Congratulations to all of the Finalist Teams that competed in the 10^th Annual Duke Start-Up Challenge Finals event on Saturday, April 18^th.  And an extra special congratulations to all of the winners of the competition:

• Overall Winner: EntoGenetics
• Consumer Products & Services Track: EntoGenetics
• Healthcare Track: Knoesis
• Social Enterprise Track: Catchafire
• High Tech Track: Wimzii
• Best Tradeshow Performance: Plato's Republic

Learn more about the winners ...

About the Duke Start-Up Challenge Finals

 The Duke Start-up Challenge is a competition that encompasses all aspects of building a business, including assembling a management team, formulating a business plan, and developing core product technology.

More than $45,000 in cash and prizes were awarded in four categories this year: health care/life sciences; high tech; consumer products and services; and social enterprise. Overall open category winners were also selected, with the overall winner taking home $25,000.

Of the more than 55 teams that entered the competition, 12 finalist teams were selected to pitch their ideas to judges, present to the public at the Duke Start-Up Challenge Tradeshow, and deliver their 2-minute “elevator pitches” to an enthusiastic crowd at the awards ceremony. 

The winner of this year’s Duke Start-Up Challenge was EntoGenetics, a company that has developed a process to produce ‘spider silk’ in a scalable form.  Spider silk is an organic fabric which is light, incredibly elastic, and tougher than Kevlar. EntoGenetics also won the Consumer Products and Services category.  The runner-up, and winner of $10,000, was Knoesis, which also won the Healthcare category. 

Other winners included Catchafire, winner for Social Enterprise; Wimzii, winner for High Tech; and Plato’s Republic, winner for Best Tradeshow Performance.