10 Babson Businesses Advance To Startup Rounds Business Competition Finals

WELLESLEY, Mass., Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ten Babson startups from a pool of 77 have advanced to make their final pitch in Startup Rounds, a new business competition.

The top 10 startups will pitch to an expert judge panel followed by an awards ceremony on Feb. 27, 2014 at the Microsoft New England Research & Development (NERD) Center in Cambridge. Visit www.startuprounds.com.

They are competing for: over $30,000 in prizes including $20,000 in cash and $10,000 in legal resources (Pepper Hamilton and Pierce Atwood); $25,000- $100,000 in real-estate consultation and speculation fees donated by the VP of Colliers International, Boston; Bostinno press and Mass Challenge opportunities; and meetings with Rough Draft Ventures (opportunity to raise up to $25K).

The ten Babson Startups that advanced to the final pitch event and awards ceremony are:

• CONTAP
• DataCrowd
• Go Profile Green
• HigherMe
• Infobits
• MandaSeguro.com
• Plaiding
• TravelmeLocal
• Vdesign-YouDesign WeCreate
• ZOOS Greek Iced Teas

Startup Rounds began accepting submissions in November, and launched this January in partnership with the Babson Entrepreneurship Club.

Startup Rounds is open to any company founded by Babson undergraduates, graduate students, or alumni with less than $1 million in earned revenues.

The contest consists of four seven-day rounds. Within each round, startups must demonstrate the strengths of their business idea and network by gaining support via social media to improve their standing on the leaderboard. Anyone with a Facebook account can cast up to three votes for different startups.

Each round has a cutline. The contest began with 77 startups. 50 startups advanced to round two, 35 to round three, 20 to round four, and the final ten will pitch live.

After each round, a startup's score resets along with their position on the leaderboard, leveling the playing field.

About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds(tm). The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society--while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action(r) as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu.

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CONTACT: Michael Chmura, [email protected], 781-239-4549

SOURCE Babson College