder in an aerosol spray that adheres to skin better than leading body powders without making a mess. For athletes who experience discomfort or chafing in their cleats, armpits, groin or under pads, Dry Goods is a great way to remain comfortable in practice or competition. Dry Goods will be available in July 2010.

Joindeal.com

Oded Perry, MMM ’10

Prashanth Ravi-Shankar, MMM ’10

Tom Feldkamp, MMM ’10

The Joindeal concept was born with the idea of allowing online buyers to join forces and take advantage of the economy of scale when shopping online. Shoppers create buying groups for any product that they desire and use social networks to invite others to join their groups. As a group grows, it becomes more attractive to online merchants, which have an incentive to compete with other merchants to offer the lowest price and win the group.

LEND (Lending for Evanston and Northwestern Development)

Ravi Umarji, McCormick ’10
Adam Whittington, Weinberg ’10
Jesse Wiener, Weinberg ’11
Rory O'Byrne, Weinberg ’12
Katie Kwon, Weinberg ’12
Sahil Mehta, McCormick ’12
Chris Brown, SESP ’11
Brian Levin, McCormick ’12
Andrew Levin, Weinberg ’12
Alexandra Britton: WCAS ’11

LEND is an organization devoted to enriching our local community by offering small loans and business training to low-income Evanston entrepreneurs.

Goodyshirt.com

Reed Hushka, Kellogg’10

Business that moves quality vintage t-shirts currently found in non-profit thrift stores into a new retail channel (the web), multiplying the value of those shirts by providing a quality retail channel.

Balise Medical:

Praveen Anchala, Feinberg ’10

Drew Allison, Kellogg ’10

Adam Hentze, Kellogg ’10

Anna Lakoma, Feinberg ’10

Justin Liu, McCormick ’10

Jason Oppenheimer, Feinberg ’10

Amber Sommer, Law ’12

Christine Wang, Law ’11

Jingsi Xie, McCormick Grad

Balise Medical Inc. was founded in 2009 by an interdisciplinary group of graduate students at Northwestern University. The company's mission is to improve patient safety and clinical outcomes through utilizing technological advances in minimally invasive blood flow monitoring.