Second Round of “Startup Quest” at CareerSource Brevard Wraps Up With Six Investor Pitches and Two Big Winners.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA-CareerSource Brevard (CSB), the area authority on workforce development, hosted the second round of StartUp Quest. The investor pitch competition, awards presentation and networking reception were free and open to the public, at the Space Coast Convention Center at the Holiday Inn Cocoa on May 22, 2014.

Team members began their pitch presentations unveiling technologies from stronger artificial bone technology, to concrete roofing capable of withstanding hurricanes. Startup Quest is a 10-week long entrepreneurial training program that pairs aspiring entrepreneurs with successful business owners/mentors to provide an experiential learning opportunity.

“It is so exciting to see the evolution of these teams from beginning to end.” said Erica Lemp, program planning officer at CSB. “We are lucky to be able to offer this quality program in conjunction with true, experienced and successful entrepreneurs with some of the most innovative technologies available.”

The six Startup Quest teams were judged by leaders in the business community who were selected for their ability to critique business plans and proposed business ventures.

Of the six presenting teams, two were awarded cash prizes sponsored by the Florida High Tech corridor Council:

  • First place team winning $1,000 each, Transcendent Technologies, led by mentor Nirav Pandya
  • Second place, winning $500 each: Citadel Roofing led by mentors Trent Morrow and Kenneth Deveau

1st place

First place team winning $1,000 each, Transcendent Technologies, led by mentor Nirav Pandya, included teammates: Larry Carter, Rick Doran, Sonia Fantauzzi, Spencer Levels, Raul Ortega, and Alice Tyson.  The team wowed the judges with their presentation on commercializing the “shape memory thermal conduction switch” technology out of UCF.  The technology would revolutionize the way we use our tablets and smartphones.

2nd placeSecond place, winning $500 each: Citadel Roofing led by mentors Trent Morrow and Kenneth Deveau included teammates:  Roberto Cox, Kevin Henson, David Nelson, and Kay Shavers.  The small but mighty team impressed with their presentation on commercializing the “high wind resistant concrete roofing” technology out of Florida International University.  The technology would greatly benefit home owners and builders in regions prone to hurricanes and other wind events.

CSB will launch the third round of Startup Quest in the spring of 2015. For more information about the third round, call Erica Lemp at 321-394-0694 or send an e-mail message to [email protected].

About Start-Up Quest

Startup Quest is a program made possible by a grant from the US Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation Fund.  The grant’s purpose is to provide innovative entrepreneurial training to unemployed and underemployed degreed individuals in eight workforce regions around the state.  The program provides entrepreneurship curriculum in addition to participation in a simulated technology startup exercise.  Participants are teamed together with an experienced entrepreneur mentor to form simulated startup companies and create commercialization plans for existing technology Intellectual Property (IP) from universities and NASA labs.

Startup Quest is part of an evaluation study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Workforce Innovation Fund.  Participants are selected from among eligible applicants.