The Partum Group, a new company created by three UofL IMBA students, has received two funding awards to help continue development of its innovative healthcare technology.
     The company has received $10,000 from the Vogt Development Awards and a $25,000 ICC Concept Award from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) for its new business concept.

     Partum is developing the MaternaTRACÔ, a device that quantifies precisely the changes of a woman’s cervix as she progresses through labor.  Successful development could allow improved diagnosis by doctors and better management of the labor process by hospitals, including fewer errors and lower liability costs.
     The award funds will help the company continue its creation of a prototype device and proceed toward FDA approval.  The company is comprised of entrepreneurship MBA students Divya Cantor MD, Katie Dawson and James Mudd.
     “We’re very pleased these organizations feel as strongly about our potential as we do,” said Cantor. “We will need $50,000 to develop the prototype and another $250,000 for FDA approval, so the awards came at a great time.”
     Named for inventor and entrepreneur Henry Vogt Heuser, the Vogt Development Award provides 2:1 matching funds to qualified applicants to assist them in achieving the milestones needed to make them viable candidates for angel investing or additional Vogt awards in the future.
     The KSTC ICC Concept Pool Fund provides seed and early-stage capital to small- and medium-sized innovative Kentucky companies with high growth potential.  Companies must match the fund's investment on a 1:1 dollar ratio in cash or in-kind services.
     The Partum Group also has performed well in Moot Corp qualifying events, finishing first both in the Northwest Venture Championship at Boise State and in the elevator pitch at the Carnegie Mellon competition.  Previously, the team won the UofL Aleris New Venture Challenge and finished second in the fast-pitch competition at the inaugural Cardinal Challenge in Louisville.
     In April, the team also won $44,660 at the inaugural Kentucky Idea State U. competition, taking first prize in the graduate business plan category.  In May the team will travel to Texas for the “Super Bowl” of global business plan competitions--Moot Corp--where the top prize is $100,000.