Business Plans from University of Chicago, Tuck and Harvard Business School Are The Winners of the Bain Start-Up Challenge, A National Digital Economy Star Search.

Business/Hi-Tech Editors

Winning teams receive power start-up package,

including funding, management and logistical support

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2000

Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, announced today the winners of its first annual Bain Start-Up Challenge, a national business plan competition open to a select group of entrepreneurs whose business plans earned distinction in other competitions at top business schools.

The Grand Prize winner is Leasing Point from The University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Leasing Point is a B2B exchange that improves the inefficiencies that characterize the current system of arranging equipment financing. Specifically, Leasing Point is targeting equipment transactions greater than $1 million in the transportation and manufacturing industries.

The two runners-up are Thick Pipes, from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, an energy exchange targeting small manufacturing companies; and Confidential Plan Title, a B2B service platform and marketplace for specialty retail segments from the Harvard Business School.

As the Grand Prize winner, Leasing Point, the University of Chicago team, will receive the power start-up package which includes $50,000 in seed capital, support from bainlab -- Bain & Company's incubator and accelerator -- and introductions to leading venture capitalists. The runners-up award winners from Tuck and HBS will receive support from bainlab and an introduction to a leading venture capitalist.

"The Internet can be a powerful medium for improving the cost efficiency of equipment finance. Developing the business plan for Leasing Point has been an exhilarating experience and we are thrilled to be the recipients of this prestigious award. We appreciate the support of Bain & Co., and look forward to working with bainlab," said Jeff Scolnick, Chief Operating Officer of Leasing Point, and an MBA candidate at the University of Chicago, "The Bain competition and the University of Chicago have been instrumental in helping us improve our plan. Our team entered the competition hoping to gain access to venture capital funding as well as to get another assessment of the viability of our ideas. What we got out of this challenge exceeded our expectations -- the judges offered an in depth insight into the strengths and weaknesses of our business plan. They clearly spent a lot of preparation time before meeting with us and we felt we got their personal attention. This was truly impressive."

The ten teams presented their business plans to a distinguished panel of judges, which included representatives from two venture capitalists, Accel and Greylock; the private equity firm, Texas Pacific Group; Red Herring Magazine; Bain & Company; and bainlab, Bain's Internet business incubator. The winners were announced at a formal dinner and awards ceremony held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston on May 23.

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

Bain Start-Up Challenge Background:

45 teams representing seven leading business schools entered the competition. Qualified teams had to have been semi-finalists in their respective business school competitions, and submitted an executive summary of their business plan to enter. The ten finalist teams submitted a complete business plan on May 15, and presented it to the panel of judges. The awards ceremony took place on May 23. Each team received feedback from the panel.

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.