Haas Alumni Takes Second in Intel+UC Berkeley Competition


Second-place winner Magoosh: Bhavin Parikh and Hansoo Lee, both MBA 10

Magoosh, an online test preparation company started by two Berkeley MBA graduates, came in second place in the 6th Annual Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge on Nov. 18

Magoosh, launched last summer by Hansoo Lee and Bhavin Parikh, both MBA 10, competed against 26 other teams from 19 countries to win the $10,000 second prize. The team–whose name is Persian for wise and generous–also includes Pejman Pour-Moezzi, MBA 10. Magoosh's personalized academic test preparation technology allows students to learn through short-form videos that deliver content according to each student’s strengths and weaknesses.

"It was a wonderful experience getting to know other entrepreneurs who shared the same passion trying to build something from the ground up," says Lee.

"The constructive feedback was definitely worthwhile. It solidified a lot of our thinking," Lee adds. "The main takeaway was, how do you compete in a market against a Kaplan or Princeton Review? That highlighted the importance for us around customer acquisition and marketing."

OsComp Systems of Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic took first place in the challenge, which seeks to support and promote entrepreneurship globally. The team of entrepreneurs won $25,000 from the Intel Foundation for inventing a breakthrough, patent-pending technology that could reduce operating and capital costs for natural gas compression by more than 30 percent.

The $5,000 third-place prize went to ADTELLIGENCE of the University of Mannheim in Germany for its advertising targeting platform for the social web.

Founded in 2005, the Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge is a joint project of the Intel Foundation and the UC Berkeley Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The challenge is designed to motivate young entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies that solve real world challenges, build viable business models, and move that technology out of university labs and into the market. 

“The 27 teams in this challenge represent the best of the best from 60 participating countries," notes André Marquis, the Lester Center's executive director. "Through Intel's generous support, we've been able to bring them together at Berkeley-Haas to connect to each other and to world-class experts around the important mission of driving lasting change through entrepreneurship."

Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation, adds: "By helping these ideas grow, we are fostering students, such as those present at this competition, to have a positive impact on society, which will in turn help strengthen the future global economy."

Representatives of more than 20 leading venture capital firms from the Bay Area served as judges of the competition and provided valuable feedback to the teams. 

In addition to the awards ceremony, Intel launched an online People's Choice Awards Contest for the public to vote for their favorite team of young entrepreneurs who participated in this week’s competition. Voting will end on Dec. 6 at 12 p.m. EST. Visit inspiredbyeducation.com/vote to learn more and vote.

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