{"id":28207,"date":"2017-05-15T09:57:10","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T13:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=28207"},"modified":"2017-05-24T07:47:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T11:47:46","slug":"fiu-students-alumni-won-top-spots-in-the-2017-miami-herald-business-plan-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2017\/05\/fiu-students-alumni-won-top-spots-in-the-2017-miami-herald-business-plan-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"FIU students & alumni won top spots in The 2017 Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FIU<\/p>\n

More than two dozen FIU students and alumni competed in the FIU track of this year\u2019s Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge, which offers entrepreneurs a chance to turn their business idea into reality or grow an existing business.<\/p>\n

The FIU Track finalists showcased concepts for education, the sharing economy, healthcare, finances and technology. The 2017 winners:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Nuvola – creator of guest management software that helps hotels monitor and respond to hotel and guest needs<\/li>\n
  2. MunchSquad – a mobile app that enables restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets to reduce surplus food by selling it to hungry college students<\/li>\n
  3. Use Your Words – an app used by parents to teach language and communication to their pre-verbal and nonverbal children on the autism spectrum.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"MiamiNow in its 19th<\/sup> year, the Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge is sponsored by FIU\u2019s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center<\/a>. The competition, which also includes a general community track and a high-school track, is open to anyone with a business idea or startups that are less than two years old.<\/p>\n

    With finalists and winners featured in the Miami Herald<\/em>, the competition allows entrepreneurs to receive exposure that could lead to partnerships and funding that may get a venture off the ground or help grow an existing business.<\/p>\n

    \u201cKnowing what we didn’t know, this competition pushed us into uncovering crucial information involved in financials and market size,\u201d said MunchSquad co-founder Tara Demren. \u201cThis was immensely\u00a0useful in helping us make our vision much more tangible.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Winners and finalists were selected based on the quality of the business plan, including the viability of the idea and its investment potential. They were judged by executives, investors, entrepreneurs and academics who focused on the market opportunity of the venture and a realistic financial analysis.<\/p>\n

    Lessons and exposure.<\/em><\/p>\n

    In addition to improving their odds for securing investors\u2019 dollars, many contestants said another driver for entering the competition was the guidance provided by experts and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe competition with the Miami Herald taught us a lot about how we want to conduct our business, where we will be going to market it, and how we can reach more and more children in need, said FIU graduate Yanesa Montenegro of Use Your Words. \u201cMost of all, the competition taught us how to turn a great idea into a full-functioning company.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The FIU Track finalists <\/strong><\/p>\n

    This year\u2019s submissions included ventures related to occupational therapy, hospitality industry, music, healthy living, social gaming and food. The top six entries in the FIU Track pitched their ideas before a panel of judges on April 3 at the Miami Herald headquarter in Doral. The finalists were:<\/p>\n

    \"Maurice
    Maurice Pinto (BS \u201990)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    DoUCare<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Presented by Maurice Pinto (BS \u201990)<\/p>\n

    The venture is a cloud-based platform for caregivers to tend for assisted living families seeking nonmedical home-care services for elderly loved ones.<\/p>\n

    \"May
    May Nunez and Dennis Diaz (BS \u201905)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Ketamine Health Centers LLC<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Presented by May Nunez and Dennis Diaz (BS \u201905)<\/em><\/p>\n

    Ketamine provides ketamine infusions, a new treatment modality for patients suffering from mental-health disorders.<\/p>\n

    \"FIU
    FIU Students Tara Demren and Eliana Alba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    MunchSquad<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Presented by FIU Students Tara Demren and Eliana Alba<\/em><\/p>\n

    This mobile app allows food vendors to sell at a discount to students in an effort to reduce the amount of surplus food that is thrown out each day.<\/p>\n

    \"Juan
    Juan Carlos Abello (BS \u201809)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Nuvola<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Presented by Juan Carlos Abello (BS \u201809)<\/em><\/p>\n

    Provides guest management software that helps hotels monitor & respond to hotel and guest satisfaction.<\/p>\n

    \"Rich
    Rich Rudner & Carlos Alberto Garcia (MS \u201912)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    SettleiTsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Presented by Rich Rudner & Carlos Alberto Garcia (MS \u201912)<\/em><\/p>\n

    This free, web-based debt negotiation platform is designed to facilitate communication between debtors and creditors.<\/p>\n

    \"FIU
    FIU Students Pablo Gomez and Yanesa Montenegro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    UseYourWords LLC<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Presented by FIU Students Pablo Gomez and Yanesa Montenegro<\/em><\/p>\n

    This mobile app is used by parents to teach language and communication to their pre-verbal and nonverbal children on the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n

    For more information on how to participate in the 2018 Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge, email entrepreneurship@fiu.edu<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    More than two dozen FIU students and alumni competed in the FIU track of this year\u2019s Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge, which offers entrepreneurs a chance to turn their business idea into reality or grow an existing business. The FIU Track finalists showcased concepts for education, the sharing economy, healthcare, finances and technology. The 2017 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":28210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1865],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28218,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28207\/revisions\/28218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}