Bain & Company Announces Finalists in Bain Start-Up Challenge, A National Digital Economy Star Search.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2000

Power start-up package, including funding, management and logistical support, awaiting winners of the business plan competition

Bain & Company announced today the ten finalists in its first annual Bain Start-Up Challenge. This national business plan competition is open to a select group of business plans that earned distinction in competitions at top business schools, including the University of Chicago, Harvard Business School, Kellogg, MIT, Stanford, Tuck and Wharton. The finalist teams will present their business plans at the final judging and award ceremony on May 23 to a distinguished panel of judges, which includes representatives from venture capitalists Accel, Greylock, and Texas Pacific Group; Red Herring Magazine; Bain & Company; and bainlab, Bain's Internet business incubator.

"Think of this as the Star Search of the New Economy," said Phil Kleweno, a Vice President at Bain & Company, and a member of the judging panel. "Business school students are serious entrepreneurs and will be some of the hottest business people of the future. The Bain Start-Up Challenge allows these students to inject our years of business experience into their fledgling companies. It is an unparalleled opportunity for students to win a complete package of financial, technical and management support to make their start-ups a success."

The ten finalist plan names and schools include:

Leasing Point - Chicago; UniverCite.com - Chicago; Confidential Plan Title - Harvard Business School; Ferragus Technologies - Kellogg; Confidential Plan Title - MIT; EyeGen Inc. - MIT; Wacky Wombat - Stanford; ThickPipes.com - Tuck; DealMaven - Wharton; Digi-Pad - Wharton

Bain Start-Up Challenge Background:

45 teams representing seven leading business schools entered the competition. To enter, qualified teams submitted an executive summary of their business plan. The finalist teams will now submit a complete business plan by May 15, and then they will present their business plans to a panel of judges at the final judging and award ceremony on May 23. Each team will receive feedback from the panel and the winning team and two runners-up will be announced at this final award ceremony.

The team behind the winning plan will receive the power start-up package, including $50,000 in seed capital, support from bainlab and introductions to leading venture capitalists. The two runners-up will receive support from bainlab and introductions to a leading venture capitalist.

About Bain & Company, Inc.

Bain & Company is one of the world's leading global management consulting firms, serving clients across six continents. With headquarters in Boston and offices in all major cities throughout the world, Bain has worked with over 1,500 major multinational and other corporations from every economic sector, in every region of the world. bainlab, Bain's Internet business incubator, brings Bain's intellectual property, execution capability and network of contacts to identifying and building Internet businesses. For more information, visit www.bain.com, www.bainlab.com and www.bain.com/challenge.