Finalists selected for Rhode Island Business Plan Competition

MARGARET AND CONSTANZA Lengerich, from left to right, operate HM Solution, which provides pre-packaged water treatment equipment to remove arsenic and 15 other toxic chemicals; they expect to bring their product to market next year. HM Solution in Providence is one of seven companies that have been named as finalists in the 2015 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. / COURTESY HM SOLUTION
MARGARET AND CONSTANZA Lengerich, from left to right, operate HM Solution, which provides pre-packaged water treatment equipment to remove arsenic and 15 other toxic chemicals; they expect to bring their product to market next year. HM Solution in Providence is one of seven companies that have been named as finalists in the 2015 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. / COURTESY HM SOLUTION

PROVIDENCE – A pre-packaged water system that removes arsenic and other toxic chemicals and a Web-based address book that updates itself as contacts change their information are two of the seven finalists selected in the 2015 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

Winners will be announced next month. They will share $200,000 in prizes.

The finalists have proposed businesses that address problems in the consumer, environmental, health care, information technology and software industries.

All will present their business idea at an awards ceremony on May 12 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at The Garage, a business development conference at the R.I. Convention Center, where the winners will be announced.

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The finalists from the entrepreneur track are:

  • CloudContacts, a web-based address book that self-updates as friends, family, and colleagues change contact information. Principal applicant: Michel Mullen, Providence.
  • HMSolution, which provides pre-packaged water treatment equipment to remove arsenic and 15 other toxic chemicals at one-fifth the operating cost of competing solutions. Principal applicant: Margaret Lengerich, Providence.
  • The Compost Plant, which is creating a commercial compost system that diverts organic material from landfills, producing high-quality compost while providing customized organics collection. Principal applicant: Leo Pollock, Providence.

Finalists from the student track are:

  • Bounty, which is creating automated visual content-recognition software that links to an online advertising marketplace, connecting brands with visual content creators. Principal applicant: Noah Fradin, Brown University.
  • EquiTrue, an advanced stability assessment system that can detect and quantify specific balance and proprioceptive impairment caused by concussions. Principal applicant: Dan Giovacchini, Brown University.
  • NGS Imaging, which is developing a scintillator that will increase image resolution and overall detector efficiency of X-ray equipment used to diagnose and screen for disease indicators. Principal applicant: Linghan Xing, Brown University.
  • UnSync, which is using unsynchronized structured lighting and multi-frequency phase shifting techniques to power 3-D scanners at a significantly lower cost than is currently available. Principal applicant: Leo Liu, Brown University.

Lead sponsors of the competition are Cumulus Media-Providence, Embolden, Focus Vision Media, Hinckley Allen LLP, KLR & Co. Ltd., Locke Lord LLP and the Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund.

Established in 2000, the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition has awarded more than $1.6 million in prizes to date.

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