Four student teams advance to finals of Tiger Cage business pitch competition

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Auburn University student entrepreneurs will present mobile apps and online platforms, software analytics and storage solutions during the finals of the Tiger Cage business pitch competition on Friday, March 31.

Four teams–BioErgo Solutions, Honey Do, Senior Solutions and Sole Line–advanced from the semifinals on March 3 to earn a shot at a $10,000 grand prize. The final round of Tiger Cage will highlight the second day of the Auburn University Entrepreneurship Summit on March 31 at 8:45 a.m. in The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Presented by the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Tiger Cage rewards the best early-stage products, services or business concepts developed by Auburn students. The four finalists will make 5-minute pitches and answer questions from a panel of judges. More than $25,000 in funding and services will be awarded to the finalists.

"I believe this group of finalists is our strongest yet," said LaKami Baker, managing director of the Lowder Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurship in the Harbert College, who directs the Tiger Cage competition.

BioErgo Solutions, a platform focusing on the prevention of occupational injuries, includes industrial engineering graduate students Robert Granzow and Rong Huangfu and MBA student Mengdie Chen.

Honey Do, a peer-to-peer mobile app concept that enables individuals engaged in custom projects to find talent locally and nationally, is led by MBA student Vlad Saveljeus and chemical engineering doctoral candidate Michael Minkler.

Senior Solutions is an online platform focused on retirement community entertainment developed by Trent Briden, a sophomore finance and piano performance major.

Sole Line, a patent-pending storage and display solution for collectibles, features sophomore software engineering major Gibson Wang, junior electrical engineering major Berk Anadur and junior business administration major Frank Nguyen.

Hosted by the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, the summit includes a ticketed black-tie Hall of Fame gala honoring top alumni entrepreneurs on Thursday, March 30. The honorees include Auburn University Entrepreneur Hall of Fame inductee Walter Woltosz, a 1969 Samuel Ginn College of Engineering graduate and the co-founder and CEO of technology company Simulations Plus; Spirit of Auburn Family Entrepreneur Award winner Jack Nix, a 1967 business alum who converted a former skating rink into the state’s largest antique mall; Entrepreneur of the Year Jon Butts, a 2004 business graduate who founded fast-growing Atlanta-based firm Muscle Up Marketing; and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Justin Lambert, a two-time Auburn graduate, with an engineering degree and an MBA, who is the founder, owner and CEO of fast-growing women’s fashion boutique The Mint Julep.

The summit will feature the Junior Tiger Cage, a business pitch competition for high school students at 8 a.m., the Tiger Cage finals at 8:45, the AU LAUNCH Innovation Grant Program faculty pitch competition at 10:15 a.m. and the Top Tigers firm-recognition luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Top Tigers recognizes 60 of the fastest-growing companies founded, owned or led by Auburn University alumni.

Belfor Holdings CEO Sheldon Yellen, who appeared on the TV show "Undercover Boss" and who leads a $1.5 billion disaster relief and property restoration company, will be the keynote speaker at the event.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame gala and Top Tigers are available at harbert.auburn.edu/tickets. See more at http://harbert.auburn.edu/news/tigercagefinal2017.php#sthash.wPWhjWf4.dpuf.

Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.