What’s Happening In The St. Louis Region

What’s Happening In The St. Louis Region

February 7, 2012

Entrepreneurs Awarded Up To $150,000 In Annual Olin Cup Competition: An unprecedented three teams were selected to receive up to $50,000 each at the annual Olin Cup awards ceremony this past Wednesday evening at Washington University. Sponsored by the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University, the Olin Cup typically awards $70,000 in seed investment money to fund start-up businesses, and a $5,000 student prize.

This year, investments may total up to $150,000 for three teams:

SoMoLend, a web-and mobile-based peer-to-peer lending company;
Eyelten Therapeutics, a company designed to develop therapies to treat age-related macular degeneration; and
Loadmaster Toolkit, a pocket computer with custom software to streamline loading and managing cargo on military airlifters.

The $5,000 student prize was awarded to Ryan Rakestraw, a first-year MBA student at Olin Business School and a member of Freiezo LLC, a company developing high-efficiency distributed wind energy systems.

Ron Bassuner, left, CEO of Eyelten Therapeutics, and Kunal Rehani, co-founder of the company, admire the Olin Cup after being named one of the winners of the annual competition on Feb. 1. Mary Butkus photo

Winners may receive in-kind services from one or more of the competition sponsors in addition to any cash investment. Olin Cup awards to this year’s teams also may be supplemented by additional investments through the Skandalaris Student Venture Fund (SSVF).

SSVF is a course that helps students develop practical skills and disciplines necessary to succeed in angel, venture and private equity investing. Students work with angel investors, venture capital funds, and private equity firms.

The RCGA and St. Louis Commerce Magazine were pleased – now for the ninth year – to serve as marketing sponsors of the Olin Cup Competition, in conjunction with the RCGA's and the region's overall efforts to increase entrepreneurial activity and retain young talent in the bi-state metro area. The goal of the Skandalaris Center and the Olin Cup Competition is to harness the entrepreneurial potential of the University and the St. Louis region by utilizing the following tools:

Collaboration - Provide a forum that networks entrepreneurs with each other within the University and across St Louis.
Learning - Provide teams with an enriching educational experience that assists in building their business acumen.
Funding - Provide a source of seed capital and services for promising new ventures.

“This year’s 40 entrants for the annual competition were outstanding,” noted Ken Harrington, managing director of the Skandalaris Center. “All of the finalists had viable business plans and are making great progress. The ceremony was the culmination of a four-month competition among the contestants.

“This is one of the best years of the Olin Cup we’ve ever had,” Harrington says. “So many great things — Arch Grants, Capital Innovators, the recent Startup Weekend — are increasing the support system for entrepreneurs and helping to build the innovation environment in our city.”

In addition to the Olin Cup, RCGA is proud of its collaboration with the Skandalaris Center to support IdeaBounce, the YouthBridge Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition, and its tech transfer effort funded by the National Science Foundation: the Innovation Acceleration Partnership (IAP).

University programs to teach entrepreneurial leadership and business acumen are important to our region for many reasons, but one critical outcome is to ensure promising graduates that there are career opportunities here in St. Louis in technology entrepreneurship.

In addition to the RCGA and Commerce Magazine, the Olin Cup is sponsored by Olin Business School and the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University; RubinBrown LLP; Polsinelli Shughart PC; and Lopata Flegel & Company LLP.

February 6, 2012

I Am Honored To Lead This Great Organization!: As I begin my first full week as president and CEO, let me emphasize how honored I am to lead the RCGA.This organization is an important contributor to our region’s leadership efforts and to the ongoing strategic collaboration and hard work it takes to achieve regional vitality, economic health and the creation of community wealth.

As I noted at the RCGA’s 175th Annual Meeting and Dinner on Jan. 26, our new St. Louis colleagues and friends have embraced my wife, Julie, and me and our family, giving us the opportunity to listen and explore.It’s inspiring to know I have joined many committed leaders here who have labored long and effectively to advance the regional economy.

The RCGA certainly cannot accomplish our collective regional vision alone. Thankfully, we don’t have to, because it’s already clear to me that the St. Louis region has the committed public and private sector leadership partners and the will to work together to create the bright future we all envision.

I have much to learn. I am beginning with six weeks of a listening tour, reaching out to public and private organizations, business, education and civic leaders to gain their insights on the opportunities and challenges facing the RCGA as an organization and the entire St. Louis region. I’ll be looking to those people who have had experience working with RCGA – both internally and externally – to advise me on areas of strength and areas for improvement in our organization.

Besides listening to what is important to each person, I will be asking the following questions:

What inspires you about St. Louis?
What are the three most important aspects we should preserve about the RCGA and why?
What are the three most important aspects to change and why?
What actions do you most hope I take?
What are you most concerned I might do?
What advice do you have for me?

I am inviting you to click on this link to respond to these questions: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rcga

Thank you, in advance, for your time and your thoughts!