Virginia Tech Team Wins 2018 American Evolution™ Innovators Cup At Tom Tom Founders Festival

JAMESTOWN, Va., April 13, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aecium Medical Solutions from Virginia Tech took top honors in the 2018 American Evolution™ Innovators Cup held at the Tom Tom Founders Festival on Thursday, April 12.  Candid Campus Tours from William & Mary placed second place and French Slide from Virginia Commonwealth University placed third place in the competition. Rounding out the top five were the Kestrel and PurPics teams from the University of Virginia. The 2018 American Evolution Innovators Cup convened 14 entrepreneurial teams from 11 Virginia colleges and universities. Each team pitched their compelling business ideas to a panel of distinguished judges that included Steve Huffman, Reddit cofounder, Nancy Twine, Briogeo Hair Products CEO and Founder and Jenn Finn, SVP Small Business Bank at Capital One.

"The Aecium Medical Solutions team from Virginia Tech was selected based on their excellent business strategy and business viability," said Kathy Spangler, Executive Director of the American Evolution. "The Innovator's Cup is designed to cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders, and the competition is a great opportunity for Virginia students to showcase their exceptional and innovative business ideas."

The winning business concept Aecium Medical Solutions by Virginia Tech students, Ben Ailinger, Glenn Feit and Maria Solares is a biomedical startup focused on commercializing the first and only patented, non-invasive method of diagnosing non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a common liver disease. Its first product, AcuNash, simply relies on a blood test, allowing patients to forego an invasive, risky, and expensive liver biopsy procedure while tracking the progression and regression of their disease over time. AcuNash is fully developed and ready to be sold as a companion diagnostic to companies undergoing late stage FDA trials. AcuNash is designed to collect additional data necessary to get through FDA trials faster and cheaper and will later be sold to medical labs as a stand-alone diagnostic tool in the mass clinical market.

The 2018 American Evolution Innovators Cup was launched to encourage Virginia college and university students to address critical issues that bridge 400 years of Virginia and American history. Beginning in 1619 Virginia, the original American start-up, colonists faced critical social issues that required innovative solutions that addressed the needs of the expanding territory. Next year the 2019 American Evolution Innovators Cup will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Virginia's entrepreneurial spirit by assembling the best and brightest teams from Virginia colleges and universities to offer innovative solutions to issues faced by today's society. Teams will pitch their business concepts and compete for a cash prize of $50,000. 

Virginia's 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution commemorates the 400th anniversary of several pivotal events that took place in 1619 Virginia, which have had an enduring impact on Virginia and America's history. These 1619 events set the state and the nation on a course towards the ideals of democracy, diversity and opportunity and include the arrival of the first recorded Africans to English North America, the First Representative Legislative Assembly in the New World, the recruitment of English women in significant numbers to the Virginia colony, the launch of free enterprise in the Commonwealth, and the first official English Thanksgiving in North America.

To learn more about the 2019 American Evolution Innovators Cup, please visit http://www.americanevolution2019.com/programs/innovatorscup/.

About the 2019 Commemoration
The 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution™, highlights events that occurred in Virginia in 1619 that continue to influence America today. Featured programs, events and legacy projects will position Virginia as a leader in education, tourism and economic development. American Evolution commemorates the ongoing journey toward the key ideals of democracy, diversity and opportunity. Dominion Resources is an American Evolution Founding Partner and Altria Group and TowneBank are Virginia Colony Partners.

About the Tom Tom Foundation and Founders Festival
The Tom Tom Foundation is a nonprofit organization that celebrates entrepreneurship, culture, and innovation in small cities. Tom Tom's signature event is a weeklong Founders Festival that takes place in Charlottesville, VA, each April in conjunction with Thomas Jefferson's birthday. This cross discipline, multi-venue experience transforms the historic downtown and empowers entrepreneurs, innovators, and civic leaders who are defining the future. Since its inception in 2012, the Foundation's programming has showcased thousands of speakers, artists, and bands to 186,000 program attendees, and has channeled $2.9 million to new ventures and projects. Learn more: www.tomtomfest.com

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SOURCE American Evolution

CONTACT: Robin Crawford, 2019 Commemoration, Robin.crawford@finnpartners.com, PH: (202) 974-5025, C: (703) 966-7616