Pro-ficiency Wins the Start-Up Component of VCIC - Venture Capital Investment Competition

DURHAM, N.C., April 5, 2019 (Newswire.com) - ​Pro-ficiency, a start-up company providing a comprehensive human performance improvement system for clinical trials, has won the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) at the UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business for the second time. The VCIC is the leading venture capital competition for business students and has been running for 21 years. The program serves 1,500 students, 150 venture capitalists and 100 entrepreneurs worldwide.

Universities from around the United States and Canada sponsor student teams to compete in regional competitions, and the seven finalists compete at UNC for the championship. This year’s finalists were Acadia University, Brigham Young University, Cornell, Georgetown, Miami University, Notre Dame and Utah Valley University.

VCIC seeks to raise college students’ awareness of the venture capital process by pairing entrepreneurs with exceptional students acting as venture capitalists. Companies pitch their business ideas to a team of students. Then students select which business they want to fund. A panel of judges comprised of expert venture capitalists pick a winning team based on the quality of their due diligence and their final investment offering or “Term Sheet.” This year, BYU took home the top prize and second and third were awarded to Utah Valley and Miami University.

Pro-ficiency received five of the seven terms sheets, making it the winner of the start-up side of the competition. Dave Hadden, CEO of Pro-ficiency, says this about the program: “I love participating in this competition. I am passionate about entrepreneurship, and these outstanding students will lead many start-ups of the very near future.”

Patrick Vernon, Clinical Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at UNC Kenan-Flagler and Director of VCIC, commented, “Dave Hadden participated in 2013 with TheraSim, and received the most terms sheets that year also. TheraSim subsequently sold to WebMD in 2014, so our students must be onto something. It is passionate, successful founders like Dave that make VCIC such a valuable learning experience.”

About Pro-ficiency:

Pro-ficiency leverages simulation to provide real-world training experiences for clinical trials. Pharmaceutical Sponsors use Pro-ficiency to initiate trial sites faster and more efficiently and to identify possible protocol deviations. With the help of Pro-ficiency, Sponsors decrease study time, lower costs, conduct early protocol feasibility, reduce patient safety risk and predict and avoid study errors.

For more information, contact:

Natalie Rosen, Public Relations Manager, (919) 245-7870, [email protected]

Source: Pro-ficiency LLC