Drone Surveying Solutions, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, won the undergraduate division of the 16th annual Donald W. Reynolds Collegiate Business Plan Competition. VivImmune, from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, won the graduate division.
The awards were presented Tuesday at the competition’s annual luncheon at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Each winning team won $25,000 provided by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. There was a total prize pool of $154,000.
Drone Surveying Solutions uses unmanned aerial vehicles to help farmers decrease crop loss, expenses and negative environmental effects. The technology includes a patented spraying device.
VivImmune’s cancer treatment platform combines immunotherapy with drug delivery. Immunotherapies are a new class of cancer therapies that work by teaching a patient’s own body to fight cancer.
At the luncheon, the 12 finalist teams in the graduate and undergraduate divisions participated in the AT&T Elevator Pitch competition. The teams delivered 90-second elevators pitches, and the audience voted for the winners via text message.
Drone Surveying Solutions and VivImmnue won their divisions, taking home an additional $2,000 each in cash prizes.
Erick Chang of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and April Hearne of Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock received the third annual C. Sam Walls Entrepreneur Educator Award. Both Chang and Hearne won a cash prize of $2,500; another $2,500 was awarded to their respective schools.
“The Governor’s Cup program is ultimately an academic competition, teaching Arkansas’ collegians to think like entrepreneurs,” said Rush Deacon, CEO of Arkansas Capital Corp. “What is amazing in watching the evolution of the program since its start in 2001 is how the plans entered now are dominated by actual development-stage enterprises, with the real potential for commercial deployment.”
Other awards at the event were as follows:
Undergraduate Division
- Second Place – Natural State Bedding, John Brown University, Siloam Springs – $15,000 prize
- Third Place – Short Bow, University of Central Arkansas, Conway – $10,000 prize
Graduate Division
- Second Place – Actio Systems, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville – $15,000 prize
- Third Place – deciLvl, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville – $10,000 prize
Agriculture Award
- First Place – AGCorp, Ouachita Baptist University – $5,000 prize
- Second Place – Natural State Bedding, John Brown University – $3,000 prize
Innovation Award
- Undergraduate Winner – Natural State Bedding, John Brown University – $5,000 prize
- Graduate Winner – VivImmnue, University of Arkansas – $5,000 prize
Drone Surveying Solutions, VivImmune, Natural State Bedding and Actio Systems are moving on to compete with the same first- and second-place winners of Reynolds Governor’s Cup competitions in Nevada and Oklahoma for top honors in the 9th annual Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State Collegiate Business Plan competition.
The event will be held May 25 and 26 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with a total cash prize pool of $118,000.
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