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Trevor Bergman with LIMBS International, left, won first place in the Paso del Norte Venture Competition. He wants to expand production of prosthetic limbs for the developing world.

Three local businesses poised to grow global operations based in the region, along with three teams of UTEP students, were the big winners in the Paso del Norte Venture Competition March 9 at UTEP’s College of Business Administration.

This is the fifth year for the student competition, but the first time local non-student start-ups were part of a professional track organized by the Hub of Human Innovation, a technology incubator in Downtown El Paso.

In the professional track, LIMBS International, an El Paso-based non-profit providing low-cost, high-quality prosthetics around the world, took home the top prize: $10,000 and other in-kind services, including one year of affiliate incubation services at the Hub, with a value of $3,600, and $500 in accounting services from White, Samaniego & Campbell.

“We are a growing organization looking to make a difference in the El Paso-Juarez-Las Cruces region and worldwide,” said Trevor Bergman, LIMBS executive director. “The prize money will help us increase our local impact, as well as go a long way in helping us engage communities and restore lives through sustainable, affordable prosthetic solutions.”

Second place went to for Ruskat Medical, which is commercializing its innovative Hospital in a Box technology worldwide. It won $3,000 cash and six months of affiliate incubation services at the Hub, with a value of $1,800.

For taking third place, Traction Jack will receive three months of affiliate incubation services at the Hub, a $900 value, to market their patented device that helps vehicles escape from being stuck in mud, snow, sand, etc.

“We are that ecstatic 24 companies from all corners of the Borderland applied for this competition and 13 finalists competed with very high quality 10-minute pitches,” said Cathy Swain, the Hub’s CEO and executive director. “The goal is to nurture each of these innovative ideas and help them become major players in our regional economy.”

The student contest was made up of nine teams from the El Paso-Juarez-Las Cruces area, including teams from UTEP, NMSU and Instituto Tecnológico Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. The teams varied in scope from water recycling and mobile wellness to cyber security and leadership building.

In addition to the $10,000 cash prize for first place, UTEP’s student team American Water Recycling will receive affiliate incubation services at The Hub for a year.

“We aim to help the student innovators get their ventures off the ground to become part of the entrepreneurial fabric that is the core of every economy around the country,” Swain said.

American Water Recycling also gets to compete for the $100,000 prize in cash and in-kind services in the University of Texas at Austin’s Global Venture Labs Investment Competition in April. The top four UTEP teams will also compete in the UT System’s new contest, which features another $100,000 prize.

Second place in the student competition and $5,000 in cash went to UTEP’s Mobile Wellness Technologies, plus United Bank of Paso del Norte awarded them $500 for the best business plan.

A third prize of $1,000 went to UTEP’s CyberShark team, which also won $500 from UTEP’s Center for Research entrepreneurship and Innovation Enterprise for the best elevator pitch. Challenge round winners Ludus and EcoLogix teams each received $500.

The Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce hosted the PDN Venture Competition. The Hub of Human Innovation sponsored and coordinated the professional track, while United Bank and CREIE sponsored the student contest. Several other general support and in-kind sponsors included White, Samaniego & Campbell and TVO North America.

UTEP professor Thomas Boland is developing technology to print biomaterial, like living skin cells.

There’s a professional boxer turned entrepreneur, a biotech startup that’s developing technology to print human skin, and a non-profit that produces inexpensive artificial limbs for the developing world.

Another venture would transform a vacant, $11-million medical building into an outpatient health care center.

Those budding ventures and nine others, all located in or around El Paso, are competing in El Paso’s first-ever venture competition for professionals this weekend.

The entrepreneurs are hoping to win $10,000 and a spot at the HUB of Human Innovation, and hoping that El Paso’s only business incubator will turn their idea into big business.

For years, college students have competed in the Camino Real Venture Competition, pitting their business plans against each other. But this year the competition was renamed the Paso del Norte Venture Competition and split into two tracks – a student track and professional track.

The 13 ventures make 15-minute business pitches to a panel of judges comprised of angel investors, bankers and venture capitalists at the University of Texas at El Paso. The best pitch wins.

Social boxing

Cesar Valenzuela, a professional boxer from El Paso, and his partners are developing a website,grattic.com, that combines e-commerce and social networking. It would promote the work of independent artists, musicians and fashion designers.

“Whether we win or not, we are still getting exposure, and that is what we want,” Valenzuela says.

The startup needs $50,000 to $55,000 to launch, according to Valenzuela. His partner, David Ramirez, owns the NY Bagel Café & Deli in Far East El Paso.

Printing skin

Thomas Boland, sometimes referred to as the “grandfather of bio-printing,” is developing technology to print biomaterial such as living skin cells. He is a professor of metallurgical and materials engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso.

CEO Laura Bosworth says the company, TeVido Bio Devices, is seeking $50 million to $60 million in venture capital.

Right now, the startup is developing a natural breast implant for breast cancer patients who have undergone a lumpectomy. Bosworth estimates the product is 10 years away from market.

While the technology is still in its infancy, biomedical engineers hope it could one day be used to print entire organs for transplants.

Like Valenzuela, Bosworth, says the competition isn’t just about winning.

“Soon we will be trying to approach hospitals and recruit doctors. This is just a fabulous way to get some publicity and community support,” Bosworth says.

Replacing limbs

LIMBS International produces inexpensive prosthetic limbs for the developing world.

The non-profit works in prosthetic clinics in Asia, Latin America and Africa, but is hoping to raise $2 million over the next three years to broaden its reach, says LIMBS executive director Trevor Bergman.

“We’re not limited by opportunities, we are limited by resources like any startup,” Trevor says.

Other competing ventures include Intagliati, which creates digitally fabricated wood products; Pasolus, which helps companies become more energy efficient; Ruskat Medical Equipment Corp., which produces a “Hospital in a Box”; and Traction Jack, which makes a device that helps vehicles become unstuck.

One-stop medical shop

Jay Butler, chief operating officer, says he is working to form a multi-physician outpatient health care center called Butler Healthcare in El Paso. It would be located in the building at 4532 N. Mesa abandoned by the Center for Integrative Cancer Medicine in early 2011 after it ran into financial troubles and filed for bankruptcy.

Butler is seeking $29 million in startup capital to buy the building, equipment and hire physicians.

“This is what is important. There are lots of places to get health care in El Paso. The problem is they don’t have everything you need under one room,” Butler says.

Butler Healthcare would be that “one-stop shop,” he says.

And more

There’s also Urban Station, an innovative shared office space; EP Pharma, a biotech startup developing drugs to treat immunological disorders; Danportt Enterprises, which has developed a unique table for truckers; 2Ten Coffee Roasters, which is a coffee supplier; and Asymptopia Software, which produces education software.

The competition is sponsored by the Hub of Human Innovation, which was launched almost two years ago amidst a cluster of technology companies in the Transtelco Building in Downtown at 500 W. Overland.

The Hub aims to turn baby startups in the region into high-growth global companies.

E-mail El Paso Inc. reporter Robert Gray at rsgray@elpasoinc.com or call (915) 534-4422 ext. 105.