> Office of Business Opportunity > Liftoff Houston Business Plan Competition > December 18, 2015 Press Release
Office of Business Opportunity
Liftoff Houston Press Release
"LiftOff Houston!" 2015 Business Plan Competition Winners Announced
Three Grand Prize Winners Received $10,000 Awards
December 18, 2015 -- Three Houston-based start-ups emerged as the Grand Prize winners in the City of Houston’s “Liftoff Houston!” Business Plan Competition. This year the finalists participated in three categories: Innovation, Product and Service. A Grand Prize winner was selected from each category and received an award of $10,000. Sponsored by Capital One Bank in partnership with the Houston Public Library (HPL) and the Office of Business Opportunity (OBO), the competition was created to engage and empower Houstonians seeking to start a new business in Houston by providing them with access to essential information, resources and support necessary to develop a sound business plan as a first step toward realizing this goal. First and Second Prize Winners were selected from among nine finalists during a final pitch presentation which took place on Saturday, November 21, 2015. For more information visit www.liftoffhouston.com.
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS:
Innovation:
Apurva Sanghavi - Throttle, is mobile app that analyzes consumers’ financial accounts and builds a plan to save them money by recommending extra payments on high interest debts and shows them all of their accounts on a simple and easy to use dashboard.
Product:
Mario Garcia – Mandarino’s Café, is a Houston based business importing specialty high-graded coffee from a family farm in Honduras to be commercialized among the coffee roasters in Houston.
Service:
Dean’s List Fit Club – Keisha Thompson., offers school district employees the benefits of stress free practices, healthier nutrition choices, self-motivational techniques, and exercise programs.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Product:
Denise D. Douglas - Balloon Boutique and More, provides business owners and families in the community long lasting memories with creativity, and economical support through event coordination, planning, and custom decorating.
Innovation:
Allen Thornton - Grant Source, is a company devoted to producing a mobile application with grant and resources for small business owners.
Service:
Sharon Washington - TWO Research Group, is a research and design firm that will provide a unique type of market research for businesses, known as ethnographic user experience research.
About the Competition:
The “Liftoff Houston!” Business Plan Competition is designed to aid Houstonians to achieve the goal of business ownership while contributing to the local growth and sustainability of the Houston economy. The competition took place over a six-month period and included four stages (Orientation, Workshop, Mentor, and Business Pitch). Cash prizes totaling $30,000, awarded in sums of $10,000 to the winning business plan submissions in the business plan categories of Product, Service and Innovation, was generously provided by Capital One Bank.
To successfully research, develop and present the business plan, participants were required to attend workshops offered by industry experts, ranging in topics from Business Plan Basics to Pitching Your Business, and attend information sessions to learn about the vast resources available to support new business start-ups through HPL and OBO. Additional support was provided through professional business mentors to help participants further refine their business plan.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., has $204.3 billion in deposits and $300.2 billion in total assets as of September 30, 2014. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 900 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
About the Office of Business Opportunity
The City of Houston’s Office of Business Opportunity is committed to creating a competitive and diverse business environment in the City of Houston by promoting the growth and success of local small businesses through a wide range of services from startup business assistance to certification for established businesses seeking contract opportunities with the City. Through OBO’s Solutions Center, they provide resources that help with the launch, sustainability, and growth of businesses. For more information about the Office of Business Opportunity and their suite of services, please visit www.houstontx.gov/obo or call 832-393-0954.
About the Houston Public Library
The Houston Public Library operates 35 neighborhood libraries, four HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent Resource Library located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving more than seven million customers per year in person and online, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7. For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org or call 832-393-1313.
About the Houston Public Library Foundation (HPLF)
HPLF, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, seeks increased philanthropic funds to retain and enhance Houston Public Library’s wide range of initiatives that cannot be sustained through tax support. These funds provide free programs, more books, downloads and other free materials, and staff training to serve the needs of Houston’s diverse and thriving population. The Foundation also strives to increase the awareness of the Houston Public Library and its initiative to provide a wide range of free materials and services to its 42 library locations and online sites. Together, HPLF and the Friends of the Houston Public Library support the needs of the Houston Public Library. For further information, visit www.houstonlibraryfoundation.org or call 832-393-1464.