The Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation in partnership with the University of Mississippi has announced the winners of the 3rd Annual Oxford CoBuilders Business Pitch Competition. The competition, held Wednesday June 12th at the UM Innovation Hub at Insight Park, featured six entrepreneurial teams pitching to a judging panel of five local business owners and entrepreneurial investors.
The Oxford competition, one of eight regional competitions held around the state, acted as a qualifying event for this fall’s statewide CoBuilders business accelerator led by Innovate Mississippi.
Oxford’s first place team, and the winner of a $7,500 cash prize, went to Dr. Premalatha Balachandran, Ph.D, MBA, for her pharmaceutical research and development startup company PleXignal LLC. Through their innovate multiplex molecular model (MMM) technology, a high-throughput screening platform, PleXignal’s drug discovery process allows for simultaneous targeting of multiple signaling pathways within a single assay.
The second place team was awarded to Julien Bourgeois, a rising Junior at the University of Mississippi, and his co-founder, Andrew Bradford, for their smart watch sports development company Automatic AI. Automatic AI, LLC is a post-revenue startup transforming sports development with innovative smartwatch applications. Their flagship product, Automatic Basketball Trainer, launched in July 2023, harnesses the power of Apple Watch motion sensors to track and analyze basketball shooting workouts.
Third place was awarded to Dr. Mac Nichols of BeWell Health. BeWell Health defines itself as a new type of medical clinic, a modern version of comprehensive, holistic and personal care. There goal is to grow their established subscription, cost-based model that provides 100% telemedicine, concierge care with a primary focus on nutrition and healthy lifestyle.
“We are so appreciative to all our competitors and mentors as this event turned out to be a hit,” said Allen Kurr, Vice President of the Economic Development Foundation. “We are looking forward to seeing all these companies grow and supporting them through the entrepreneurial develop-ment process.”
For more information on CoBuilders and Economic Development,
contact Allen Kurr 662.234.4651, allen@oxfordms.com or visit cobuilders.ms.