Blazing the trail in discovery, a team of students from the University of Dundee has drawn up a plan to identify targets for drugs that could lead to relief for sufferers of Crohn disease and Ulcerative colitis winning them top prize in a national competition for young entrepreneurs.
The team called Biotab has scooped first prize in the Scottish Institute for Enterprise's business plan competition - one of ten teams to enter from the University of Dundee - the most amount of entries from any University in Scotland.
Biotab pick up £1000 for their successful business plan at this afternoon's ceremony in Glasgow and will now go through to the second round of the competition.
The competition, which is run across the thriving science, engineering and technology student population in Scotland's universities, recorded a rise in the number of entrants this year with 35 teams, totalling 116 students, each submitting an executive summary outline of their novel technology business idea. Of the 35, 21 teams of nascent entrepreneurs have been selected to proceed to round two of the competition.
The executive summaries were considered by an expert judging panel comprising technology entrepreneur, Martin Ritchie as Chairman; Lynne Cadenhead, previously Director of far blue Scotland; Neil Heywood co-founder and former CEO of Quadstone; Richard Hope from Gap Fund Managers and James MacDonald from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The finalists will now proceed to round two in which they will develop their ideas and work towards the eventual completion and submission of a full business plan at the end of the 6-month competition on 25 April. During this time they will be appointed a business mentor and receive ongoing advisory support from other experienced professionals from the entrepreneurial, technology and investment communities. They will also attend an intensive weekend workshop in March to develop their business skills and receive crucial advice on how to write a winning business plan. Three main winners, and a number of other finalists, will receive a combination of prizes including start-up funding and business development support resources.
By Jenny Marra, Press Officer 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk