BMC Winner Moves on to Harvard Final

PROVO, Utah – Jan 30, 2013 – With its foot-hugging baby breathing monitor already receiving notoriety from media across the country, this year’s Business Model Competition winner Owlet Protection Enterprises knocked the competition’s socks off.

Sponsored by the Miller New Venture Challenge, the competition awarded Owlet $3,000 in prize money. Additionally, Owlet will be sponsored by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology as the teams squares off against other student entrepreneurs at Harvard this May.

“This is a unique competition,” says Nathan Furr, entrepreneurship professor and BMC creator. “It encourages students to go through the crucial step of testing their assumptions with customers in the field to get viable solutions.”

Owlet team member Jacob Colvin said winning the competition was incredible.

“BYU has been a fantastic springboard for our company,” says the European studies major from Alpine, Utah. “We look forward to participating in the international competition as an opportunity to get more feedback so we can take our idea to market.”

In addition to the recent buzz from Mashable, Huffington Post and ABC News, the Owlet team was honored as Brigham Young University 2012 Student Innovators of the Year and as winners of the Big Idea Competition — proving them to be an entrepreneurial force to be reckoned with.

Owlet beat out four other teams in the final round where competitors gave eight-minute presentations about their business validation process. A question-and-answer period from the panel of judges followed the team demonstrations. Second and third place went to Vacation Races and Intuiplan respectively, with Fiberfix taking fourth and MedLock fifth.

Furr, who also served on the judging panel, said he was delighted with the way the event turned out. Before announcing the winners, he took a moment to reflect on the competition.

“Judging this year was the most difficult yet,” Furr said. “I see every one of these teams as having massive potential. They have done something phenomenal and will change the world.”

For more information about the International Business Model Competition or to enter, visit businessmodelcompetition.com.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.