MEDIA ADVISORY: CSU Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge quarter-final brackets announced

Note to Reporters: Photo of seed round pitching available with this release at news.colostate.edu

FORT COLLINS – The eight teams advancing to the quarter final round of the Colorado State University Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge, one of the richest business pitch competitions in the nation, will begin their head-to-head battles at noon, May 30, in the Lory Student Center on the CSU campus. A $250,000 grand prize is on the line.

The match-ups are:

  • 12:15 p.m. Jebbit, a software platform to increase online customer engagement, from Boston v. Kapta, a key account management system to keep and grow a customer base, from Boulder. 
  • 12:53 p.m. Synkera Technologies, which places miniaturized gas sensors on a variety of internet-connected devices, from Longmont v. OptiEnz Sensors, which provides real-time in-line water quality monitoring, from Fort Collins.
  • 2:05 p.m. Native, a mobile app that combines human assistants with artificial intelligence to bring the humanity back to travel, from Boulder v. Extrude2Fill, a revolutionary approach to injection molding, from Loveland.
  • 2:42 p.m. Verbalize It, a service that allows online businesses to engage global customers in their own languages, from New York City v. Membrane Protective Technologies, which uses antioxidant technology to increase pregnancy rates in artificially inseminated livestock, from Fort Collins.

At 3:30 p.m., Jeff Hoffman, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Priceliine.com, will deliver the keynote address.

At 4:30 p.m., competition resumes with the four semi-finalists competing head to head for the right to move on to the final faceoff at 6 p.m.

The awards ceremony will follow immediately, and will include prizes for the winners of the Collegiate Trolley Pitch competition held on Friday, as well the grand prize announcement. 

The CSU Blue Ocean Challenge is presented by Colorado State University and Blue Ocean Enterprises as a celebration of innovation, leadership development, and job creation. It is open to collegiate entrepreneurs throughout Colorado, startups, and existing companies seeking funding and business mentoring. The 2015 Challenge, the second year for the competition, started with 28 companies from five states and three universities in Colorado representing 15 different industries.

More information is available at www.blueoceanchallenge.com. 

-30-