Pictured left to right: Michael Slocombe, Brett Reed, and Mark Slaughter

Two of the School’s MBA students are garnering the attention of venture capitalists in Florida and across the country. Mark Slaughter, CEO, and Brett Reed, CLO, of Cohealo, beat out competitors from schools such as Wake Forest, Boston College and Duke at the Startup Madness competition for startup companies, held in Durham, N.C., in March.

Styled after the “March Madness” that takes place every spring among college basketball teams, the bracket-style competition included 19 teams from 11 universities in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The competition was eventually narrowed down to a final four and the ultimate winners Slaughter and Reed, who received the grand prize of $5,000. They are currently funded by a private investor. Their company, which has been supported by The Launch Pad at UM, seeks to deliver high-quality health care at a lower cost by enabling hospital systems to work as a single organization as opposed to stand-alone facilities.

 “The biggest take-home was the many contacts we made in the venture capital community and the health care community in the mid-Atlantic,” said Slaughter. “We will be exploring working with several health systems up in the Carolinas and Virginia.”

Slaughter launched the company (formerly Collaborative Bioscience) with Reed and Michael Slocombe in 2011. The three also took first place in the statewide collegiate business plan competition at the Early Stage Venture Capital Conference last fall, beating out six other finalists from Florida universities.

Slaughter is among three School of Business student entrepreneurs nominated for Technology Leader of the Year Awards by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Those awards will be presented April 27.