Registration for the seventh annual Economic Development Partnership of Alabama’s Alabama Launchpad Start-up Competition, for new, independent start-up companies in the proof-of-concept stage, begins Dec. 12, 2012. The winning teams receive grant awards from $20,000 to $25,000 each, totaling $100,000.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) produced one of four winners to split the grand prize in the proof-of-concept category in 2012. Proteomic Profiling Technologies, LLC, a biotechnology company founded by Michael Heaven in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, won $21,780 to build a prototype product for testing.
The deadline for applying is Jan. 13, 2013. Those interested must complete an application online at www.AlabamaLaunchpad.com and pay a $150 application fee. Rules and a timeline can be found on the Launchpad website. The 2013 Launchpad class will be announced Jan. 31, 2013.
Alabama Launchpad has been dominated by UAB teams recently. In the seed-ready team competition earlier this year, UAB produced the winner, as well as six finalists — more than twice as many as any other university. The $100,000 grand prize went to inDegree, led by Molly Wasko, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Management, Information Systems and Quantitative Methods in the UAB Collat School of Business. The company has developed an alumni-tracking service to help universities build stronger alumni communities and job-networking opportunities for current students.