Haas Social Venture Competition Announces Winners

BERKELEY, Calif., April 8, 2000 -- The Haas Social Venture Business Plan Competition at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, today announced the winners of its nationwide competition for social and environmental ventures: EasyDiabetes, Xtracycle, and RippleEffects.

EasyDiabetes took the first prize of $10,000 for its Internet-based diabetes management system. Jenna Beart and Michael Douek, both MD/MBA candidates at UCLA's Anderson School, built a Internet-assisted support system that will, among other things, allow patients to hook up their blood sugar monitor to the computer and have the results sent to a physician in an easily readable form.

"We wanted to express our excitement and appreciation for having the opportunity to participate in such an important and inspiring event," said Michael Douek, co-founder of the EasyDiabetes team.

"The impressive quality and number of business plans submitted for the competition reflects the increasing commitment of business people to pursuing a double bottom line of financial and social objectives," said competition judge Jed Emerson, who is the president of Roberts Enterprise Development Fund and the Bloomberg Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Business School.

RippleEffects and Xtracycle are the runners-up and will evenly split the remaining $4,000 in prize money. All three winners will have their plans circulated to a group of 150 angel investors from the Investors Circle, a group of individuals who make private equity investments based on social dividends and economic returns.

RippleEffects, the University of Washington team, has developed several technology-based products serving as prevention programs for troubled youth.

Xtracycle, out of UC Davis, is aiming for more bikes and fewer cars with their sport-utility bike with tremendous cargo capacity.

John May, also a competition judge and the managing partner of New Vantage Partners of Vienna, Virginia, said, "The winners met or exceeded the quality of professional plans I see at regional venture fairs and at past Investors Circle conferences."

In addition to Emerson and May, the following social venture leaders judged the final round: Dan Geiger of OpNet, Shelly Herman of Shorebank Advisory Services, Trinita Logue of Illinois Facilities Fund, Stephen Moody of Private Equity Portfolio Calvert Group, and William Rosenzweig of Hambrecht Vineyards and Wineries.