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THE FIRST AND LARGEST INTERNATIONAL

LEAN STARTUP COMPETITION

2016

2011

45 Teams
6 Schools
2 Countries

2012

59 Teams
7 Schools
1 Country

2013

1,383 Teams
143 Schools
10 Countries
$357,000 Awarded

2014

2,418 Teams
209 Schools
19 Countries
$755,600 Awarded

2015

3,832 Teams
276 Schools
15 Countries
$644,500 Awarded

2016

5,113 Teams
482 Schools
29 Countries
$663,000 Awarded

IBMC Administrators
Jeff Brown
managing director
jeff.brown@byu.edu
801.367.3936
Brennan Steiner
student co-director
steiner.brennan@gmail.com
435.232.9797
Joe Davison
student co-director
josephddavison@gmail.com
801.232.2252
If you have any questions regarding the
competition, please contact one of the IBMC
administrators listed above.

2016 IBMC

FOUNDERS MESSAGE

S THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MODEL COMPETITION REACHES ITS SIXTH anniversary, we are living in a world that has been transformed by the perspectives that
inspired the competitionlean startup, business model innovation, design thinking and
so forth. Entrepreneurs are using these sets of tools to create new businesses more frequently
and more effectively, changing the world in which we live and changing the lives around them.
As the competition has transformed from a handful of teams to an international movement, we want to remember the reason for the competition: as opposed to the old
business plan competition in the past that rewarded grandiose claims and slick sales
pitches, the IBMC rewards the process of discovering and testing your assumptions.
As teams improve, we should also improve our ability to clearly state our hypotheses
about the business model (the customer need, solution, and other business model elements), to test these using rapid low cost experiments, and to communicate the results
of these experiments). Lets remember to reward the process, not just big promises.
Lets also remember an even more foundational principle. Innovation is about solving
problems in the world around us. So whether the teams participating win or lose in the
competition is less important than our ultimate goal to change the world for the better.
Thank you for being a part of the competition and please, no matter the outcome of the
competition, go out and change the world.

Nathan Furr

Co-founder, International Business Model Competition

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Competition Booklet

Contents
04 SCHEDULE
06 MAPS
09 SPEAKERS
11

PRIZES

12

COMPETING TEAMS

27

JUDGES

30 SUCCESS STORIES
32 HELPFUL HINTS

2016 IBMC

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SCHEDULE

Friday | April 29, 2016


Microsoft Visitor Center (Building 92)

7:30-9:30 AM Transportation

A shuttle will be provided to transport attendees to the Microsoft Visitor Center (Building 92)
on the Microsoft campus. The last shuttle will leave the hotel at 9:15 AM.

8:00-9:00 AM Check-In & Networking

Attendees will check in and have the opportunity to network with one another.

9:00-9:50 AM Lean Startup Thought Leader Conference Morning Keynote

Attendees will be oriented about the conference and hear from the morning keynote
speaker, James Whittaker.

10:00-10:50 AM Lean Startup Thought Leader Conference Breakout Session 1

Attendees will have the opportunity to choose between a number of concurrent conference
sessions.

11:00-11:50 AM Lean Startup Thought Leader Conference Breakout Session 2

Attendees will have the opportunity to choose between a number of concurrent conference
sessions.

12:00-1:00 PM Lunch

Attendees will eat lunch and have the opportunity to network with one another.

1:10-2:00 PM Lean Startup Thought Leader Conference Breakout Session 3

Attendees will have the opportunity to choose between a number of concurrent conference
sessions.

2:00-3:00 PM Break
3:00-3:30 PM Welcome and Orientation

Attendees will be oriented on the competition and on the rest of the day and the next days
activities.

3:45-6:45 PM Quarterfinal Mentoring Sessions & Preparation

Teams will be assigned a space to work on their presentations. During the three hour block,
mentors will visit each team to provide valuable feedback on their presentation.

7:00-8:30 PM Dinner & Evening Keynote

Attendees will eat dinner and hear from the evening keynote speaker, Brant Cooper.

8:30-10:30 PM Quarterfinal Preparation (cont.) & Transportation

Teams will have the opportunity to return to their assigned space to continue working on their
quarterfinal presentation. We will provide a shuttle to transport guests back to the hotel. The
last shuttle will leave Microsoft campus at 10:15 PM.

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Competition Booklet

SCHEDULE

Saturday | April 30, 2016


Microsoft Visitor Center (Building 92)

7:30-9:30 AM Transportation

A shuttle will be provided to transport attendees to the Microsoft Visitor Center (Building 92)
on the Microsoft campus. The last shuttle will leave the hotel at 9:15 AM.

8:15-8:45 AM Quarterfinal Round Judge Orientation


Quarterfinal round judges receive orientation.

9:00-11:30 AM Quarterfinal Round

Teams will be divided into 4 rooms and present for 10 minutes to a panel of judges with up
to 3 minutes of Q&A. Teams are encouraged to watch the presentations of the other teams
in their room.

12:00-1:00 AM Lunch & Quarterfinal Results

Attendees will eat lunch and the results of the quarterfinal round will be announced.

1:00-3:00 AM Semifinal Mentoring Sessions & Preparation

Mentors will be assigned to meet with the semifinalist teams to help them prepare for the
semifinal round.

3:00-5:00 PM Semifinal Round

Teams will be divided into 3 rooms and will present for 10 minutes to a panel of judges with
up to 5 minutes of Q&A. Teams are encouraged to watch the presentations of the other
teams in their room.

5:30-6:30 PM Dinner & Semifinal Results

Attendees will eat dinner and the results of the semifinal round will be announced.

7:00-8:30 PM Final Event & Awards Ceremony

The finalists will compete for the title of Global Champion and the winner will take home
the IBMC traveling trophy as well as the top cash prize. Teams will present for 10 minutes
to our all-star judging panel. The Q&A for this round will be 5-8 minutes depending on how
many finalists are selected.

8:30-10:30 PM Post-Finals Networking & Transportation

Attendees will have a chance to network with one another after the final event is over. We
will provide a shuttle to transport guests back to the hotel. The last shuttle will leave Microsoft
campus at 10:15 PM.

2016 IBMC

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MAPS | REDMOND WASHINGTON AREA

06

Competition Booklet

MAPS | MICROSOFT VISITORS CENTER

2016 IBMC

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SPEAKERS

Guest Speakers
James Whittaker (Morning keynote)
James Whittakers career spans academia, start-ups and top tech companies and starts
in 1986 as the first computer science graduate hired by the FBI. James then worked as a
freelance developer, most notably for IBM, Ericsson, SAP, Cisco and Microsoft, specializing in test automation. He joined the faculty at the Florida Institute of Technology where
he continued his prolific publication record in software testing and security. In 2002 his
security work was spun off by the university into a startup which was later acquired by
Raytheon. James first stint at Microsoft was in Trustworthy Computing and Visual Studio.
He then joined Google as an engineering director and led teams working on Chrome,
Maps and Google+. In 2012 James rejoined Microsoft. James is known for being a creative
and passionate leader and sought after speaker and author. Of his five books two have
been Jolt Award finalists. Follow him on Twitter @docjamesw.

Brant Cooper (Evening keynote)


Brant Cooper helps organizations big and small innovate. He is the author of the New York
Times Bestseller, The Lean Entrepreneur, and the popular The Entrepreneurs Guide to
Customer Development. His most recent book project is The Lean Brand, bringing the
rigor of lean startup principles to the marketing black box of branding. As a sought after
keynote speaker, startup advisor and corporate mentor, Brant travels the globe speaking
with entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, debunking the Myth of the Visionary, teaching Lean
Startup and Customer Development principles, and empowering employees to create
new value.

Paul Ahlstrom
Paul Ahlstrom author, investor and entrepreneur is Managing Director and co-founder of
Alta Ventures and Alta Growth Capital. Through Alta Ventures and prior seven VC funds,
Paul has invested in Jott, VidAngel, Converus, Ancestry.com, Altiris, LanDesk, Rhomobile,
SpaceMonkey and more than 125 startups throughout the US and Latin America. Paul is
the author of the BigIdeaCanvas.com and the startup book Nail It, Then Scale It. Through
his investment platform of Alta Ventures and the Alta Innovation Institute, Paul is focused
on accelerating positive venture outcomes for entrepreneurs and creating knowledge
economy jobs in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Competition Booklet

SPEAKERS

Chad Carlos
Professor Carlos is a professor of entrepreneurship in the Marriott School of Management
at Brigham Young University. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D. in management from Cornell
University, he worked as a consultant in Silicon Valley, where he specialized in serving
clients in the technology sector. Professor Carlos research focuses on issues related to
entrepreneurship and innovation in contexts such as health care and alternative energy. He
has taught courses on entrepreneurship and innovation to undergraduate, graduate, and
executive education students in the US, Europe, and the Middle East and has consulted
with innovative organizations, such as Google, Cisco, GE, and Hitachi.

Dale Jasinski
Dr. Dale Jasinski is a professor of entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University and a serial
entrepreneur who has founded 6 organizations, four for profit companies and two non-profits.
He has successfully raised venture capital and exited a technology venture.. His first venture, Automation Partners, designed and sold computer systems to law firms. Its successful
exit enabled him to go back to school and earn a PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship
from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since joining the Quinnipiac faculty in 2000,
he has launched a consulting practice, a media company, and two non-profits one that
provided students with an alternative to college to learn to be an entrepreneur and one
that provided career transition services to current and retired professional athletes. His
current new venture is an education technology company that provides a learning and
development platform and content for professional and elite athletes.

Stephen Paterson
Stephen Paterson is the Co-Founder and Program Coordinator of the Mekong Business
Challenge, which is an entrepreneurship program and competition involving universities
from Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan Province, China.
The Mekong Challenge is conducted in partnership with the international consulting firm
McKinsey & Company. Stephen has been involved in entrepreneurship education in Cambodia and the ASEAN region for the past 20 years. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor
and Program Coordinator for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the National University of
Management in Phnom Penh. In addition to teaching several courses on entrepreneurship
and innovation, Stephen also serves as the Coordinator for the BMC Startup Accelerator
Program in Cambodia and is also actively involved in the National BMC Competition in
Yangon, Myanmar. Stephen is a Canadian citizen and received his Masters Degree from
the University of Toronto, and his Bachelors Degree from Queens University, Kingston,
Ontario, Canada.

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SPEAKERS

Brian Reschke
Brian Reschke is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Brigham Young Universitys Marriott School of Management. He earned his PhD in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley. He studies the social and cognitive processes whereby markets evaluate novel products, ideas and organizations.
In recent projects, he has studied the role of language in the success of crowdfunding campaigns and the implications of prestigious awards for scientific careers.

Nile Hatch
Nile Hatch earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley and is now an entrepreneurship professor at Brigham Young University. He teaches innovation, economics,
and strategy in the Marriott School of Management. Niles research focuses on learning
and innovation as determinants of entrepreneurial success and corporate agility. His most
recent work focuses on how firms innovate to solve the needs of heterogeneous customers
and how those decisions lead to disruptive innovations. He is also the area leader of the
BYU entrepreneurship program.

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Competition Booklet

PRIZES

Prizes
1st
2nd
3rd
4th

$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$6,000

5th $5,000
6th $3,000
7th-41st $2,000

IBMC Champions
Every year, the winner of the International Business Model Competition takes home the IBMC traveling trophy. This year, the
trophy comes to the competition via the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, home of last years winner Kaitek Labs. The 2016
competition is a new year and a new champion will be crowned. Bring your best to the IBMC and you may take home more
than just prize money.

2015 Kaitek Labs

Emilia Diaz, Cristobal Aller

2014 Veritas Medical

Nate Rhodes, Martin de la Presa,


Mitch Barneck

2013 Owlet Baby Monitors

Kurt Workman, Jordan Monroe, Jacob Colvin,


Tanor Hodges, Zach Bomsta, Adam Rogers

2012 XoomPark

Ken Frei

Pontifical Catholic Univ. of Chile

University of Utah

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

2011 Gamegnat

American University

Zachary Allaun, Jorge Espinoza

2016 IBMC

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Competing Teams
3MEALS

Lumos Energy Strips

Beetech

Lund

BioAesthetics

Mohyi Labs, LLC

Borealis Wind

Nisoltus Medical, LLC

Brand Hero

Ohm Wearables

Capacitech Energy

ORGANizer

ClickDish

Periodiza

Crickets as Fish Feed

Prev UPP

Dollow

Protein Pod

Edemy

ProTell

ExVivo Labs

Quench

EZplate

Sangria Sage

Gamezop

SeeMePly

Grizzly

Sensytec

Guardana

Soteria Solutions

Hewa

Sweelevia

Hippy Feet

SwineTech

Information Dental

Tolkidz

iOCargo

Wavio

Latitude

Whistic

locKay

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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

3MEALS
Dalhousie University
With the ever growing population, many people are wondering how we
are going to feed the expected 9 billion people by 2050. 3MEALS could
be the solution to this problem. We offer a sustainable and nutritious protein supplement, made from mealworms locally produced in Nova Scotia.
Entomophagy, the consumption of insects, is a leading trend in agriculture,
and currently a third of the worlds population is consuming insects as their
main protein source. Our journey through the business model canvas has
allowed us to tap into the consumers perspective, regarding insects as a
food source, and has given us insight into how the public would prefer to eat
this nontraditional product. With the knowledge we have gained from our
customer interviews and market research, we have developed a fantastic
prototype, which will interest even the most squeamish eaters.

Beetech
Brawijaya University
Beetech is an innovative honey processing tool, designed as a solution
to the beekeepers problems of maintaining time eciency and providing
high quality honey. Our tool has two main features, an automatic extractor
and water detectors. The automatic honey extractor has been equipped
with a DC motor that can rotate constantly in order to maximize results.
Water content detectors can measure the level of quality honey digitally in
a cost-effective manner.

BioAesthetics
Tulane University
BioAesthetics was founded in 2015 as a Tulane University spin-out with the
mission to improve reconstruction options for breast cancer patients after
they undergo mastectomies. The BioAesthetics initial product is a tissue
engineered nipple-areolar complex (NAC). This product will be provided
to plastic and reconstructive surgeons as an off-the-shelf ready, acellular,
NAC graft. During the breast reconstruction phase, after a mastectomy,
the surgeon would engraft the NAC graft in position onto the patients reconstructed breast. The patients body would then use this NAC graft as a
building frame to regenerate their own NAC. This patent-pending product
is currently in the pre-clinical phase.

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COMPETING TEAMS

Borealis Wind
University of British Columbia
Borealis Wind aims to increase the eciency of wind turbines by reducing
the downtime caused by icing. Wind turbine icing causes power production
losses, turbine damage, and overhead hazards. Wind farms in Canada alone
lose $100 Million in revenue every winter due to blade icing, while $3 billion
is lost worldwide. We have designed a deicing device that is easy to install
in any turbine, requires minimal alterations to the turbine, and is far more
inexpensive than any other solution.

Brand Hero
Quinnipiac
Brand Hero is a tool designed for college students, job seekers, and anyone
looking to increase their online presence in order to improve their ability to
be noticed by hiring managers and job recruiters. We found that 74% of job
recruiters agree that a visual resume is the number one personal branding
tool to help them quickly learn more about a candidate and understand if
they are a fit based on their personality and skills. Brand Hero allows a user
to emended introduction videos, their skills, portfolio projects, involvement,
and other tangible and intangible skills though a visual experience.

Capacitech Energy
University of Central Florida
Capacitech Energy is developing a Cable Based Super Capacitor (CSC) that
can simultaneously store and transport electricity on a copper wire. There
are many applications for this technology; however, we are specifically focused on applications to create energy storing advanced textiles for military
use, source filtration for wind turbines, and energy storage in electric/hybrid
vehicles. In these applications, the CSC delivers value by reducing weight
and cost, while increasing productivity (or eciency). The CSC is a value
add technology and will help commercialize other emerging technologies
from consumer electronics to directed energy weapon systems.

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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

ClickDish
The University of Queensland
ClickDish is an online catering marketplace where event organizers can
get the best food from the best caterers in just a few clicks. ClickDish
provides a web portal where event organizers can quickly define their
catering requirements. Food providers register with ClickDish to receive
catering requests and then bid on the ones they want. The bids are then
returned with value adds to the event organizer, who then select a caterer.
The food provider then caters the event. Finally, the event organizer and
food provider mutually review each other.

Crickets as Fish Feed


Waseda University
Crickets as Fish Feeds main goal is to create a more sustainable fish farming
system. After interviewing the owners of Japanese aquaculture businesses,
we have learned that the fish farming industry produces cultured fish by
feeding them anchovies. With the increase in price of anchovies and the
cost of feed accounting for 70% of the total production costs, we believe
that crickets could be the solution. Crickets are high-quality, sustainable,
and are also eco-friendly because they can be fed wasted vegetables.
This new form of aquaculture contributes to sustainable fishery resources
through affordable, organic and high-protein crickets as fish feed.

Dollow
Brigham Young University
The #1 pain for the majority of social media marketers is calculating return
on investment. Most social platforms provide soft metrics such as likes,
tweets, and follows, but without true ROI information, marketers are unable
to evaluate the effectiveness of their social media efforts, essentially going in blind. Dollow removes the blindfold from social media marketing by
linking sales to real time followers. Not only does this solve the #1 pain of
social media advertising, the analysis of the Dollower demographic provides
companies with a targeted way to qualify other high potential customers.
The Dollower process has been proven with several major companies. By
providing social media ROI, Dollower analytics, and high potential leads,
Dollow empowers marketers to get more bang for their social media buck!
(dollowers.com)
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COMPETING TEAMS

Edemy
Colorado State University, National University of Management, Royal University of Phnom Penh
We offer a quality English education that is 50% cheaper than the cheapest
fee most rural Cambodian students pay. Our students study 50% of the
time with an oine technology and 50% of the time with a local facilitator.
Our current model is able to operate in areas where there are no Internet
connection and no teachers. Our vision is to be able to provide the most
affordable and accessible quality English education in the ASEAN region.
Currently, we have about 100 students in two rural areas paying between
$2-5 a month.

ExVivo Labs
University of Waterloo
ExVivo Labs is developing next generation medical diagnostic tools. Our
non-invasive technologies make testing procedures safe, simple and certain.
The first product line will be a series of skin patches that allow for at-home
allergy testing without the need for any allergic reaction. The company
operates out of the University of Waterloos Velocity Foundry incubator in
Waterloo, Ontario (Canada).

EZplate
Peruvian University of Applied Sciences
EZplate is a innovated and social way to connect people through cooking.
We offer working people who dont have time to cook and are tired of fast
foods the possibility to order homemade food prepared by housewives
who live near their work places. In this way we also give housewives who
dont have stable incomes, the opportunity to earn money by cooking from
their homes.

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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

Gamezop
Delhi University
Gamezop is a casual gaming platform that allows users to play smartphone
games without installing apps. Working closely with Intel, Gamezop leverages
the full potential of browsers to enable games to run across any smartphone,
tablet, or Smart TV. With users in 65 countries, Gamezop aims to integrate
playing and sharing games into messaging apps just like music or videos
and eradicate the download-deletion fatigue altogether.

Grizzly
University of Waterloo
Grizzly enables researchers to automate the process of finding the right
participants at the right time through the use of web-based media technology. Researchers need to connect to people that match the specific
demographics and attributes of their study. Unlike traditional ways of finding
human participants with posters, ads and yers, Grizzly enables researchers to hand in detailed recruitment strategies into their research proposal
through an online platform. The Grizzly mobile and web application allows
participants to discover, connect, be compensated, and stay engaged
through content delivery provided by researchers. Grizzly is bringing research closer to people.

Guardana
Northern Caribbean University
Guardana is an organic mosquito repellent lotion that acts a 3 in 1 product
to protect people from mosquitoes, while giving them the convenience and
effectiveness that they desire. It is a combination of plant and essential oils
that are beneficial for the body and benign to the environment. The product
was developed as a natural response to the outbreak of the Chikungunya
virus and other mosquito borne diseases that affect thousands of people.

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COMPETING TEAMS

Hewa
Monterrey Institute of Technology

Hippy Feet

In cities with poor air quality there is a high rate of inhalation and exposure
to particulate matter, especially inside vehicle cabins due to a phenomenon
known as tunnel effect. Studies have shown that, because of the proximity
with other automobiles, pollutants can be 10 times more concentrated inside
a car than they are outside. Inhalation of particle-size pollutants results in
a series of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases such as asthma, heat
attacks and even lung cancer. Hewa is a company dedicated to manufacture
and commercialize filters made with nanometric fibers capable of providing
clean air (free of particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10) to any person who
is in a closed environment, starting with those traveling inside a vehicles
cabin. Our filters can easily be installed in the ventilation system of any
automobile, have a high eciency, a low cost and prevent respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases.

University of Wisconsin-River Falls


Did you know that the most requested item in homeless shelters across the
nation is socks? Hippy Feet, a social enterprise, provides a solution to this
pervasive problem by offering a buy-one give-one product. Purchasing this
organic, durable wool sock allows the customer to give back, as a pair is
automatically donated to a local homeless shelter. It is the mission of Hippy
Feet to truly service, and provide opportunity for, the homeless community.

Information Dental Technology


Brigham Young University
We fabricate 3D surgical guides for tooth replacement surgery, decreasing
surgical time from 4 hours to 45 minutes for potentially millions of patients
each year. The surgical guides are acrylic mouthpieces dentists use during
surgery made from 3D printers. Surgical guides allow dentists to do surgery a lot more accurate than doing it freehand, giving surgeons that use
a surgical guide a competitive advantage. Also, it allows the surgeon to do
surgeries they would not have been able to do without the guide. Currently
it takes 30 days for a surgeon to get a surgical guide and patients are not
willing to wait 30 days when they can get surgery the same day without a
surgical guide. We differentiate in that our guides are ready on the same
day. Our current beta tester has increased usage from 2% to 86% in only
a few months with our system.
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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

locKay
Brawijaya University
We create technological solutions to motorcycle security problems. In developing countries, especially Indonesia, a very large number of people
use motorcycles as their means of transportation. The increasing numbers
of motorcycles has also increased the amount of thefts. The main problem
lies in the motorcycle lock system that is easily breakable. A thief only needs
30 seconds to break most systems. We decided that we need something
different. locKay brings new innovations that make motorcycle users able
to monitor their motorcycles easily and quickly.

Latitude
Brigham Young University
Latitude is a platform for taking the worlds best audio tours on your smartphone. There are many problems with the guided tour industry. Latitude
provides a very simple way for tour guides and companies to create and
sell mobile versions of their tours. With our app, travelers can be at any
landmark in the world, press play on their phone, and listen to a professional
tour guide unfold the stories and history about that location. Beginning next
month, over 75 tour guides and companies will be selling Latitude passes
to their customers in NYC, London, and Paris.

Lumos Energy Strips


Queens University
Lumos is focused on delivering people what they want, faster, and in a
healthier way. Our focus is on naturally caffeinated products. Our business
is positioned to be a one stop shop for delivering the supplements you
need. Lumos Energy Strips deliver the immediate effect of half a cup of
coffee using an all-natural source of caffeine, while also providing a burst
of fresh mint avour. With no sugar, no fillers, and no hassle, Lumos is the
solution to todays caffeine market where currently consumers find there is
no product that that delivers everything they need. The business started out
of the Queens Innovation Connector last May, and the cofounders will be
continuing full time after graduation as part of Canadas Next 36 in Toronto.

2016 IBMC

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COMPETING TEAMS

Lund
Harvard Business School
Lund creates luxury womens boots that allow you to be fashionable while
still staying warm. Embedded heating technologies warm your feet while at
work, on the street, or wherever you may be. Smartphone integration lets
you set the temperature to whatever you would like it to be, resulting in
maximum comfort throughout the day. Women will no longer have to chose
between looking great and being warm.

Mohyi Labs, LLC


Michigan State University
The purpose of Mohyi Labs is to create the future we have all been dreaming of. Mohyi Labs is a product development umbrella company currently
focused on developing a cutting-edge Bladeless Drone. Mohyi Labs has
pioneered a breakthrough ducted counter-vortex diffuser technology that
will revolutionize not only the consumer drone industry, but the future of
logistics and personal transportation. Its patent pending geometry works
by altering the airow out of a vortex pattern and converting it into usable
thrust. Additional advantages of the technology include the potential to
exceed the eciencies of existing bladed propulsion and the ability to
operate both in the air and in sub-aquatic environments.

Nisoltus Medical LLC


Tulane University
Nisoltus Medical is a company committed to developing products that monitor
and prevent pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores. Nisoltus was founded
in 2015 as a spinoff from Tulane University. Our debut product, Sensifoam
System, is designed for perioperative use. Application of the device prior
to surgery helps hospital staff establish a baseline before the procedure
begins and ensure that the patient is positioned safely for the duration of
the surgery. Intraoperatively, real-time feedback ensures that surgical staff is
aware of their patients well-being, and can make adjustments if necessary
at their discretion. Postoperatively, staff can be aware of any areas that may
need special care. Together, Sensifoam can keep your loved ones safer by
preventing physical, psychological and financial detriment.

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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

Ohm Wearables
University of British Columbia
Ohm Wearables is an early stage company founded on the principle of
living a healthier and more authentic life through technology. Our product
is a wearable belt that tracks breathing patterns and provides real-time
feedback when users are shallow breathing. Deep breathing is not only
vital to our health, but it is also the vessel to engage in greater awareness
and calmness in the mind. Our company is rooted in yoga and meditation,
where the idea was first conceived. We are currently creating a community
around wellness and technology as well as testing and iteratively designing
our prototype to prepare for sales.

ORGANizer
University of Iowa
ORGANizer is a medical software company developing a suite of products
designed to improve the productivity, communication, and coordination surrounding organ transplant recovery. At ORGANizer, we are using collaborative
and communicative technologies to tackle some of healthcares greatest
problems. Our products utilize the versatility of smartphone technology and
the internet to provide intelligent communication and coordination between
organ donation professionals. Organ donation is one of the largest fields
in healthcare, accounting for $5.2 billion of claimed expenses. Each day
79 people receive a life saving organ by donation, 22 people die waiting
for organs, and 111 organs authorized-for-donation are not recovered. ORGANizer aims to reduce the number of unrecovered organs by improving
the coordination of organ recovery professionals.

Periodiza
Federal University of So Carlos
Many exercise falsely thinking they know how to be effective, which often
causes injuries and frustration in not achieving their goals. In desperation
they seek out a personal trainer to help them reach their goals. Personal
trainers usually employ a methodology called periodization. Periodization
involves specific training variables that require planning from their coaches.
Periodiza assists gym professionals to optimize the training routines for their
clients by automating the periodization process. It provides improvement in
interaction between professionals and their clients. With Periodiza, clients
will be more motivated to exercise and will be able to visualize short and
long term goals

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COMPETING TEAMS

Prev UPP
Federico Santa Maria Technical University
Pressure ulcers are injuries that affect the majority of all wheelchair users.
They are caused by sustained pressure over time on a single area of the
body, damaging the skin, muscles, and in some cases even the bones of
the individual. Prev UPP is a mat that detects the distribution of the users
pressure points while in a sitting position, sending an alarm to the users
smartphone warning them to change their posture. This will allow the user
to appropriately shift positions to prevent in this injury.

Protein Pod
Unversity of Wisconsin-River Falls
Protein Pod combats the diculties many individuals experience when
attempting to consume a daily protein on the go, at work or in the gym.
All you have to do is drop our Protein Pod into a bottle with water and the
film dissolves, releasing the protein concealed inside. Transferring powder
from bulky containers into small ones to transport, or just waiting until you
get home are some of the traditional methods of protein consumption, but
they are messy, time consuming, and inecient. Protein Pod makes getting
the proper protein intake an effortless process. The Protein Pods target
customers range anywhere from elite level athletes, who seek to get the
proper protein intake in order to boost recovery, to the everyday individual
who is looking to conveniently add protein into their diet.

ProTell
Saint Marys University
ProTell is a technology company focused on developing wearable technology that monitor and track key physiological vitals in Sickle cell patients.
Sickle cell crises lead to pains and complications in various parts of the
body. With ProTell, patients will be informed of early warning signs, giving
them the opportunity to better prepare themselves and quickly take preventive measures. Vitals will also be shared remotely among the patients
family, friends and emergency units. This goes a long way to reduce the
rate of crisis occurrence in a month or in a year, saving the patients lots of
money, time and physical pain. Currently, patients have no real time method
of monitoring and staying ahead of upcoming crisis, trend analysis, data
mining will be performed on this data over time to identify hidden patterns
and provide better accuracy and predictability.
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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

Quench
California Polytechnic State University
Quench is the only company that keeps customers fully hydrated without
adding any contaminants to your water. We have developed a hydration-tracking accessory that, with the help of our mobile app, calculates
water consumption, how much water you should drink, and when you
should drink it. The smart hydration tracking accessory fits on the base of
all size bottles and keeps track of the amount of water you drink. Based
on temperature, altitude and your cardio activity it reminds you to drink
water. Were the first company to use a special water displacement sensor
to keep track of water intake. We want to reduce the deaths and health
problems caused every year due to insucient consumption of water. We
would like to compare ourselves to a medical device which helps solve
the problem of de-hydration.

Sangria Sage
Fisk University
We are a company that realizes how dicult it is for college students to
afford the textbooks and other tools that they need to be successful; thus,
we have created a system to rectify this problem. We provide a personalized, socially capable, interactive digital library on our website and app
through a subscription to our service by their school. We take this one step
further by providing an educational suite that would further create an ideal
educational community.

SeeMePly
Saint Marys University
SeeMePly is an online platform that streamlines the application process
for private secondary schools in Africa. SeeMePly connects parents with
schools and provides an electronic alternative to the current manual application/admissions systems. By using SeeMePly, parents save time and
make better informed decisions. On the other hand, schools increase their
candidate pool and significantly reduce the time and money required to
manage applications.

2016 IBMC

23

COMPETING TEAMS

Sensytec
University of Houston
With Sensytecs breakthrough technology, Smart Cement, it is now possible
to monitor the conditions of cement structures in real-time. Smart Cement
gives users data on cracking, contamination, corrosion, temperature changes,
and mechanical pressures within their structures. With this data, users can
ultimately prevent catastrophic structural failures. We created Smart Cement
directly in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill where the well
cement was not properly set, causing a whole blowout. If this technology
had been implemented in the well, the disaster could have been avoided
entirely. Such problems are quite common, and there is already a huge
demand for our technology in oil and gas. The potential applications for
our system, however, are endless. We intend to reach out wherever we can
make a difference and have comprehensive plans to do so.

Soteria Solutions
Mumbai University
Soteria Solutions is a group of enthusiastic, budding entrepreneurs trying
to make a deep social difference. They are using refurbished technology
like smartphones to build products in the IOT field. Our first product, Novis2,
is a state of the art wireless digital IP surveillance system based on smartphones - easy to operate, install, and service remotely. It boasts loads of
essential & unique features, all bundled up into a sub-$60 USD price point
to meet the demands of the average Indian consumer, as well as larger
potential customers such as the Indian government. The private market is
worth over $4.6 billion. What Soteria provides is a much cheaper, more effective solution to surveillance needs. Their team consists of 3 engineering
graduates from BITS Pilani, a student from California, and technical mentors
based from Moscow and San Fransisco.

Sweelevia
University of the West Indies
Sweelevia Company Limited was developed based on the demand by
consumers and creates products including natural sweeteners such as
stevia. Our aim is to supply the demand of consumers for a natural zero
calorie sweetener in their products. The demand for products with natural
sweetener is not currently being supplied, hence Natures Teas. Sweelevia
Company Limited has latched on to this outstanding demand as an entry to
the market and intends to provide our customers with a variety of naturally
sweetened instant tea bags. We intend to commence production on May
1, 2015. We will start locally in the commercialization stage with two avors:
Ginger and Peppermint. As we expand our variety of avors we plan to tap
into the international markets.

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Competition Booklet

COMPETING TEAMS

SwineTech
University of Iowa
SwineTech is an Iowa-based company located in New Sharon, Iowa and
formed as a Delaware C Corp. SwineTech creates solutions to reduce the
amount of piglets that die on farrowing facilities. SwineTechs mission is
to help farmers increase production in order to play their part in helping
feed the world. SwineTechs first product, Echo, reduces the incidence of
piglet mortality due to crushing by the mother sow by analyzing the crates
temperature and piglets squeals in a particular crate. Echo detects when
a piglet is being laid on and then communicates to a belt-like structure on
the sow which alerts the sow to stand up. This allows farmers to receive
real time health analysis of each sow and whether any abnormal activities
are occurring within the facility.

TOLKIDZ
University of Technology, Malaysia
TOLKIDZ is an innovative device intended for children with learning disabilities in order to help parents and caretakers identify their emotional
states. The device acts as a wristband monitor that is wirelessly paired
with a mobile application for the caretaker. The app allows caretakers to
see the emotional well-being (good or bad) of the children during their
daily activities, which helps to reduce parents stress in taking care of their
children. TOLKIDZ can also help parents identify their disabled childrens
hidden talents earlier on in their development.

Wavio
Brigham Young Universiy
Wavio is a small device that allows hands-free talking and texting to outdoor
enthusiasts when theyre off the grid. Skiers, climbers and other action sporters are often in situations with no cell signal and need a way to communicate.
Wavio connects to users own headphones and phones to provide instant
communication, even while listening to their music. Sports Technology is a
growing $2 billion market with 83 million Americans participating in outdoor
sports alone. Wavio is the only hands-free off-grid device on the market,
and at a price point of only $99, it fits well within the spending habits of this
growing target audience.

2016 IBMC

25

COMPETING TEAMS

Whistic
Brigham Young Universiy
Whistic is a cloud-based platform that uses a unique approach to address
the challenges of third-party risk management. Our diligence platform
provides workow solutions that automate the vendor risk management
process and saves IT personnel hours each week communicating with
vendors and evaluating assessment results. In addition, Whistics crowdsourced algorithm provides vendor risk scoring based on the insights of
thousands of industry professionals. Coupled with machine learning, the
Whistic platform and risk score improve over time to give organizations
increasingly valuable information and guidance.

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Competition Booklet

JUDGING

2016 Judging Criteria

Each round of the International Business Model Competition is generally judged


using the following questions:
01. Did the team use the Business Model Canvas or similar tool to identify and track
hypotheses?
02. Did the team clearly state their hypotheses?
03. Did the team identify the most crucial hypotheses to test first (the ones that could
kill their business)?
04. Did the team design low cost, rapid, but reliable tests of these hypotheses?
05. Did the team conduct the tests in a reliable manner?
a: Number of testsshould be adjusted for industry, product type (web vs physical product), and


business type (B2B vs B2C).


b: Quality of tests - interviews are high quality, surveys and focus groups are much lower
quality (you dont know which questions to ask) unless interviews have been conducted first.

06. Did the team clearly state their insights and learning, how those validated or
invalidated a hypothesis, and if that informed any pivots (changes)?
07. If changes were made, was the pivot the team made supported by evidence or
did they fail to pivot when the evidence clearly stated it?
08. If appropriate, has the team developed a prototype or minimum viable product
(mvp)? Does the team understand the hypothesis they are testing with a prototype
or mvp? Is the prototype or mvp appropriate to answer those assumptions?
We want to reward prototypes over full products unless the product is the result of many prototypes
tested with customersin other words, we want to reward testing hypotheses and building from prototypes up to products.

09. Is the team solving a significant problem (defined in terms of money or impact)?*
10. Does the team have significant evidence that the solution is validated (i.e. letters
of intent, purchase contracts, sales, partners, etc.)?*
* these two criteria serve as tie breakers
NOTE: Because web-based businesses are easier to test, these companies can often pivot faster. Please do not penalize
physical product companies or health-related businesses because they have not performed as much testing and validation as
web-based businesses.

2016 IBMC

27

JUDGES

2016 Final Judges


Alex Osterwalder
Alex is an entrepreneur, speaker and business model innovator. He is co-founder of Strategyzer, a leading SaaS company that helps organizations develop new growth engines, better value propositions and powerful business models via online applications and facilitated
online courses. In 2015 Alex won the strategy award by Thinkers50, called the Oscars of
Management Thinking and ranks #15 among the leading business thinkers of the world.
Alex is lead author of Business Model Generation and Value Proposition Design, which have
sold over a million copies in 37 languages. He also invented the Business Model Canvas, a
strategic management tool to visualize, challenge and (re)invent business models. Leading
organizations and start-ups around the world use it. Alex is a frequent keynote speaker at
Fortune 500 companies and has held guest lectures in top universities around the world,
including Wharton, Stanford, Berkeley, IESE, MIT, KAUST and IMD.

Brant Cooper
Brant Cooper helps organizations big and small innovate. He is the author of the New York
Times Bestseller, The Lean Entrepreneur, and the popular The Entrepreneurs Guide to
Customer Development. His most recent book project is The Lean Brand, bringing the rigor
of lean startup principles to the marketing black box of branding. As a sought after keynote
speaker, startup advisor and corporate mentor, Brant travels the globe speaking with entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, debunking the Myth of the Visionary, teaching Lean Startup
and Customer Development principles, and empowering employees to create new value.

Nathan Furr
Nathan is a recognized expert in innovation, entrepreneurship, and value creation, co-authoring The Innovators Method (published by Harvard Business Review Press, 2014), Nail It
then Scale It: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation,
and multiple articles in Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. Nathan is
an assistant professor of strategy at INSEAD where he teaches innovation and technology
strategy. Nathan has acted as the founder or advisor to corporations and startups in healthcare, clean technology, professional services, internet, retail and financial services industries.
He also sits on the investment board of the Kickstart Seed Fund, an innovative early-stage
venture fund. Nathan earned his PhD from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program at
Stanford University and has held permanent or visiting positions at INSEAD, ESSEC, and BYU.

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Competition Booklet

JUDGES

Paul Ahlstrom
Paul is a serial entrepreneur. He has founded several high-tech startups and understands
the process of success. He is managing director and co-founder of Alta Ventures Mexico,
a venture capital fund focused in Mexico. He is a regular keynote speaker and an avid
supporter of Utahs entrepreneurial community, and a member of the Utah Angels. In 2000,
he co-founded vSpring Capital, Utahs leading venture capital fund. In 2007, he co-founded
Alta Growth Capital, based in Mexico City and Kickstart Seed Fund based in Salt Lake City.

Tim Enger
Tim is an entrepreneur, investor, and business development expert. He is currently focused
on building the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in Seattle. Tim co-founded SocialNexus,
Inc., a firm focused on a number of ventures nationally and internationally with a focus in
Brazil. In addition to the ventures in Brazil, SocialNexus built a large digital asset touching
more than 30 countries which was later acquired by a major digital agency. Tim ran all sales
and business development efforts in New England for Entrata, a rapidly growing company
that went from 400-800 employees during his time at the company. He holds a Bachelors
degree in Business from Brigham Young University.

2016 IBMC

29

SUCCESS STORIES

2015 Success Stories


Kaitek Labs (First Place)
Kaitek Labs are transforming bacteria into computers. Kaitek Labs uses microorganisms natural
capacity to gather and process information about its surroundings. This natural functionality gives
both a purpose and a human interface to turn bacteria into information gathering machines,
capable of expressing their findings to human users. Founded in 2013 by Emilia Diaz in Santiago, Chile, the company has expanded and gained support of the Chilean government granting
Kaitek $350K for development. Reecting on the 2015 IBMC Emilia said, Do not underestimate
what lean methodology can do for you. At first I honestly thought there was absolutely no way
I could apply it to slow, expensive biotech, but I actually found it a great tool when it comes to
trying to move as quickly as possible.We have used it many times before and after IBMC to
decide what experimental line to pursue. Kaitek Labs has been awarded many prizes both in
national and international contests, including BYUs IBMC (USA, 2015), AAASs GIST (Morocco,
2014), Copec-UCs Aplica tu idea (Chile, 2014), Emprende UCs Jump (Chile, 2012), totaling
over $50,000 in prize money in three years.

Simple Citizen (Finalist)


After trying to help his wife, who is from South Korea, secure a green card, Sam Stoddard, armed
with a masters degree in accounting and experience with confusing tax laws and forms, threw
in the towel. I assumed that if TurboTax can condense mountains of tax law into a few easy
questions, something similar must exist for green cards. Stoddard was wrong, and the idea for
SimpleCitizen was born. From signup to citizenship, SimpleCitizen guides applicants through
the entire immigration and visa processes providing a truly comprehensive solution thats fast,
accurate, and affordable. Over the past year they have raised over 200K from prestigious venture
capital partners and recently announced their $700,000 seed round led by Kickstart Seed Fund.
If we have learned anything from the IBMC, its that figuring this stuff out require endless hours
and dedication to the scientific method of having an assumption, testing that assumption, and
either validating it or invalidating it, said Stoddard. SimpleCitizens growth displays a welcoming
sign to those traveling the road to US citizenship.

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Competition Booklet

SUCCESS STORIES

D&P Bio Innovations (Honorable Mention)


With over eighteen years of stem cell tissue engineering research experience, the management
team at D&P Bioinnovations are biomedical entrepreneurs capable of translating biomedical
academic research from benchside to bedside. Their pilot product is an implantable, bioresorbable medical device to functionally regenerate a damaged esophagus within the body. D&P
Bioinnovations has been very busy since participation in the 2015 IBMC. They have won awards
as finalists at the India C-Camp/QB3, Johns Hopkins MedTech Venture Challenge, M2D2 $100K
Challenge, Baylor New Venture Challenge, Global TiEcon, OneStart Americas 2015 and GEW
50 Global Startup Open all within the last 5 months. Specifically, the IBMC has taught us how
to change our product based on customer needs, said Derek Dashti, founder and CSO at D&P
Bio Innovations. said Dashti, We have been in contact with many prominent thoracic surgeons
and hospital administrators to understand both the utility and reimbursement strategies of our
product. His advice to entrepreneurs is to have open communication with your customers.
This is key in developing a sound product and will also lead to potential partners to help your
startup advance quicker.

Local Line (Semifinalist)


Local Line is a modern commerce system for local food. They serve those in the service industry
through their state-of-the-art software that connects purchasers, suppliers, and food hubs all
directly together. Since competing in the IBMC, Local Line has improved transaction volume
by three times and has participated in several local funding rounds. Validation has been a key
principle that has helped drive the success of this venture. Theres no shortcut to validation,
said Cole Jones, (CEO of Local Line), customer validation is experience you have to go through.
Lean Methodology and customer development have been key drivers for Local Line post-launch.
This strategy is present in our current day product development. said Cole, We define what we
do based on our company vision, then ask specific questions within a well-defined scope. We
prioritize, we build, we launch, repeat. Local Line is anticipating the launch of its new software
and databases for Food Hubs in early summer 2016.

Illumibowl (Quarterfinalist)
Using the bathroom at night is serious business. No one enjoys stumbling around in the dark or
turning on bright lights and waking themselves up in the middle of the night! IllumiBowl is dedicated to helping you have the best late night bathroom experience possible. While a student
at BYU, Matt Alexander launched a Kickstarter that has raised $95,399 on an original $20,000
goal. The IllumiBowl is an LED light that lasts 100,000 hours that clips on the side of the toilet
and shines a soft light into the bowl, eliminating bathroom blindness caused by bright lights
when going in the middle of the night. To date they have sold over $1 million worth of product
over 50,000 units. In March 2016, Illumibowl competed on Shark Tank and walked away with
$100,000 for a 25% equity stake from Kevin OLeary. It recently made the shelves at Bed Bath
and Beyond and has been featured nationally in Forbes, BuzzFeed, CNetm Good Morning
America, Daily Mail, engadget and many others.

2016 IBMC

31

HELPFUL HINTS

What Winning Teams Do:


The purpose of the International Business Model Competition is to reward the process student entrepreneurs follow to eliminate uncertainty in their businesses. We encourage smart entrepreneurs that identify and test key business hypotheses, seek
input from potential customers, and make necessary changes based on what is learned. Remember, this is not a
business plan or venture pitch competition!

Tell us your story.


If you watch any past winner present, you will see that they start by connecting to the audience through
a compelling, but truthful story about their business. In your story, describe the pain you uncovered and
how you plan to solve it.

Use the Business Model Canvas.


Start with a blank canvas and step-by-step show your hypotheses , how you tested them, and the results.
Demonstrate visually which hypotheses were validated and which were not. Dont throw all of your information on the canvas at once, walk the judges through your validation in digestible portions.

Describe the validation.


Each hypothesis you make has to be accompanied with a test or an activity that aims to prove or disprove
your hypotheses. Zoom in close on all of your tests and explain the hard work you did. We want you to
justify your decision-making and the course of your business with real data from credible sources.

Highlight the lessons learned.


Each test has to lead to the lessons learned and future plan of action. Show what each test taught you,
what was validated, what wasnt, and what hypotheses and tests you made next.

Explain your pivots.


Most of you had to pivot or change a portion of your business in response to customer feedback. We
want you to justify your pivots with concrete data. Just saying that you made a pivot is not enough.
Realizing that your hypothesis is inaccurate is not a weakness, but evidence that you learned something.

In conclusion, judges want to see multiple rounds of hypotheses and tests. One or two tests is not enough to show that
you thoroughly researched your business idea. It is not possible to walk through the entire canvas in 10 minutes, so focus
on a few hypotheses and tests that are crucial to your business.

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Competition Booklet

IBMC

around the world

2015-2016

global competition qualifiers

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