Green Biz PURO Wins ‘Ideas’ Business Plan Competition at Babson

A team of students was awarded $27,500 to help start their water purification business, as part of Babson College's annual Ideas Into Action Business Plan Competition on October 16, 2009.
 
Babson College, the world leader in entrepreneurial education, announced the award following 6-minute presentations from each of the 3 finalists at the 8th Annual Babson Forum on Entrepreneurship.
 
PURO, the winning team of students from Bryant University, presented its plan to develop a portable and customizable individual water filtration system.
 
They were selected as one of three finalists, among a group of 30 submitted presentations and documents describing the business idea with market analysis, opportunities and competitive advantages.
 
Two teams representing Babson were also chosen as this year's finalists. They were:

• Skins, the brainchild of a team consisting of Babson Fast-Track MBA students, offers kids a way to express their individual style through customizable shoes at an affordable price to parents.
• RetireLife, the third finalist, is a comprehensive eldercare resource website allowing users to find the right services, resources and businesses to help plan for the care of aging people in their lives. The RetireLife team is led by Megan Shea, a Babson '09 MBA.

Each finalist had six minutes to present their idea followed by Q&A by the judging panel.
 
This year's judges included Tom Rosedale from BRL Law Group, John Hitter from Walter & Shuffain Certified Public Accounting, Richard Banfield, CEO of Fresh Tilled Soil, Jay Morton from Morton Financial, and John Whitman, Professor of Social Entrepreneurship from Babson College.
 
Sponsors of the competition are BRL Law Group, Walter & Shiffain Certified Public Accountants and Business Advisors, Morton Financial, Super Web-O-Matic and FilingsMadeEasy.com.
 
For more information about the Competition and the Entrepreneurship Forum, please visit http://www.babsonforum.com.