The Company Lab (CO.LAB) announced three emerging companies as the winners of its fifth annual Will This Float business pitch competition last week. Innovasan Corporation took the grand prize for Best Idea Overall, winning $1,000 in cash, 32 hours of free business services, and a one-year mobile marketing contract.
The winner of the award for Best Outdoor/Sustainability Idea was Chattanooga Sports Leagues, and the recipient of the Best General Business Idea award was The Baby Flat. Both companies took home $250 in cash and 25-30 hours of free business services.
Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Innovasan Corporation is the creator of Gauntlet Disinfection System, a fluid waste technology treatment platform designed to reduce global water pollution. The technology treats fluid waste streams on site to create an effluent free of biologic and organic pollutants, making it safe for discharge into the environment or municipal sewer systems.
“Winning Will This Float provides validation that the problem we’re trying to solve truly has no borders,” said Jeff Hubrig Jr., manager of business development for Innovasan Corporation. “Water is the most precious resource we have as humans, and we have a responsibility and opportunity to improve the accessibility of clean water for people around the world.”
Mike Bradshaw, executive director of CO.LAB, congratulated the company for transitioning into commercialization after spending years in an R&D lab developing its technology.
“The research project could have chosen a number of ways to go to market with its first product,” said Bradshaw. “Most inventors in their position would seek large licensing deals or an outright acquisition by a major player in the medical device industry. Instead, the founders decided to introduce their first-ever product at Will This Float. I hope their coming success in the marketplace will serve as a model for other R&D-driven startups to earn their first revenue coming from founder-led sales.”
Approximately 350 people attended the event, which took place Nov. 19 at the Chattanooga Public Library, and featured business pitches from 10 aspiring entrepreneurs from across east Tennessee. Of those participants, seven presented ideas focused on the outdoors and sustainability – the theme of Will This Float – and three pitched general business ideas. A panel of five judges selected the winners, assessing candidates according to their pitches and a set of 0.
Source: The Company Lab