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AQUA VITAE TEAM FROM TERRY COLLEGE TAKES SECOND PLACE IN YEAR-ENDING INTERNATIONAL MOOT CORP BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

ATHENS, Ga. — A team of MBA candidates from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business bested 28 other teams from around the world to take second place at the 19th annual global Moot Corp Competition held May 1-4 in Austin, Texas.

Before a panel of judges composed of five venture capitalists, MBA students Peter King and Nicole Kinser presented their business plan to market and distribute Aqua Vitae, a patented drug developed by UGA researchers that temporarily boosts the immune systems of ornamental fish when mixed with aquarium water.

The Aqua Vitae compound was invented by Donald Evans and Liliana Jaso-Friedmann, both faculty members in the College of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Medical Microbiology. Diseases caused by stress due to transport or changes in "tank" environments result in the deaths of 169 million ornamental fish annually. The Aqua Vitae team says that mortality rates can be reduced by as much as two-thirds with the use of Aqua Vitae, which would be a windfall for the ornamental fish industry.

King and Kinser competed against 14 international MBA teams and 16 teams from leading MBA programs in the United States. Having won qualifying competitions before being invited to attend, each team began the Moot Corp competition by making a presentation in front of judges who had received the plans two weeks earlier.

The top voted team in each of five brackets moved on to the final round, where each team had 15 minutes to present their plans and 20 minutes to answer judges' questions. The teams were evaluated based on the quality of their written plan, the effectiveness of their verbal presentation and responses to judges' questions, and the viability of the proposed venture.

The winning team came from contest host University of Texas, which took home the $100,000 grand prize for its plan to market and distribute a home cervical cancer screening kit invented by team member Patrick Peveto. Runner-up Aqua Vitae won $5,000 in prize money. The other finalists finishing third through fifth, respectively, were the University of Colorado, the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago.

Charles Hofer, faculty advisor to the Terry College team and Regents Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, called the students' outstanding performance against MBAs from around the world "a truly significant accomplishment."

"Even more exciting, however, is the fact that we expect that Peter and Nicole will be able to actually get the company started later this summer when the field trials are completed," Hofer said.

Earlier this spring, the Aqua Vitae team represented by Kinser tied for first place at Wake Forest University's third annual Babcock Elevator Competition, in which teams make their initial business plan pitch during a two-minute elevator ride to the top of the Wachovia Center building in Winston Salem, N.C. Kinser advanced to the final round, where she made a formal presentation to a judging panel of three venture capitalists. It was the third time in three years that a Terry College team has won the elevator competition.

Terry College Dean P. George Benson said Aqua Vitae's accomplishments reflect well on both the school's MBA program and the Terry College as a whole.

"Each time a Terry team delivers another high-quality, professional presentation, our reputation as a first-rate business school is reinforced," said Benson. "Chuck Hofer and his students continue to define a standard of excellence that few business schools have been able to match."

Though she and King carried the ball in Texas, Kinser credited fellow UGA team members for helping make their strong showing possible. MBA student Todd Jordan, forestry graduate student Ian Conradie and honors undergraduate Aaron Stallfus helped write a solid business plan for Aqua Vitae, a significant factor in most competitions. "It's critical to have a good written plan," Kinser said.

Aqua Vitae Enterprises, which is changing its company name to AVE, will now focus on upcoming field trials being conducting this summer at a University of Florida ornamental fish research facility. If the field trials are successful as expected, the students — who graduate Friday, May 10 — anticipate having six-figure financial backing for a real-world launch of their business venture by the end of the year.

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