A company developed by UT graduate students won Rice University's Business Plan Competition, earning the participants $327,500 to invest in their venture.
Andrew Mills, Barry Kahn and Jiten Dalvi's company qcue took the top prize ahead of 36 teams for their software, which works with box office companies to prevent ticket scalping and affords companies more control over the price of and reselling of tickets.
"It was one of those days that I'll remember for the rest of my life," Kahn said. "It gets us part of the way. It was money we were trying to go after anyway."
The multifaceted competition was designed to simulate real-world scenarios where teams present business plans to venture capital investors, said Mary Lynn Fernau, director of marketing for the Rice Alliance, which hosted the event.
Participants competed in different scenarios, such as the "elevator pitch," where teams had the length of an elevator ride - about 60 seconds - to convince a possible investor to fund their company. Teams also delivered three 15-minute presentations describing their business plans.
"During our last pitch, the 650-seat auditorium was standing room only," Kahn said. "People were really excited about what we were doing,"
Of the 190 teams that have competed in the Rice competition since its inception eight years ago, 35 percent, or 65 companies, are still in business today.
While the win is a huge step forward for the young company, qcue members still have a long way to go before their product will hit the market. Kahn said the team's immediate goals are to secure investment funds and move forward with prospective customers.
"We would love to have an event run using our technology as soon as possible," Kahn said.
Qcue will compete in the Global Moot Corp Competition at the McCombs School of Business April 30 to May 3.
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