Ohio State wins IBK Capital – Ivey business plan competition

Team KAir Battery from Ohio State University won first place and $20,000 at the 2015 IBK Capital – Ivey Business Plan Competition held at the Ivey Business School on January 23-24, 2015. At the 17^th edition of Ivey’s annual graduate competition, KAir overcame a strong competition pool of 11 teams from seven universities from Canada, the United States and Thailand.

KAir, represented by Kate Fisher and Damian Beauchamp, is developing a patent-pending potassium-air battery, which is more cost effective ($89/kWh), energy efficient (up to 98 per cent), and produces lower toxicity by products compared to competing technologies. KAir batteries also provide an increased level of storage of 310 Wh/kg to current storage options that average 124 Wh/kg.

From left to right, Kun Shi, MBA ’15 (Competition Co-Chair); Damian Beauchamp (Ohio State University); Michael White, MBA ‘00; Kate Fisher (Ohio State University); Sarah Buck; Stephen Reddin (Competition Co-Chair); and Shanthal Perera.

Prior to their win at Ivey, KAir Battery also took the top prize in the 2014 Ohio State University Business Plan Competition and also secured a $100,000 through the U.S. Energy Department's Clean Energy Prize at the Rice Business Plan Competition in April, 2014.

Second place finisher Inscope Medical Solutions from the University of Louisville received an automatic seed to the 2015 Global Venture Labs Investment Competition (GVLIC), which will be held in Austin, Texas on May 2-7, 2015. Inscope Medical Solutions is developing an innovative laryngoscope that optimizes airway intubation for both routine anesthesia practice and emergency situations.

Team Ecogent from Thailand’s Thammasat Business School finished third and, along with Team EnerSav, became the first teams from Thailand to enter the competition.

The 2015 competition roster included teams from Western University, University of Louisville, University of Arkansas, Thammasat Business School – Thailand, Ohio State University, University of Manitoba and York University.

The 2015 competition was supported by IBK Capital Corp, the Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship and the Ivey MBA Association, which was represented by Co-Chairs Stephen Reddin and Kun Shi, MBA 2015.

"It was inspiring to see all these future entrepreneurs from all over the world come to Ivey to share their ideas and looking to jump start their own businesses." said Shi.