UC School of Pharmacy Students’ StartUp VioxRx Wins $6,000 at Thrive Business Plan Competition

VoixRx, a business startup created by University of Charleston School of Pharmacy students, won $6,000 to scale up its operations at Thrive, the Alliance’s community-based approach to supporting local entrepreneurs. 

Created by Kofi Amegadje, a dual PharmD/MBA student; and Stephanie Turner and Rawlings Ebot Enow, third-year PharmD students, VioxRx is developing a new communication method between pharmacists and patients, offering patients a method to get their medication instructions in a specific language and receive it as an audio file. 

Presented with title sponsorship from Dow Chemical, Thrive gave seven startup companies the opportunity to pitch their business plans in a fast-paced, interactive and educational environment. More than 70 community members who attended the competition Dec. 5 cast a vote of support, with the top vote-getting entrepreneurs taking home a cash prize for capital investment. 

​VioxRx’s winning funds are comprised from community member attendance fees and seed capital from event sponsors including Dow Chemical, Appalachian Power, Bowles Rice, Charleston Area Medical Center, Industrial Bolting, Terrell Ellis & Associates, the University of Charleston and Vision Shared. 
Leading up to the event, the seven startup companies met with the Alliance’s economic development committee to share their business plans and garner feedback from the business leaders.

Finalists also received business coaching from the University of Charleston Wehrle Innovation Center Team guiding them through questions such as: Who are my customers? What do they want? What is the problem that I’m trying to solve? What makes my idea better than the other ideas?
In addition to VioxRx, Thrive finalists included: 

• BrainWave Consulting Company provides cybersecurity services for businesses including security awareness training, anti-malware and server and workstation installations. 
• Echo-Lit is an e-commmerce publisher of educational and inspirational prints designed by local artists for homes, classrooms and offices.
• Filmanatix provides high-quality video content for businesses and offers video production, personal branding and social media management services. 
• Fun Fitness Kids Club is a mobile play area for babies and toddlers, offering a new way to incorporate physical fitness at various types of events. 
• HC Consulting offers grant management services for nonprofit organizations, allowing development directors to focus on building and maintaining relationships. 
• Serenity of Stabilizers is developing a set of hearing devices to reduce the decibel of sound for autistic individuals, using a microphone, a speaker and an attenuator.