FSB: FORTUNE Small Business Announces Winners of Annual Business Plan Contest; PrepMe Corp. from...

NEW YORK -- FSB: FORTUNE Small Business announced today the winners of its third annual business plan contest. PrepMe Corp. captured FSB's $35,000 first prize as well as SAP Business One, a five-seat software package from SAP America, which, as the contest sponsor, provided all the prizes.

PrepMe Corp., an online SAT-preparation startup was created by students from Stanford University, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and University of Michigan. Second prize of $10,000 went to NeuroLife, a company created by MBAs at Carnegie Mellon University who want to manufacture a noninvasive monitor designed to help in the early detection of brain injury and disease. Bigfoot Networks, Inc., a company from McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, claimed the $5,000 third prize with a new technology to prevent technical delays in online games. Entries in the "Student Showdown" came from business schools across the country. The winners were chosen from 82 entries from 66 schools including Harvard and UCLA - up from 58 entries in 2004. The complete story, including a list of runners-up, appears in the November 2005 issue of FSB: FORTUNE Small Business and at www.fsb.com.

"All three of these teams represent the top entrepreneurial talent on our nation's campuses," said contest organizer Elaine Pofeldt, senior editor at FORTUNE Small Business magazine. "To claim our top prizes, these winning teams had to create more original and thorough business plans than an elite roster of competitors--and show a better ability to execute their business ideas to our judges."

To find the teams, FSB invited the winners of business plan contests from American universities to compete against each other. Both undergraduate and graduate teams were eligible. Editors selected the top 50% of the plans submitted, based on strength of the management team and the viability, thoroughness, and newsworthiness of the business plan. The remaining contestants went through several rounds, including oral presentations and answering questions submitted in advance by opposing teams. The judging panel consisted of nine experts from business and academia.

"SAP greatly values the opportunity to recognize the entrepreneurial talent being nurtured throughout the nation's universities and business schools," said Michael Sotnick, senior vice president, small and midsize enterprise, SAP America, Inc. "As the participants contribute to the vitality and growth of our economy, this invaluable experience will serve as the foundation towards their future business ventures."

About FORTUNE Small Business

FSB: FORTUNE Small Business is the premier magazine for owners of successful, growing small companies. It appears 10 times a year. Each issue provides hard-hitting, timely, informative coverage of the most-dynamic segment of the U.S. economy. FSB is edited and published by Time Inc., and is distributed in partnership with OPEN: The Small Business Network from American Express. FSB is delivered to 1 million owners and partners of small businesses and is also available on newsstands at major airports and bookstores nationwide. Time Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner.

About SAP:

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 28,200 customers in over 120 countries run more than 96,400 installations of SAP(R) software-from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP(TM) Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)