Success Stories

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See below for success stories from past winners of the Business Model Competition Global. These companies continue to prove that there is a better way to launch and run a successful start-up. Get involved in the competition and experience these epiphanies for yourself!

Kaitek Labs, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
1st Place, 2015

 kaiteklabs.com

Kaitek Labs are transforming bacteria into computers. Kaitek Labs uses microorganisms’ natural capacity to gather and process information about its surroundings. This natural functionality gives both a purpose and a human interface to turn bacteria into information gathering machines,capable of expressing their findings to human users.

Founded in 2013 by Emilia Diaz in Santiago, Chile, the company has expanded and gained support of the Chilean government granting Kaitek $350K for development. Reflecting on the 2015 IBMC Emilia said, “Do not underestimatewhat lean methodology can do for you. At first I honestly thought there was absolutely no wayI could apply it to slow, expensive biotech, but I actually found it a great tool when it comes to trying to move as quickly as possible….We have used it many times before and after IBMC to decide what experimental line to pursue.”

"We're looking to have the most positive social impact we can, through the application of science and technology to real world problems in underserved niches. We believe scientists have a social role to play in their local communities, and that research can and should always impact positively in the lives of people. Kaitek is proudly based in Chile, and we hope our efforts can help bring visibility to the amazing scientific and entrepreneurial talent our country contains."

Kaitek Labs has been awarded many prizes both in national and international contests, including BYU’s “IBMC” (USA, 2015), AAAS’s “GIST” (Morocco,2014), Copec-UC’s “Aplica tu idea” (Chile, 2014), Emprende UC’s “Jump” (Chile, 2012), totaling over $50K in prize money.

D&P Bioinnovations, Tulane University
Honorable  Mention, 2015

dpbioinnovations.com

With over eighteen years of stem cell tissue engineering research experience, the management team at D&P Bioinnovations are biomedical entrepreneurs capable of translating biomedicalacademic research from “benchside” to “bedside”.

Their pilot product is an implantable, bio-resorbable medical device to functionally regenerate a damaged esophagus within the body. D&P Bioinnovations has been very busy since participation in the 2015 IBMC. They have won awardsas finalists at the India C-Camp/QB3, Johns Hopkins MedTech Venture Challenge, M2D2 $100K Challenge, Baylor New Venture Challenge, Global TiEcon, OneStart Americas 2015 and GEW50 Global Startup Open. 

”Specifically, the IBMC has taught us how to change our product based on customer needs,” said Derek Dashti, founder and CSO at D&P Bio Innovations. Said Dashti, “We have been in contact with many prominent thoracic surgeonsand hospital administrators to understand both the utility and reimbursement strategies of ourproduct.” His advice to entrepreneurs is to “have open communication with your customers.This is key in developing a sound product and will also lead to potential partners to help your startup advance quicker.”

Kilife Tech, BYU
5th Place, 2014

kiband.com

Kilife Tech is the creator of the Kiband, a child safety wristband that connects to a parent’s smartphone and alerts the parent if the child wanders away. Kiband uses Bluetooth to transform a smartphone into a mobile geo-sence that can be toggled for different situations such as a mall oramusement park, at close proximity, or a playground, where greater freedom for the child to explorecan be afforded. It is an intuitive and kid-friendly way to keep children safe and parents worry free.

“The IBMC forced us to refine our business model,” said Spencer Behrend, co-founder and CEO. “We were able to pivot to a powerful niche that allows us to enter the market with a 10x improvement over the competition.”KiLife Tech took their experience at the IBMC and continued to improve, leading to a 1st place showing at the Rice Business Plan Competition. The company walked away with over $600,000 in cash and investment prizes, the most awarded to a single team in the competition’s history.

XoomPark, BYU
1st Place, 2012

xoompark.com

Winner in 2012, XoomPark, offers online parking reservations for large, downtown events. These reserved spots are within walking distance of multiple venues such as sports arenas, theaters, restaurants etc. Event attendees no longer need to show up hours in advance to get a decent parking space at events or carry around extra cash to pay parking attendants. They can now simply reserve a close spot at XoomPark.com and show up right at event time to claim their spot.

When XoomPark competed in the IBMC last year, it had only two major parking garages as paying customers. Since then, XoomPark has over 70 parking lots in 18 cities. They have expanded their reserved parking for a greater range of events such as NBA, NFL, and MLB. XoomPark was also able to win the Grow America competition, get featured in TechCrunch, and they have been featured in newspapers across the nation. XoomPark was accepted into the Utah-based accelerator, Boom Startup.

Ken Frei, founder of XoomPark, states that going through the business model process “helps you look at the core fundamentals of your business really quickly, and to see whether or not you are solving a critical pain.” Testing and validating is still an integral part of XoomPark's business processes as they continue to test new ways to reach out to more customers. One pivot they have made since the IBMC was changing from cold calling parking garages to making key channel partners who already have a large audience of parking garages.