10 finalist teams are selected for '05 Entrepreneur Challenge

Ten finalist teams have been selected for the 2005 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, a business plan competition hosted by the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business.

The UEC is a seven-month program designed to help students understand the process of creating and starting a business. This year, more than 500 students have competed statewide for a $40,000 cash prize that will be awarded to the team that presents the most plausible and promising business plan. More than $100,000 in cash prizes and in-kind services will be awarded as secondary prizes.

Finalists selected from the 200 teams that submitted business plans from around the state are:

• Aculus Inc., which specializes in Web analytic software.

• BilliardEx, which imports and sells pool tables.

• CareXpress, which offers health care to people without insurance.

• Cartoon Solutions, which offers customized animation for businesses.

• eHealthCompete, which provides an interactive environment for employees to keep track of exercise activity and set up competitions.

• HireVue, which has developed software that allows companies to conduct customized interviews over the Web.

• Mirai Studios, which has developed a new style of video games.

• Smart Tech Innovations, which has developed a new technology for medicine bottle caps.

• Top Brands USA, which exports clothing from the top U.S. brands into the Ukraine.

• Wasatch Microfluidics Inc., which has developed a technology that improves test results to better future drug developments.

The finalist teams are from the U., Brigham Young University, Utah Valley State College and Westminster College. They were selected by a panel of 10 judges, including lawyers, accountants and small-business owners.

The top 27 teams were assigned a mentor who provided the students with expertise in marketing, finance, patents and other needed advice to develop a complete business plan.

All of the 10 finalists will discuss their businesses with the panel Saturday in 20-minute presentations. A final awards banquet will be held April 20 at the U.'s Rice-Eccles Stadium Tower.