Members of the Grox Industries team accept their first place award at the Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State Collegiate Business Plan Competition Wednesday.
Grox Industries, a startup company led by graduate students from the University of Arkansas, won first place at a business plan competition in Las Vegas Wednesday.
The 10th Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State Collegiate Business Plan Competition featured teams of students from Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma. The Grox Industries team walked away with $30,000 for their winning business plan.
Grox Industries uses platform technology to develop products with cross-linked (bonded) graphene oxide. The company is currently focusing on creating a coating for windows to make them more energy efficient. The product uses technology that company leaders say has the potential to scale to other uses.
The Grox Industries team consists of Andrew Miles, chief executive officer; Willie Evans, chief technology officer; Stonie Hopkins, chief operating officer; Witness Martin, chief innovation officer; and Ting Zhen, chief financial officer.
Grox Industries has not established a revenue stream yet, but is planning to sell to its first customers by the end of the year, Miles said.
In addition to the win by Grox Industries, two other teams from Arkansas won elevator pitch competitions in their respective divisions. Michael Bennett, representing Easy Dam from John Brown University, won the undergraduate division. Tiffany Jarrett, representing Rejuvenates Technologies from the UA, won the graduate division. Both Bennett and Jarrett were presented with $2,000 cash prizes.
All the teams participating in the tri-state competition placed within the top three teams in their respective divisions in April at the 17th Annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, a state-wide competition that qualified them to attend the tri-state competition.
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