Incubicity is sponsored by the Indiana Venture Center with funding from a WIRED grant as well as corporate sponsors.

Press Release

After weeks of pitching to potential investors and local economic development officials, Shane Fimbel topped 10 other local innovators to win $25,000 through Incubicity, an entrepreneurship competition aimed at boosting economic development by championing local ideas.

Fimbel, a Purdue University Research Foundation technology manager in West Lafayette, presented the idea for technology that would allow neonatal intensive care doctors to monitor a fetus' blood pressure using transmitted light instead of a catheter. The monitor, called Neocuff, is based on technology invented by Purdue University biomedical engineering professor Leslie A. Geddes.

"The publicity, resources, and prize money provided by Incubicity have helped tremendously in the initial stages of building a company around this technology and beginning product development," said Fimbel.

Fimbel said he plans to pursue additional funding and begin contacting development partners to produce a clinical-grade prototype. If all goes well, he hopes to bring Neocuff to market in the next 12 to 18 months.

Fimbel and 10 other finalists representing a 14-county area in north central Indiana presented their ideas during Incubicity's final summit May 2 in Monticello. To reach that competition, each finalist successfully won local elevator pitch competitions that required them to highlight their products and ideas in only a few minutes, and then crafted full business plans around those ideas with guidance from professional entrepreneurs.

Allyson Faucett, representing Fountain County, took the $10,000 second-place prize for plans to expand her line of soy-based body care products, which she sells at her Lebanon, Ind. store, Faucett and Flame. Peru, Ind., resident Patrick Cooley won the third-place prize of $5,000 for a moveable cargo-tray system for pickup trucks.

Incubicity is sponsored by the Indiana Venture Center (IVC) with funding from a WIRED (Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development) grant as well as corporate sponsors. The competition was open to anyone 18 or older who lives or owns a business in Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Wabash, Warren and White counties.

"IVC was successful in establishing and executing an incredible series of educational opportunities through this program, which supported emerging entrepreneurs on their journey through the business plan process," said Mark Smith, project administrator for Indiana WIRED. "Incubicity provided access to valuable resources while helping entrepreneurs refine their ideas, adopt successful presentation techniques and enjoy the excitement of county and regional competitions."

Source: Indiana Venture Center