LANSING — A former Michigan State University capstone engineering project won first place in Lansing’s Launched Celebration of Entrepreneurship Thursday night.
TheraB, formerly known as Swaddle-mi-Bili, has developed the SnugLit, a high-tech blanket that allows jaundiced babies to undergo treatment — blue light that breaks down bilirubin in the body — while simultaneously being cuddled by their mothers.
MSU says nearly 60 percent of babies are born jaundiced, and many spend their first days of life isolated from their mothers underneath the special lights that help them eliminate excess bilirubin from their bloodsterams.
SnugLit contains blue light emitters on the inside of a swaddling blanket that mothers can wrap their babies in — combining mother-baby bonding and jaundice treatment.
The win came with a $10,000 cash award.
Launched saw a competition of each of the 2014 winning ideas from the Lansing area’s monthly The Hatching pitch contest. Each of the other nine competitors won a $1,000 cash award and prize package which features legal services provided by Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting P.C., a promotional pitch video produced by Michigan Creative, six months’ free co-working space at the Lansing business incubator New Economic Opportunity Center, initial accounting support from the firm Maner Costerisan, and market study from Deep Blue Insights.
TheraB had already won fourth place in the Internatinoal Businses Model Competition at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah back in May.
The other finalists were:
* Global Alliance of Independent Auditors, a web site and series of applications to provide solutions to help auditors who have specific qualifications, proven skills, and competencies find assignments from their customers;
• Go Green Trikes, a green freight delivery service that uses heavy duty electric assist tricycles that are equipped to navigate through traffic more easily than a standard truck.
• Jurymind, a smart phone application that potential members of a jury can use to receive proactive reminders and instructions for their jury duty service;
• Maizena, an advancement on 3D printing technology using corn starch, a biodegradable substance;
• Mini Maker Space, a retail maker space geared towards the region’s youth.
• OneSound, an application for users to request and vote on playlist songs at social events;
• Thughts, is a web and mobile application that allows a group of people to contribute towards a gift for a mutual friend on special occasions; and
• Winner’s Catalog, a service that places a “selfie” on a t-shirt for the consumer to wear;
The Hatching monthly competition will begin again in January and each month moving forward, the last Thursday of the month at Dublin Square in East Lansing. Find out more at www.thehatching.org.