14 Babson College Student/Graduate Businesses Among MassChallenge Startup Competition Finalists

BABSON PARK, Mass., May 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 14 businesses started by Babson College alumni and students are among the 125 MassChallenge startup competition finalists.

MassChallenge is a non-profit organization that connects early stage entrepreneurs to the resources they need to launch high-growth, high-impact businesses immediately.

Babson Businesses:

• AltrUHelp, Mathew Paisner MBA '12
• Blank Label, Fan Bi '09
• Cocomama, Sara Gragnolati MBA'10, Zachary DeAngel MBA'10
• Day2Night Convertible Heels, Candice Cabe MBA'10
• Down to Earth Waste Solutions, Nik Beisert '11
• Go GaGa, Jill Cartwright MBA'07
• iPresent Communications, Carmen Ferrara MBA'06
• Learning Unlimited, Scott Meyer '07
• MessageAMP, John Clark '09
• Redeemr, Tim Chae '13, Mike Maghsoudi '13
• RFvenue, Christopher Regan MBA'13
• Swellr, Shonak Patel '06
• Textaurant, Josh Bob MBA'08 and Domenic Manganelli '09
• ThinkLite, Dinesh Wadhwani '12, Enrico Palmerino '11

Finalists will move into the Accelerator Stage through October 1 where they will be connected with relevant resources, and will participate in workshops, networking events, and social activities.

Every entrant, not just the winners, receives access to workshops, mentors, executives, other team members and sources of funding. Experts from the Massachusetts ecosystem will identify the highest potential startups, which will receive cash prizes and will qualify for privileged access to funding sources from across Massachusetts.

The exact number and amount of prizes will depend on the judges, who expect to award 15-20 prizes of $50K-100K, totaling $1 million of prize money.

Each team is granted free office space and is paired with a law firm for free advice. They will also be paired with mentors to:

• Define goals and milestones
• Connect with other resources
• Execute toward goals
• Prepare for final pitches.

Final judging takes place between October 3 and 17, and winners will be announced October 20, 2011.

MassChallenge http://masschallenge.org

Twitter @masschallenge

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(TM) as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.

Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., is recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education. Babson grants BS degrees through its innovative undergraduate program, and grants MBA and custom MS and MBA degrees through the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. Babson Executive Education offers executive development programs to experienced managers worldwide. For information, visit www.babson.edu.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE Babson College