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The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the are pleased to announce the winners of the 21st annual (NVC), .

A record 11 companies competed in this year’s finals, reflecting the strength of the startups competing this year. Finalist companies covered a range of industries and services, and included four teams of women entrepreneurs.

Finalists shared in a $400,000 cash prize pool—which was increased from $350,000 during the judges’ deliberation, thanks to increased support from OCA Ventures and The Caruso Family Foundation.

Winners of the 2017 NVC are as follows:

, a marketplace that enables international medical trainees to attend U.S. clinical rotations, won first place and $100,000, including $20,000 for its acceptance into the Pritzker Group Venture Fellows Program this summer; $25,000 from OCA Ventures; $25,000 from The Caruso Family Foundation; and $30,000 from the Polsky Center. AMOpportunities connects international students and trainees to over 300 educational programs hosted by U.S. institutions, hospitals, clinics, and physicians.

, a company focused on increasing the reliability and efficiency of the last mile of electricity delivery, took home second place and $80,000, including the $10,000 Rattan L. Khosa, MBA '79, Maker Award; $30,000 from the Polsky Center; and $40,000 from the Vijay, ’77, and Sita Vashee Award for Innovation through Partnerships. Switched Source is commercializing a patented power electronics device, which gives electric distribution companies a new level of control for managing power flows on the distribution grid.

, a company that specializes in manicures for the modern woman, won third place and $75,000, which includes $25,000 from OCA Ventures; $25,000 from The Caruso Family Foundation; $20,000 for acceptance into the Pritzker Group Venture Fellows Program this summer; and $5,000 from the Polsky Center. Ezza provides consistent, high-quality manicures without the fuss by offering seamless online booking, cashless tip-included pricing, and early morning hours.

, a company developing new drugs that will enable patients living with food allergies to eat the allergenic food without fear of an allergic reaction, took fourth place and $40,000 from the Polsky Center. ClostraBio’s drugs boost the body’s natural intestinal barrier, stopping the reaction before it starts.

In fifth place, there was a tie between SmarterCloud, , and 4Women, all of which took home $20,000 from the Polsky Center. SmarterCloud uses machine learning to keep critical data secure. TAINA, which won the 2017 Global New Venture Challenge in March, has created a technology platform to help financial institutions comply with tax regulations. 4Women offers an at-home, self-collection device for HPV DNA testing.

Banyan, a B2B local food e-commerce platform, placed sixth and won $15,000, including $10,000 from the Vijay, ’77, and Sita Vashee Award for Innovation through Partnerships and $5,000 from the Polsky Center. Banyan’s platform makes it easier, cheaper, and more efficient for farmers, distributors, and chefs to transact locally.

Three very impressive finalists: , , and each took home $10,000 from the Polsky Center. Phyt is focused on improving quality of life through movement by creating a Pilates reformer studio experience at home. Part Analytics is a cloud-based SaaS platform that transforms structured, unstructured, public, and private data into actionable insights for procurement and engineering professionals in the electronics industry. Lancealot is a recruiting platform for hiring freelance video talent.

Contact Booth Media Relations

Marielle Sainvilus
Director of Public Relations and Communications
Phone: 773.531.2894

Email Marielle