LANSING ? Biotechnology start-up BioSavita won the $100,000 SmartZone Award at the Great Lakes Entrepreneur?s Quest 13th annual statewide business plan competition Tuesday night at the James B. Henry Center at Michigan State University.

The Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, a statewide competition designed to advance ideas and solutions that address social challenges, also presented a $25,000 Community Ventures Award to Vanguard Property Preservation Enterprise for its innovative solution to provide employment opportunities to unemployed individuals in Detroit.

Sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Community Ventures Award was presented to the social enterprise that best demonstrated potential to create hiring solutions for structurally unemployed individuals in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac or Saginaw.

The SmartZone Award, sponsored by the Michigan SmartZones and funded through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, administered by Ann Arbor SPARK, was presented to Plymouth-based BioSavita by Joseph Licavoli, Manager, Capital Programs, Ann Arbor SPARK. The award was received by Nalini Motwani, Ph.D., president and chief science officer for BioSavita

BioSavita is a privately-held, revenue stage biotechnology company with a proprietary and patented yeast platform to accelerate development and production of biologics in partnership with biopharma companies. Pharmaceutical development is moving from small molecule drugs such as Lipitor to blockbuster monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as Herceptin, Avastin and Humira, which are highly effective and targeted therapies for cancer and arthritis. In the last decade, monoclonal antibodies have improved the survival rate of cancer patients by three fold and they have fewer side effects than chemotherapy.

Emerging Company Awards

GLEQ Grand Prize Award of $25,000 in the Emerging Company category was presented to������������������� Detroit-based ENT Biotech Solutions, LLC. The award was received by Olivier Lecerf, chief operating officer. ENT Biotech Solutions is a medical device company developing the Adeno-Electro-Forceps, a single use disposable tool for adenoid soft tissue removal that reduces device cost, surgical time, complications, and patient discomfort. The Second Place Award of $15,000 was presented to Inmatech of Ann Arbor. The award was received by Ryan Wiltshire, business development officer. Inmatech is developing a 12 V hybrid energy storage device that integrates asymmetric supercapacitors in parallel with a commercially established lead-acid battery to significantly increase the lifespan of a start battery under aggressive loads imposed by start-stop operation of passenger vehicles. The Third Place Award of $10,000 was presented to Ornicept, Inc. of Ann Arbor. The award was received by Justin Otani, CEO. Ornicept is a management solution provider eliminating costly natural resource data collection bottlenecks by providing an integrated platform for acquiring field data and uploading it to cloud-based servers. Providing analytics capabilities and improving how data is collected, managed, and analyzed.

The top seven teams competing for awards in the Emerging Company category pitched their plans to a panel of investment judges that included: Brian Abraham, executive director, Spartan Innovations; Jack Ahrens, general partner, TGap Ventures and chairman, GLEQ Board of Directors; Kim Pasquino, portfolio relations, Start Garden; and Terry Cross, founder, Windward Associates, LLC. Presentation scores were added to scores on the companies? written business plans to determine the overall winners. Finalists in addition to the winning companies included, Exo Dynamics, ITB Packaging, Lightmob, LLC, and Sovilok Manufacturing.

New Business Idea Awards

In the New Business Idea category, DataSpeaks Health Solutions, of Troy, received the First Place Award of $5,000, with Curtis Bagne, founder and chief science officer receiving the award. DataSpeaks has a patented software technology to revolutionize how measurable biological data is analyzed to increase the safety and efficacy of pre-market drugs and therapeutics. OcuSano, Inc., of Ann Arbor, received the Second Place Award of $2,500, and was represented by Stanley Samuel, CEO. OcuSano is developing a drug release mechanism for wet AMD eye medications. QTEK, LLC of Chassell was awarded the Third Place Award of $1,000, with Dr. Bowen Li, president, receiving the award. QTEK is developing an antimicrobial additive for plastics, paint and wood products.

Innovation Awards

The eighth annual Automation Alley − Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Award in the amount of $12,500 was presented to Covaron Advanced Materials of Ann Arbor and was received by Cameron Smith, CFO, and Dave Hatfield, CEO. Covaron?s PETRAFORGE? product processes like an advanced ceramic or polymer, yet performs like steel and aluminum and outperforms other polymers in a wealth of industrial applications for a fraction of the cost. The award was presented by Natalia Stasiw, entrepreneurial services manager, Automation Alley.

The Lean Startup Information Technology Innovation Award in the amount of $10,000 was presented to Lightmob, LLC, of Grosse Pointe Park and was received by Hans Erickson, founder. Lightmob is developing GEEPS, a user-friendly transition device for moving data off aging computers. The award was presented by Mike Klein, co-CEO, Online Tech.

The Michigan Medical Device Accelerator Innovation Award in the amount of $10,000 was presented to Arthroptics of Ann Arbor and the award was received by Jordan MacDonald, co-founder. Arthroptics is developing Visula, a modified cannula designed with two lumens to allow for the simultaneous passage of a camera and arthroscopic instruments for a more inclusive view of the surgical space and a better assessment of the joint during surgery. The award was presented by Kelly Burris, partner, Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione.

The MSU Bioeconomy Institute − Green Chemistry Innovation Award in the amount of $5,000 was presented to GANTEC, Inc., of Midland and was received by Richard Olson, president. Gantec has developed advanced, plant-based growing aids, allowing agriculture professionals to reduce costs, cut back on synthetic chemicals, and improve yields. The award was presented by William Freckman, director of operations, MSU Bioeconomy Institute, and Randy Thelen, president, Lakeshore Advantage.

NextEnergy added a second innovation award and presented the two $10,000 NextEnergy − Alternative Energy Innovation Awards to Ann Arbor-based Inmatech and Arborlight. The Inmatech award was received by Ryan Wiltshire, business development officer. The company is developing a 12 V hybrid energy storage device to significantly increase the lifespan of batteries under aggressive loads imposed by start-stop operation of passenger vehicles. The Arborlight award was received by Michael Forbis, president. Arborlight?s LED-based Solis window emulator delivers daylight that looks, acts and feels just like a real skylight, with a spectrum of varying color and intensity throughout the day for spaces that cannot access daylight. Both awards were presented with by Dan Radomski, vice president, industry & venture development, NextEnergy.

Inforum Center for Leadership announced the availability of a competitive ACTiVATE Scholarship Award for a woman entrepreneur in the GLEQ Business Plan Competition interested in developing her entrepreneurial acumen through the ACTiVATE education program. Kristen Linegar, director of strategic initiatives, Inforum Center for Leadership, announced the scholarship award.

Honor Awards

John Gillis, First Light, LLC, was awarded GLEQ Coach of the Year. John coached four entrepreneurs in this cycle of the competition and two, Kimberly Kassner of EmpowerMind and Gwen Stanton of What Happens Next, lobbied for John to receive this award. They report John is ?caring enough to tell you the things you need to hear even though you may not want to hear them.?

Grace Hsai, Warmilu, was awarded the GLEQ Spirit of Entrepreneurship which recognizes an entrepreneur that demonstrates passion, compassion, commitment, coachability and integrity. Grace was nominated by Gerry Roston who was struck by her eagerness to help others and her commitment to making the world a better place.

Loch McCabe, Shepherd Advisors, was recognized for his success in the Vision to Action Challenge for using the Business Model Canvas to create a new business vision supported by a clearly articulated action plan.

The GLEQ awards event was held in the Atrium of the James B. Henry Center on the MSU campus. The event was part of the full-day Entrepreneur Connect 2013 conference which included learning and networking sessions and the inaugural Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge awards.

The 2014 GLEQ Business Plan Competition opens for registration on August 26. Awards will be announced at ACE?14 in January 2014.

Additional information is available at GLEQ.Org