Ag biotechnology company wins CEO Business Pla Competition

The CEO Business Plan Competition challenges entrepreneurs to present their business ideas to an expert panel of judges. High school students and higher education institutions across South Dakota competed for more than $15,000 in prizes this year.

The ninth annual competition at Mines was held Dec. 3. First-place winners were Bharath Maddipudi and Khang Huynh of Bio-Navitas, a company that captures carbon from renewable agricultural residues to create a valuable graphitic material. The pair also won a separate category for the best agricultural plan at this year’s competition.

Maddipudi and Huynh are doctoral candidates in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. They are working alongside their advisor, Rajesh Shende, Ph.D., to pioneer new ways to turn waste like corn stover into valuable products, which can add to a farmer’s profit each year. Corn stover includes stalks, leaves and cobs leftover after corn is harvested. The research was funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Their work led to the creation of a highly valuable porous carbon material that has many applications, including being a key component in next-generation batteries and energy storage devices. Their process requires less energy and is more affordable than conventional methods. The pair proved the value of their product by inserting the graphitic carbon they made into a battery and lighting an LED with the technology.

Maddipudi and Huynh are grateful to their mentors and advisors who are assisting in creation of the business. Maressa Surrett, an advisor to the team, is the CTO for ISTE and brings 20 years of business experience. Jim Quinn has 35 years of business experience and serves as a Mines’ Entrepreneur in Residence. Aaron Worlie is a technical business advisor and Mines alumnus who won the Governor’s Giant Vision Competition as a student.

“We would not be here without the amazing faculty at Mines and without the help of our advisors and mentors,” Maddipudi said.

Enzo Tessaro and his cloud gaming company, Streamware, and Zack Holloway, Gerald Waterhouse and Devin Filter and their agricultural drone imaging company Vizion UAS tied for second place in the competition.

Tied for third place are Hosein Mirazi for a human analog pharmaceutical testing device and his company, CellField, and Reza Morovatdar and Jackson Cates with their company DeepDeals, which uses AI to connect consumers to deals offered by digital retailers.

“It was a really difficult call for the judges this year because all the teams in the competition were exceptionally strong,” said Joseph Wright, associate vice president for Research-Economic Development at Mines. “Any one of our entrants could go on to win at statewide competitions, and we’re excited to see how they do in the coming year.”

The CEO Business Plan Competition is the longest-running university-sponsored business competition in the state. It’s open to all South Dakota high schools and higher education institutions. Participants receive business plan training throughout the semester and assistance from the Small Business Development Center in preparing financial statements. Participants also receive mentoring from local business leaders and South Dakota Mines Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.

CEO Competition sponsors include Elevate Rapid City, South Dakota Biotech, Big D Oil, Black Hills Energy, Golden West Technology and Internet Solutions, Sioux Steel Company, South Dakota EPSCoR, South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development, South Dakota Mines Office of the President and West River Electric Association.

South Dakota Mines thanks this year’s volunteer panel of judges: Brian Rupert, entrepreneur; Marc Eyre, Black Hills Energy; Bob Case, Black Hills Energy; Robert Raker, West River Electric; Nina Braun, Ketel Thorstenson; Zach Policky, Big D Oil Company; Jim Haar, Golden West Telecommunications; Elliott Strain, Sioux Steel Company; and Matt Stelmach, entrepreneur.