Thirteen new ventures pitched their ideas before a panel of judges Feb. 27 as the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative's (CEI) Launching the Venture Program concluded its year-long series of classes and activities.

The ventures, created by teams of UNC faculty, staff and students, include a wine bar, upscale garden center, elderly assistance center, freight shipper, emergency response device maker, software companies and nonprofits.

"The interest in this year's program indicates to me that the CEI is having tremendous positive bearing on the culture of entrepreneurship at UNC," said Ted Zoller, executive director for UNC's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, who co-teaches the program with UNC Kenan-Flagler Professor of the Practice Randy Myer. "I expect great progress from these ventures over the coming months and anticipate at least one blockbuster from the group."

Launching the Venture is a yearlong course and workshop series that help entrepreneurial faculty, staff and students at UNC gain the knowledge, skills and connections they need to launch a business or social venture. The program, a joint initiative of UNC Kenan-Flagler and UNC’s Office of Technology Development, combines lecture, functional workshops, lab sessions and hands-on expert coaching to help teams develop their business plans and launch strategies.

Participants determine the feasibility of their commercial or nonprofit ideas during the first semester. Those whose ventures are considered viable proceed to the second semester to develop comprehensive business. Teams in the final launch program event Feb. 27 pitched their plans to panels of judges, who offered feedback on all aspects of the ventures, from financing to marketing to operations.

Launching the Venture, now in its fifth year, is quickly becoming a recognized tool for turning entrepreneurial ideas into reality.

"Learning through the experience of others is very helpful," said Ned Wheeler, a student entrepreneur who is developing 4 Corners Wine, a proposed chain of wine retail stores and wine bars. "It was very beneficial to have people help push me in the right direction."

Dr. James Loeher, member of the UNC Medical School faculty and president of Icardiogram, agreed.

"As a physician but not a business man, I am here to make my business more successful," he said. "The feedback from this program and suggestions from the faculty coaches were very valuable."

"The program has allowed us to think through every element of starting a business," said Ben Redding, UNC student and co-creator of Premier Club, a nonresidential center that provides elderly people with assistance in daily living.

"The program gives us an inside perspective on the rigors an entrepreneur must go through to launch a venture," said Redding's partner, Jimmy Rosen.

This year, 98 teams submitted entries to participate in the launch program, 32 were admitted into the feasibility phase of the course and 13 proceeded to the launch phase.

The 13 ventures that completed the 2006 Launching the Venture program are:

• 4 Corners Wine - a chain of wine retail stores and wine bars serving the 25-39-year-old professional market
• Garden Living - a boutique garden center offering garden design and consultation services
• Hamilton Educational - course management software for students and faculty allowing them to quickly reference digital course materials, share notes and integrate existing university systems
• HERO (Honor Emergency Response Object) - a cellular module unit facilitating a direct link to emergency E911 facilities
• Icardiogram - developer of a digital echocardiography system that transmits information using T1 or ISDN lines to share and view results from multiple locations, integrated with local intranet storage for backing up data
• Lewis Transportation Company - a sea-shipping operation offering as an alternative transportation mode to move freight trailers over the long-haul portion of their journey
• New Worlds Through Literature - a nonprofit promoting literacy by providing opportunities to donate a library or libraries to nonprofit organizations
• Nourish International - a grassroots student organization working to alleviate poverty and establish relationships with nonprofits and identify fund raising and resource needs for sustainable development
• NOVAN - a company that is developing a technology to treat a host of disease states, such as wound healing and immune system responses
• Phorcast - a software package providing computational chemistry analysis services for firms interested in discovering new compounds
• Premier Club - a members-only, nonresidential center providing elderly people with assistance for daily living, including entertainment, shopping, exercise, spa services, meal preparation, financial planning, long-term health care counseling, in-home concierge and home maintenance
• SAAPORT - a portable unit aiding trauma centers and emergency rooms in the treatment of cardiac arrest patients
• Se7enth Swan Publishing Group - an e-commerce Web site producing and selling educational material for ages 3-18 in the African, Hispanic and Latino American communities

For information on the Launching the Venture program, contact Ted Zoller at (919) 962-3103, zoller@unc.edu, or Randy Myer at (919) 843-6124, randy_myer@unc.edu.