To be chosen out of five companies for the best emerging company in Colorado and to win $7,500 was the end goal for CSU spin-off company Veterinary Emerging Technologies Development Corporation (VetDC) at the BioWest Venture Showcase.

The showcase was organized by the Colorado Bioscience Association. This biannual event is provided for beginning companies to bring their ideas in front of a panel of investors and the local communities in an effort to gain the recognition of being the most promising startup company.

“Forty exhibitors came to show what they want to do. There were about 400 people from the industry there as well,” said April Giles, executive vice president of the Colorado Bioscience Association.

VetDC’s presented against four other companies, including another spin-off company from CSU, KromaTID. The five teams each had 15 minutes to present their ideas to the panel.

VetDC’s idea was to use shelved medications and others that are brand new to the market and see if there is any chance that they could be used to help cure or limit the occurrence of cancer in human-companion animals, according to President and CEO of VetDC, Steven Roy.

“To date, there are no companies with the core focus on cancer,” Roy said.

Roy explained that the reason behind the focus on cancer was because it’s a disease that can be unnerving for anyone involved, be it family members or family pets.

“Personally, cancer is a scary disease and pets are a part of people’s families. If we can provide hope and another life for people’s pets, that’s what we want to do. Cancer is the leading killer of people’s pets today, so what better focus than cancer?”

With cancer as the central focus at the showcase, VetDC was confident that they had a strong exhibit for the panel and the communities. They had begun preparing for the showcase about a year ago,  Roy said. In the end, their hard work and dedication paid off when they won the showcase.

“It was humbling. This makes the hard work worthwhile to get this kind of recognition,” Roy said as he reflected on the win.

CSU Ventures, a program whose primary goal is to aid the innovation of new technologies by bringing them to the market, worked hand-in-hand with VetDC and KromaTID. The President of CSU Ventures,

Todd Headley, explained that the competition had a great turn-out for both teams.

“We are pleased that VetDC won this competition and that two of our high potential startup companies are getting some well-deserved attention from the bioscience industry in Colorado,” Headley said.

VetDC plans to use their $7,500 prize toward furthering their research.

Collegian Reporter Alex Steinmetz can be reached at news@collegian.com.