Product that improves prosthetic comfort wins Elevator Pitch Contest

JAMES WAGNER, CEO of BI Medical in North Kingstown, holds the $250 check that he received for winning the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s annual statewide Elevator Pitch Contest Tuesday night. Wagner pitched a product that promotes comfort for people who need to wear prosthetics. / COURTESY MATERIALSCIENCE.ORG
JAMES WAGNER, CEO of BI Medical in North Kingstown, holds the $250 check that he received for winning the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s annual statewide Elevator Pitch Contest Tuesday night. Wagner pitched a product that promotes comfort for people who need to wear prosthetics. / COURTESY MATERIALSCIENCE.ORG

PROVIDENCE – A product that promotes comfort for people who need to wear prosthetics won the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s annual statewide Elevator Pitch Contest Tuesday night.

James Wagner, CEO of BI Medical LLC in North Kingstown, pitched his company’s Silver-Liner technology before a standing-room only crowd and panel of judges at the Tech Collective office, explaining how the product provides a superior approach for removing dirt, dead skin and bacterial byproducts that cause prosthetic liner odor.

“This is a very underserved market,” he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “And there is a significant unmet need.”

He said the “vast majority” of patients are using prosthetics for their legs, and problems arise when the prosthetic grinds against the skin, mixing with sweat to create a “very pungent odor.”
People can stop going out in public because of worries about the smell, and their lifestyles become affected, he explained.
Wagner said there are approximately 1.8 million leg amputees in the United States who could benefit from BI Medical’s product.
“We look forward to correcting a very correctable problem,” Wagner said.
Wagner said the company wants to bring its technology to market in the first quarter of 2017.
Wagner and nine other presenters together shared $1,000 in cash prizes. Wagner took home the top prize of $250.

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“Among the skills successful entrepreneurs need to master is how to effectively present their business idea to potential investors, partners and employees,” Competition co-chair Margaret “Peggy” Farrell, partner with the Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP law firm, said in a statement. “Persuading others that you have a worthy idea takes practice, and everybody who participated in the Elevator Pitch Contest got valuable advice from our judges.”

The event featured 34 presenters, who had 90 seconds to present their idea to the judges, who then gave verbal feedback about the pitch.

The other winning presenters were:

  • Andrew Howes, a Brown University student, presented Fibrosis, a technology patented at Brown University used to screen for anti-fibrotic drugs.
  • Roxanne LaCroix, of North Kingstown, pitched Cross Peptides Inc., which has created the intellectual property for a peptide with strong anti-microbial properties.
  • Mindy Levine, of Kingston, pitched Cyclo-Sensing, which uses technology developed at the University of Rhode Island to create commercial products that enable consumers to control their chemical exposure.
  • Anthony Markey, a University of Rhode Island student, who pitched Libby, an online platform that allows students to buy and sell textbooks exclusively to peers on their campus.
  • Brian McHugh, a University of Rhode Island student, pitched MyDiabetesTracker, a product that lets users preventatively monitor foot ulcers and obesity.
  • Andrew Peltier, a University of Rhode Island student, pitched Smart Collar, a pet collar with embedded technology designed to protect it from predatory dangers, such as coyote attacks.
  • Lucy Price, a Brown University student, presented Girlpower, an organic, ready-to-go, bottled protein drink that caters exclusively to women.
  • Kyle Tysvaer, of East Providence, who pitched Steal My Wedding Day, a consulting platform that supports reselling of canceled wedding and other events.
  • Neelum Wong, a Brown University student, pitched Brown University Microscopy Sample Prep, a platform that improves the quality of microscopy imaging for nanomaterials.

Judges were Todd Knapp, CEO, Envision Technology Advisors; Daniel Murphy, senior vice president of business development, Home Loan Investment Bank; Barbara Schoenfeld, managing director, Saffron LLC; Jennifer Rousseau, executive director, Cherrystone Angel Group, Providence; and Dan Sullivan, senior account executive, Salesforce.

Lead sponsors of the 2017 Competition were Bryant University, Everhope Foundation, MedMates, Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP, Integrated Media Group, KLR, Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund and Sprout.

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