The three winning teams were chosen by a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs in Industry and Academia after successfully presenting in person their new venture ideas. Taking top honors were business concepts that mirror marketplace trends such as software, energy management and sports.

The Winners

First Place Prize - $10,000 was awarded to the founders of Mixed Ink, Vanessa Scanfeld and Daniel Scanfeld.

Given the sheer number of voices competing for attention online, individuals cannot make themselves heard and organizations can't process the volume of input they receive.

MixedInk’s collaborative writing platform solves these problems. It enables large groups to speak with a single voice by weaving their ideas and opinions into a collective text. The tool combines the wiki concept with a democratic voting system like Digg’s to ensure that the community's best text, rather than simply the most recent, emerges at the end. It provides real-time text suggestions and automates authorship tracking to encourage remixing of a community's best ideas and language into a single, well-written text.

Using MixedInk's platform, thousands of people can create an op-ed, review, product specification, mission statement, news article, or letter to Congress. The tool can be used for free at MixedInk.com or integrated within existing websites as a customizable, embeddable widget.

The company earned favorable media coverage in summer 2008 when activists used it to develop a political platform, a piece of which was included in the official Democratic platform. More recently, MixedInk partnered with Slate Magazine on a high-profile project in which more than 400 people developed a collective inaugural address.

Second Place Prize - $5,000 was awarded to the founder of Burning Hollow Technologies, Mark Kasdorf.

Burning Hollow Technologies (BHT) has developed a cutting edge, scalable, full-featured home automation solution. Using proprietary software, the system consists of five main components that all work together - lighting, HVAC (thermostat), advanced energy monitoring, four zones of distributed audio, and 2-50 zones of distributed video.

With a BHT system, users can sit in Fiji and turn their thermostat down with an iTouch. They can turn every light in the house off, as well as the coffee pot and televisions with a single switch at the front door. They can monitor, to the penny, what their four-year-old refrigerator costs to operate. In a BHT system, all of the electronics within a home are integrated to work for the homeowner, rather than independently.

Third Place Prize - $2,500 was awarded to the founders of 280tv.com, Amir Kahrim and Ken Macharia.

280TV is the one stop destination for the paintball community. The company provides enthusiasts with exclusive paintball footage, infomation, and news all wrapped in an interactive and egaging enviroment. Through 280TV, manufactures, paintball fields, league owner, and advertisers can directly target the paintball community through various means. 280TV is premier destination for the paintball community.

SharePower

The tension between the interests of corporate management and the interests of shareholders has always existed, yet the recent financial crisis has brought issues of corporate governance into the spotlight. Today we see public outrage over poor management of corporations, excessive risk-taking, ineffective corporate strategy, wildly excessive compensation packages, misaligned management incentives, and the disenfranchisement of shareholders. SharePower(TM) will change all of that.

SharePower(TM) is an investor tool designed to implement better corporate governance of public companies, improve the efficiency of the capital markets, and ultimately increase value to shareholders. SharePower(TM) is an electronic shareholder forum that will allow shareholders to communicate and mobilize, unlocking the voting power of each individual shareholder, which institutions and activist investors can leverage to improve corporate leadership and increase returns to shareholders.

Nanometis

Nanometis provides software solutions and services for the analysis of molecular properties and interac-tions of biomolecules (proteins, cells, drugs, DNA / RNA, etc.). Our solutions support the identification of the actions of potential drugs, the screening of new drugs and the optimization of drug candidates in drug design and development. Nanometis sets its focus to be drug screening and lead optimization in terms of drug efficacy, binding sites, binding forces, environmental conditions, molecular interactions between membrane proteins and drugs, and molecular properties of biomolecules.

Alithia Charity

Alithia Charity Inc. (ACI) is the for profit solution to sustainable development in Central America. Departing from ineffective and unsustainable donation and hand out based forms of assistance to those at the “bottom of the pyramid;” founder, seasoned entrepreneur and global citizen Demetri Patitsas along with the AIC Team is committed to assisting this vibrant and creative sector of the developing world through profits. Moreover, AIC’s online travel agency links the superior and affordable services of the developing world’s small business owner to the needs and desires of tourists and visitors via robust and innovative web technology coupled with expertise and infrastructure on the local level.

Meya

Meya revolves around the wave of “green consumerism”. Consumers are bombarded with green choices in every market. Biodegradable flip-flops however do not yet exist. Meya will provide a product as good looking and comfortable as the current market leader (Havianna) in traditional, EVA((Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) )-rubber based flip-flops. Meya competes with traditional rubber products on marketing, not price or difference in functionality. Consumers will have a guilt free shopping experience they can brag about and Meya’s will not pollute landfills and oceans when discarded.

BioBit

BioBit combines a 24/7 wearable physical activity sensor with a Web 2.0 support website to solve the problem of a sedentary lifestyle.

According to the US Surgeon General, more than half of Americans of all ages do not get enough daily physical exertion, facing as a result preventable issues from obesity and heart disease to cancer and depression.

The latest guidelines for establishing wellness-centered physical activity habits revolve around two key ideas: 1) Small steps matter. For instance taking the stairs even for only a few minutes daily adds up to significant increases in wellness. 2) Gentle reminders and community support are crucial in maintaining these habits.

BioBit is prototyping a lifestyle product that makes small, achievable steps towards appropriate amounts of physical activity “count”.


Biobit is as much a fashion and wellness awareness statement, in the tradition of “Livestrong” Armstrong bracelets, as it is a functional tool. It mimics the effects of a gentle personal trainer, life coach or caring group of friends egging each other towards wellness, tracking progress and gently reminding one to keep moving!

Oxygen

Online B2B Marketplace

The company is an online B2B marketplace community that connects needs and capabilities in the international food trade industry

About Hellenic Business Network's Big Idea Competition

The Hellenic Business Network Big Idea Competition (HBN-BIC) is an entrepreneurship competition where participants translate their business ideas into viable business plans and create enterprises. More...

About Hellenic Business Network

Hellenic Business Network (HBN) is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to establish a greater awareness and deeper understanding of the social and economic advancement of all Hellenes and Philhellenes, while recognizing, unifying and strengthening the Hellenic values, and the power the community has to enhance its future. We are committed to developing excellence in ourselves and those around us. HBN will provide the focus and continuity in creating the appropriate dynamics for promoting and strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit.