Avery Therapeutics wins $60,000 in Cash
Avery Therapeutics wins $60,000 in Cash and Other Prizes at “Get Started Tucson” Business Pitch Competition
Local start-up wins cash and other prizes from Cox Business in “Shark Tank” style event
Nearly 300 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business experts and members of the public came together tonight for the 3rd annual Get Started Tucson business pitch competition hosted by Cox Business, Startup Tucson and Inc. Magazine at Tucson Electric Power. Avery Therapeutics presentedthe most compelling pitch to an illustrious panel of experts and walked away with $60,000 in cash and other prizes from Cox Business.
Avery Therapeutics is a local start-up that changes the way heart attacks are treated. The company has essentially created a beating band aid that regenerates blood vessels and heart muscle. When a heart attack strikes, scar tissue results in heart failure. Eventually, patients become sick and are admitted to the hospital for extendedstays that often end in a heart transplant. Avery Therapeutics’ implantable graft is placed on surface of the heart to regenerate blood vessels and heart muscle. The new product is anticipated to be available to patients in 2020.
“Cox Business supports startup businesses here in Tucson! We’re happy that Get Started Tucson brings our entrepreneurial community together, and that we can give this year’s winner, Avery Therapeutics a boost,” said Ken Kraft, Vice President of Marketing for Cox Business.
Jen Koevary, chief operations and financial officer of Avery Therapeutics fielded a barrage of questions from the Get Started Tucson panel and members of the packed audience. Koevary said she will use the $25,000 cash prize to aid in pre-clinical work leading to clinical trials. Other prizes include a Cox Business Internet and phone technology package, a profile in Inc. Magazine, a pitching opportunity with the Desert Angels, a Thrive Scale Up admission and a one year of office space at CoLab from Startup Tucson.
“Long term, of all the companies we looked at tonight, Avery Therapeutics has the greatest impact on the community and the biggest potential return for investors,” said Base Horner, chairman of the screening committee for Desert Angels.
Other finalists who pitched their ideas to the Get Started Tucson judges included Copper Hummingbird, LLC, GraphLock Inc.,InCycle Water, PopConGo, Sharing Tribes, TiltRite and Difference Maker.
To learn more about Avery Therapeutics, check out: averytherapeutics.com.
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About Cox Business:
Cox Business provides voice, data and video services for more than 330,000 small and regional businesses, including healthcare providers, K-12 and higher education, financial institutions and federal, state and local government organizations. The organization also serves most of the top tier wireless and wireline telecommunications carriers in the U.S. through its wholesale division. According to Vertical Systems Group, Cox Business is one of the largest providers of business Ethernet services in the U.S. based on customer ports and has been consistently recognized for its leadership among small/midsize business data service providers. For more information about Cox Business,coxbusiness.com.
