The Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs, a business plan competition for teams of UCLA students with a total of $100,000 in prizes, held its 2017 competition finals on Wednesday, April 19th in front of a distinguished panels of judges from the Los Angeles business community, including:

‍Josh Green: Vice President of Corporate Development and General Counsel, Carbon3D, Inc; General Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures; UCLA Law '80
Jules Miller: Partner, Luna Cap Ventures; Co-Founder & Managing Director, Evolve Law; UCLA '03
Lowell Milken: Chairman and Co-Founder, Milken Family Foundation; UCLA Law '73
Michael Stilton: Managing Director, Act One Ventures; Chair Emeritus, UCLA Venture Fund
Richard Sandler: Executive Vice President, Milken Family Foundation; Partner, Maron & Sandler; UCLA Law '73

Team Mechanodontics, a startup that has invented hygienic and aesthetic braces took home the grand prize of $70,000. "I was so proud of my partners and it felt incredible when the hard work of our team was recognized!" said Mehdi Roein-Peikar, a resident in the UCLA Dentistry School who invented the patented design for the new orthodontic treatment that reduces cumbersome front-facing braces with a less intrusive design that cuts treatment time in half and reduces the number of visits to a clinician by 75 percent. "We're so honored and humbled to have received the Lowell Milken-Sandler Prize. . . It was an incredible experience," said team member and '17 UCLA Law graduate Angela Li.

The second place prize of $30,000 went to the team from YT AG., a first-in-market industrial-grade pollinator healthcare IT provider to improve commercial bee farm populations. "I am so glad that UCLA Law School has the Milken-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs competition. It teaches us the art of pitching in a realistic yet safe environment that no class could possibly do" Said YT Ag. team member and '16 UCLA Law graduate Jared Xu. "I was slightly nervous when we first started. But while the judges asked good challenging questions that real investors ask, they did so in a very encouraging manner. I was able to open myself up completely. Now, I am going to be ready for any kind of pitches in the future."

The $1,000 Audience Favorite Award went to Good Luck Gaming, a startup that gives fans a chance to play with their favorite video game celebrity while supporting a good cause. The platform allows fans to win chances to play with or against their favorite video game celebrities through a raffle system. Proceeds from the raffles are then allocated to charities, the video game celebrity and the company.

The Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs is a business plan competition for teams of UCLA students with a total of $100,000 in prizes. Each team consists of two to six members and must include a current UCLA School of Law 3L student in good standing or a 2016 UCLA School of Law graduate. This competition is for any Team that has developed a Startup Business that the Team has already started to build or intends to build within the next 12 months. A Startup Business is any proposed business or existing business, for profit, not-for profit, or public benefit. The Startup Business must be a new, independent venture in seed or startup stages.

To learn more about the competition visit the Lowell Milken Institute Website.