FocalPop Wins 2009 Texas Moot Corp Competition

February 18, 2009, Austin, TX— FocalPop, a web-based solution for finding quality stock photography, won the Texas round of the Moot Corp® Competition, the new venture competition hosted annually at The University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business. 

As winner of the Texas round, FocalPop lands a berth in this year's Global Moot Corp Competition and the Austin Technology Incubator Launch Package featuring the opportunity for a one year membership which includes strategic business consulting services and mentoring from a team of industry experts, office space, and access to discounted legal, accounting, and businesses services from top tier providers. The Global Moot Corp Competition will be held in Austin May 7 - 9.

“Participating in Texas Moot Corp was a great way to get invaluable feedback on our business plan and pitch. Winning gave our team a huge confidence boost and compounds our already intense enthusiasm. The judges were open and honest with comments and criticism which we are taking very seriously. We still have a mountain of work ahead of us in the genesis of FocalPop, but the Global Moot Corp Competition in May will be our next major milestone,” said Brian Romanko, FocalPop President.

FocalPop is a web-based company solving the pain businesses suffer finding quality photography. They reverse the photography acquisition process allowing buyers to crowdsource requests via an expansive community of skilled photographers. FocalPop’s web-based platform allows buyers to submit detailed requests for their project needs and specify the price they are willing to pay. Photographers can submit content from their own archives or create new work. This “reverse auction” approach provides buyers the specificity and quality they desire while better informing photographers and increasing royalties. The FocalPop team members include Brian Romanko, MBA 2008 and MBA students Becky Parker, Ronnie LeBert, Eddie Howard and Libby Essinger.

“FocalPop is a great example of the new wave of long-tail digital content businesses that are driving ever more innovative uses of the Internet,” said Rob Adams, Director of the Global Moot Corp Program. “This creative team has uncovered and is exploiting a very interesting, fast growth niche created by the convergence of digital content, ecommerce and crowd-sourcing all enabled through the web.”

FocalPop competed with three other finalists in the Texas round of the 2009 competition that included:

• Biopulp
The company will commercialize Biopulp, a biopharmaceutical for use with endodontic procedures. Whereas a standard root canal procedure leaves the tooth “dead”, Biopulp has the ability to regenerate damaged dental pulp to restore vitality to an infected tooth.

• ApplyGenie
ApplyGenie is a web-based process guidance and management solution that empowers college-bound students with interactive tools and services to dynamically gather and manage college admissions requirements.

• Wonder-Space MOBILE
Wonder-Space Mobile provides customized education content via mobile devices. The first offering taps into $2.6B federal funds under the No Child Left Behind Act.

The finalists came from a field of seven teams which competed in the Texas Moot Corp Semifinals on February 4. The top two teams in two divisions proceeded to the Finals.

The Moot Corp Competition simulates the process of raising venture capital. It is a unique partnership that brings together MBAs and business leaders. The judges function as an investment group seeking to reach consensus on the business venture they would most likely fund. The judges base their decision on the quality of the idea, the strength of the management team and the clarity and persuasiveness of the written plan and oral presentation.

This year’s judges were a group of eight former Texas Moot Corp competitors, many of them winners of the Texas competition. They included Phil Speros, MBA 2001, Halsa Pharmaceuticals; Scott Evans, MBA 2004, Chipotle Business Group; Barry Kahn, Ph.D. Economics 2007 and Jiten Dalvi, MBA 2007, qcue; Harlan Beverly, MBA 2004, Bigfoot Networks; Daniel Nelson, MBA 2006, Phurnace Software; Doug Baum, Master of Science in Technology Commercialization 2007, MacuCLEAR; and Ranjit Nayak, MBA 2007, eVapt.

The Texas Moot Corp Competition is hosted by the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. The Moot Corp Competition was the first competition of its kind focused on entrepreneurship and is the oldest operating inter-business Competitionschool new-venture competition in the world. The Global Moot Corp is recognized as the Super Bowl of world business-plan competition.