{"id":130274,"date":"2023-07-03T13:46:23","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T18:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=130274"},"modified":"2023-07-03T13:46:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T18:46:25","slug":"oxford-cobuilders-winners-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/oxford-cobuilders-winners-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford CoBuilders Winners Announced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation<\/strong> in partnership with the University of Mississippi<\/strong> recently announced the winners of the 2nd Annual Oxford CoBuilders Business Pitch Competition<\/strong>.\u00a0 The competition, held Wednesday June 28 at the UM Innovation Hub at Insight Park<\/strong>, featured seven entrepreneurial teams pitching to a judging panel of local business owners.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local competition acted as a qualifying event for this fall\u2019s statewide CoBuilders business accelerator led by Innovate Mississippi<\/strong>. Companies selected for the statewide program will be identified through their participation in one of seven regional pitch competitions that have been held in Clarksdale<\/strong>, Starkville<\/strong>, Jackson<\/strong>, Vicksburg<\/strong>, Hattiesburg<\/strong>, Biloxi<\/strong>, and now Oxford<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxford\u2019s first place team, and the winner of a $7,500 cash prize, went to Navigator Medical, LLC<\/strong>.\u00a0Founders Kenna Pruitt<\/strong>, Kade Frisby<\/strong>, Emily Kerivan<\/strong>, and Jordan Kocsis<\/strong> formed their medial device company as a student based business in the Spring of 2023. The team of biomedical engineers, assisted by the University of Mississippi\u2019s newly formed Center for Diagnostics, Design, Devices, & Biomechanics<\/strong>, developed a needle placement guide, called The Compass<\/strong>, in an effort to bring relief to dialysis patients.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second place was awarded to Lamar Gordon, Stan Flint, George Cumbest, <\/strong>and Derek Norsworthy<\/strong> of Journez by NarraTrip<\/strong>. Journez is an AI-enhanced, voice-guided travel application designed to connect users to cultural assets in the hospitality tourism industry.\u00a0 Third place was awarded to Matt<\/strong> and September Gray<\/strong> at Hat Boy Software, Inc. <\/strong>for their plan to bring innovative AI powered automated code generation to the tech industry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All seven companies participating in the competition received pre-pitch business coaching and access to development resources through partners at the Mississippi Small Business Development Center<\/strong>, Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Foundation, UM Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship<\/strong>, UM Office of Technology Commercialization<\/strong>, and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are so appreciative to all our competitors and mentors as this event turned out to be a hit.\u00a0 It was a wonderful celebration of our innovative community spirit,\u201d said Allen Kurr<\/strong>, Vice President of the Economic Development Foundation.\u00a0\u201cWe are looking forward to seeing all these companies grow and supporting them through the entrepreneurial development process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on CoBuilders and Economic Development, contact Allen Kurr (662)234-4651, <\/em>allen@oxfordms.com<\/a> or visit <\/em>www.cobuilders.ms<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mission of the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation (EDF) is to be a leader in creating opportunities for responsible economic investment, thereby raising the per capita income for all citizens of Lafayette County.\u00a0In support of this the EDF is committed to being responsive to local business and industry, being a responsible vehicle to preserve a positive business environment in the area, facilitating technology transfer at the University of Mississippi into the community, and by supporting other positive community efforts which improve the quality of life and yield economic benefits. For more information on the EDF, visit www.oxfordms.com or call 662-234-4651.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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