Eight Teams from across MIT in Fierce Competition for $100,000 Grand Prize to Fund...

Eight Teams from across MIT in Fierce Competition for $100,000 Grand Prize to Fund a Start-up Company

All new Audience Prize to allow text message voting for best
elevator pitch
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
In this year's MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition
(www.mit100k.org), the winner takes all.

Once competing in a field of 232 entrants, teams from seven
different industry categories emerged today as finalists who will
compete on Wednesday, May 14 at the Kresge Auditorium on the MIT
campus at 7 p.m. for a $100,000 in cash to fund their start-up
company. The awards ceremony is open to the public and offers a peek
at some of the best and brightest new ideas in entrepreneurial
innovation.

The MIT $100K is the world's leading university entrepreneurship
competition, having facilitated the creation of more than 85 companies
with an aggregate market capitalization of more than $10 billion.
Previously, the $100,000 prize was split between the first through
third place winners along with two runner-up teams. Thanks to prize
money donated by sponsoring companies totaling more than $100,000 for
winners in earlier stages of the competition - including $10,000 for
each finalist - this year's stakes are the highest in the MIT $100K's
nineteen years of competition.

Finalists will now face off before a panel of expert judges that
include such prominent venture capitalists as Gururaj "Desh"
Deshpande, co-founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks, and Robert
Metcalfe, inventor of the Ethernet and founder of 3Com.

One team, however, will walk away with an additional $10,000
regardless of the impression they make on the judges. A first ever
Audience Prize will be introduced at the awards ceremony allowing
audience members to instantly cast votes in response to the finalists'
elevator pitches using audience response system technology to be
provided by $100K mobile semi-finalist team Poll Everywhere
(www.polleverywhere.com).

Below is a list of the eight finalists, their public summaries,
and the categories they were chosen from. For more information on the
MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition and directions to the awards
ceremony, please visit www.mit100k.org.

Astro/Aerospace

IntAct Labs LLC is developing a proprietary waste-to-energy
technology based on microbial fuel cell processes. Fuel Cells
represent a novel and disruptive option in the waste-to-energy space,
promising faster treatment while reversing the energy balance and
generating a high-value product in the form of electricity. IntAct
Labs has received funding from NASA and an SBIR from the United States
Department of Agriculture to optimize and scale-up the technology in
collaboration with partner firms and institutions.

Biotechnology

Diagnostic-For-All (DFA) is a not-for-profit that delivers
affordable point of care diagnostic solutions to the global medical
community. Based on patent-pending technology developed in George
Whitesides' Laboratory at Harvard University, DFA has created a new
generation of diagnostic devices microfabricated and patterned in
paper. DFA's technology will serve as a platform for simple, portable,
low-cost, and easy-to-dispose diagnostic tools that will dramatically
improve the health care management of patients in developing
countries.

Development

ClickDiagnostics provides developing countries remote medical
diagnostics services via a macro-lens camera phone capable of taking
close-up pictures. It is delivered by local entrepreneurs serving as
Click-Health-Workers (CHWs), who profit from offering diagnostics
services as well as selling talk time and other phone-based services.

Energy**

Covalent Solar's product is an MIT-invented solar concentrator
photovoltaic (PV) technology, based on the redirection of light using
dyes. The technology is cheaper and simpler than existing methods,
resulting in the lowest installed system price on the market aiming to
reach competitiveness with conventional power generation by 2013.

Water scarcity has emerged as a critical concern across wealthy
and developing nations alike. NanoPur is commercializing a game
changing carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane for use in water
desalination. Its patented membrane offers ten times the flow rates of
existing technology. This innovation has the potential to reduce
energy costs while also reducing the costs of building new plants.

Mobile Technology

UbiTrack delivers advanced wireless localization and tracking
solutions, providing increased accuracy, coverage, and reliability,
without additional investment in satellites or base stations.
Ubitrack's solution is particularly useful in applications where GPS
is not available or does not provide sufficient accuracy. The
company's primary markets include military and firefighters and will
also target the multi-billion dollar consumer market, including mobile
phones and car navigation.

Products and Services

MyFaktory is an "e-tailor" based in New York with back-end
manufacturing headquarters in Mumbai, India. Its mission is to unleash
the freedom of fashion by creating clothing on demand at affordable
prices to the consumer. Customers submit designs for clothes at
myFaktory.com and fashion professionals and tailors in Mumbai work
together to produce and deliver the garments to a globally dispersed
customer base.

Web 2.0/IT

CyberAnalytix offers BlueTorch, an on-demand customer intelligence
solution that helps SMBs manage their customers by allowing them to
understand and act on their customer data. Unlike current customer
intelligence software, BlueTorch uses proprietary predictive models to
analyze customer data and recommend best next actions. Instead of
delivering just "one more report," BlueTorch advises managers which
customers are important and how to approach those customers.

** The Energy track winner will be selected on Tuesday, May 13
with either Covalent Solar or Nanopur advancing to the May 14 finale.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sloan School of Management
Paul Denning, 617-253-0576 office
Director of Media Relations
denning@mit.edu
or
Patricia Favreau, 617-253-3492
Media Relations Specialist
pfavreau@mit.edu

Copyright Business Wire 2008