Startups' prowess highlighted in competition

Top three winners, Alphonse Harris (second from left), COO of the Disease Diagnostic Group, Shen Yichen (third from right), founder of the Lux Labs and Arie Laor (right), CEO of Biofeed, of the US round of the global Dongsheng Entrepreneurial Competition receive cash prizes for their company on Thursday in Arlington, Virginia. Zhang Tao (left), the founder and CEO of Dao Ventures and Victor Hoskins (second from right), director of Arlington Economic Development and another two judges are among the strong supporters of this competition. PHOTOS BY YUAN YUAN/ For China Daily

Disease Diagnostic Group (DDG), a New York based company focusing on screening, tracking and diagnosing highly infectious tropical diseases that have transmission issues in the developing world through portable and reusable devices, won a $10,000 cash prize as well as the chance to travel to China.

Its technology can be used to quantitatively diagnose a disease in a minute with one drop of blood from a fingertip at only 10 percent the cost of current solutions, according to DDG's COO Alphonse Harris.

Alphonse Harris, COO of the Disease Diagnostic Group, gives a presentation introducing how their product is able to effectively diagnose highly infectious tropical diseases at a lower cost on Thursday at the US round of the global Dongsheng Entrepreneurial Competition in Arlington, Virginia. The Disease Diagnostic Group won the first prize at the competition and was awarded $10,000 and a trip to Beijing.

DDG is among the ten early-stage, small medium enterprises (SMEs) competing for funds and expansion opportunities on Thursday at the US round of the global Dongsheng Entrepreneurial Competition hosted by Arlington Economic Development and Dow Ventures in Arlington, Virginia.

With competitors from as far away as Israel, the competing companies in the US final round represent industries ranging from medical technology to special software and products for early child education and for athletes.

Later this month, the top two winners, DDG and Lux Lab, an advanced optical materials company, will travel to Dongsheng Science and Technology Park in Beijing to compete against other finalists from China and Korea for a grand prize of $160,000 in funding for their business, free office space in Beijing and guidance to develop into the Chinese market.

"One of the main areas that we're interested in selling our product is Southeast Asia, so we think that China is very strategically located and has expertise and manufacturing advantages," Harris said. "The second reason is that our device can have an impact in China."

Currently, the main disease DDG tries to tackle is malaria. With a vision beyond malaria, the company sees China as a strategic partner to develop its production line dealing with other spreading diseases throughout Asia.

"Environmental is the key word for entry into the Chinese market," said Mark Marangella, Dao Ventures' US managing director. "Ultimately, what we want out of the winners that come here today is, we want them to impact in the China market as well."

So, in addition to evaluating the companies' business model and investment value, the judges look at whether they have potential in solving environmental and social problems, according to Zhang Tao, one of the judges as well as the founder and CEO of Dao Ventures.

"If we look at the top three winners, DDG offers medical treatment solutions to the developing countries, Lux Labs provides energy conservation plans and Biofeed's technology can drastically reduce the use of pesticides in agriculture," Zhang said.

This is the second year Arlington working with Dao Ventures to host the Dongsheng Entrepreneurial Competition, said Victor Hoskins, director of Arlington Economic Development. "We are thrilled with the partnership that has been built between our two regions."

This is also the second year that the Arlington based start-up Electric Feel participated in the competition. The company produces energy storage device that can be carried with one hand for electric vehicles.

"I like this competition because I want to go into manufacturing for my product full scale so that I can cover the US and China," said Farah Brunache, founder and CEO of Electric Feel. "So, it makes sense for me to come to this competition to learn more from the experts of this area and hopefully get a chance to venture out there."

She said she would continue to join this competition next year.

"This opportunity is a wonderful way to showcase the truly remarkable entrepreneurial enterprises being developed here and further enhance the global market opportunities between Arlington and the Chinese market," Hoskins said.

Yuan Yuan in Washington contributed to the story