November 16, 2001. Austin, TX—On November 15, eight teams of MBAs from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin competed in the Opening Rounds of the annual Texas Moot Corp^® Competition. The four top teams will now compete in the finals on December 6 for a $100,000 investment and a slot in the Global Competition in May.

“Our four finalists each have exciting products. They range from a self-administered pap smear test to a shock-reducing grip for golf clubs to software reducing the time and costs associated with FDA trials to software enabling VARs to detect forthcoming problems in their clients’ systems. The finals will be exciting and close,” said Dr. Gary Cadenhead, Moot Corp^® Director.

Eight teams competed in two divisions with the top two teams from each division selected to compete in the finals. The four top teams were OmniTap, Trial_Logic, Private Concepts and SportsTek.

• Private Concepts provides safe, affordable, home diagnostic medical tests for women. The company’s initial product is a self-administered cervical cancer screen. The product was developed by an Austin gynecologist.
• SportsTek has a revolutionary new golf grip design that significantly reduces the shock and vibration felt from impact with the ball or the ground.
• Trial_Logic markets software developed by M. D. Anderson and utilized by clinical trail researchers to decrease development costs and maximize product revenues for drug development and medical device companies.
• OmniTap will provide a fast, easy and profitable way for value added resellers to service and sell technology to small business clients.

A panel of local venture capitalists and business leaders assumed the role of interested investors and questioned the entrepreneurs as if their own investment capital were at risk. The judges function as an investment group seeking to reach consensus on the business venture they would most likely fund. The judges were Chad Herrin, Austin Ventures; Kevin Williams, ARCH Ventures; Todd Barr, Dell Ventures; Kristi Roberson, Ernst & Young; Mark Mai, Thompson & Knight; Scott Segell, Hunt Ventures; Adam Green, TL Ventures; Rashid Shamise, Ernst & Young; Joyce Carter, JK Entervenures, and Jeff Andrews, Brobeck Phleger & Harrison.

One team will be selected in the finals to receive a $100,000 investment from the Moot Corp^® Pontoon Fund, a free year in the Austin Technology Incubator and a spot in the prestigious Global Moot Corp^® Competition plus a wealth of industry and venture capital contacts.

The public is invited to view the finals on Thursday, December 6, 2001 on The University of Texas at Austin campus in the McCombs School of Business, GSB 3.130 beginning at 4 PM.

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 school new-venture competition in the world. The global Moot Corp^Ò Competition is recognized as the Super Bowl of world business-plan competitions.