Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Another weekend, and another win for Lia Winter and the team from Winter Innovations LLC. Last weekend, the group’s EasyWhip^TM device used for orthopedic reconstruction procedures captured first place in the annual “Brown-Forman Cardinal Challenge” hosted by the University of Louisville.

On Saturday, it was a more distant venue – the “Stu Clark Investment Competition” at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg – but the results were the same, and the prize money was $21,500, building on the $15,000 won in Louisville.

“Winning this competition is further validation for Winter Innovations, and the funds will help us move closer to regulatory submission and launch of our EasyWhip^TM product,” Winter told us late yesterday.

Unlike last weekend, Winter was joined by only one other team member this weekend – Preston Dishner, Director of Operations. Fifteen teams from the U.S. and Canada competed in a one-minute idea pitch, a 30-second company logo explanation, and a full 15-minute business plan presentation.

Winter, a Pennsylvania native, came to the region to attend graduate school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is set to earn an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and her MBA in May.

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