Eight teams of MBAs from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin recently competed in the opening rounds of the annual Texas MOOT CORP® Competition.

The four top teams will compete in the finals on Dec. 6 for a $100,000 investment and a slot in the global competition in May.

Eight teams competed in two divisions with the top two teams from each division selected to compete in the finals. The four top teams were OmniTap, Trial_Logic, Private Concepts and SportsTek.

Private Concepts provides safe, affordable, home diagnostic medical tests for women. The company's initial product is a self-administered cervical cancer screen. The product was developed by an Austin gynecologist. Team members include Patrick Pevoto, Andy Campbell, Lynn Wright, Niki Aberle and Tim Wilson.

SportsTek has a revolutionary new golf grip design that significantly reduces the shock and vibration felt from impact with the ball or the ground. Team members include Sid Oster, Rominder Varma and John Szypula.

Trial_Logic markets software developed by M. D. Anderson and used by clinical trail researchers to decrease development costs and maximize product revenues for drug development and medical device companies. Team members include Nathan Beckord, Robert Kassner, Derek Petersen, Yan Ge and Anthony Browne.

OmniTap will provide a fast, easy and profitable way for value added-resellers to service and sell technology to small business clients. Team members include Michael Aaron, Liz Ekzarkhov, Chris McDougall and Alan Pentz.

A panel of local venture capitalists and business leaders assumed the role of interested investors and questioned the entrepreneurs as if their own investment capital were at risk. The judges functioned as an investment group seeking to reach consensus on the business venture they would most likely fund.