Governor’s Cup Virtual Awards Program Set For April 9

Fifty students representing 18 teams from eight Arkansas universities still competed, albeit virtually due to COVID-19 concerns, in the 20th annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup competition for a $154,000 cash prize pool.

They made online presentations to nearly 30 judges during the final round of the business plan competition. The presentations were made on schedule with team members from central and south America, Europe, Africa and other countries who had been faced with the possibility that they may not be able to get home if they didn’t return immediately following the coronavirus outbreak.

The winners will be announced at noon on April 9, during a virtual awards program. Login information will be provided here. 

Winners of the graduate and undergraduate divisions will receive $25,000 each. Second place winners will net $15,000, followed by third place winners with $10,000.

Faculty advisors for all six winning teams will receive $2,000 in cash. 

In addition, Innovation Division graduate and undergraduate winners will receive $5,000.

The awards program will be emceed by Mike Preston, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Commerce, and TV news anchor Anne Preston.

Also, each finalist team will present a brief video telling viewers about their business ideas during the virtual program. 

The finalists are:

Walton Family Foundation Graduate Division

• CelluDot, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville;

• Face-to-Face, University of Arkansas at Little Rock;

• Ferro Athletico, UA;

• SYMPER, UA Little Rock; and

• T.I.B.N., UA.

Simmons Bank Undergraduate Division

• BioPrecision, Harding University in Searcy;

• Breathables, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts in Hot Springs;

• CloudCare, UA Little Rock;

• GenDrive, ASMSA; 

• ImmunoSense, Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia; and

• Never Cargo, Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.

Innovate Arkansas Innovation Division – Graduate

• CelluDot;

• Face-to-Face; and

• SYMPER.

Winrock Automotive Innovation Division – Undergraduate

• BioPrecision;

• Fail Safe, ASMSA; and

• ImmunoSense.

The title sponsor of the 2020 Governor’s Cup is Dhu Thompson with Revolution of Little Rock. The Governor’s Cup is presented by Arkansas Capital Corp. of Little Rock. Major sponsors include the Walton Family Foundation, Simmons Bank, Innovate Arkansas and Winrock Automotive.