From UNC Asheville
Press release
UNC Asheville students Madison Eddings and Ben Eisdorfer won the regional InnovateHER Challenge with their plans for PRO(TECH)T, a security-alert wristband designed to summon help in cases of sexual assault. The InnovateHER competitions, conducted by the federal Small Business Administration (SBA), are designed to foster innovative product ideas from entrepreneurs.
The only student team among the 12 regional finalists at the Nov. 10 event at the Western Women’s Business Center, Eddings and Eisdorfer earned first-place votes from all seven judges – experts in entrepreneurship and small business management – and will advance to the national InnovateHER 2016 Challenge semifinals.
“PRO(TECH)T LLC merges methods for cultural change with innovative technology,” said Eddings. “We developed our primary product, iuvo (which means help in latin), to liberate individuals from fear by allowing help to be just a push of a button away. We are so thrilled to have the chance to catalyze the success of our business through this competition.”
The two students first developed the idea of PRO(TECH)T in an interdisciplinary social entrepreneurship class at UNC Asheville where students learn the fundamentals of project and business-plan development. Students in the class are coached by faculty and community mentors with experience in marketing and product development.
Eddings’ and Eisdorfer’s PRO(TECH)T product idea, business plan and pitch won the $3,000 grand prize at the system-wide 2015 UNC Social Entrepreneurship Conference in February. Eddings, a junior majoring in biology, and Eisdorfer, a junior management student, have been hard at work ever since raising the needed capital and developing plans to bring their product to market.
The InnovateHER: Innovating for Women Business Challenge is held each year by the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership. The competition provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase products and services that have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families, have the potential for commercialization, and fill a need in the marketplace. The SBA will screen the semifinalists and select 10 finalists from among the regional winners to compete in the national InnovateHER finals in March 2016 in Washington D.C.
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