On Saturday May 7th, a student founded start-up company, Idyll Life Co., from Thammasat’s Master in Marketing program (MIM) were crowned World Champions among 40 of the worlds top business schools at the Global Moot Corp? Business Plan Competition in the United States. Their winning prize was US$183,000 (7.5 Million Baht) in investment and services to support the startup. Thammasat had a second team competing, A-Gro Solutions, Which Finished 3rd among these 40 international MBA’s.

Crowned the "Super Bowl of world business plan competitions," the MOOT CORP? 2004 Competition was held on May 4-7, 2005 on The University of Texas at Austin campus. The two Thai teams each earned their place at the global competition by winning in other regional Competitions. Idyll Life Co., won at Asia Moot Corp held in Bangkok this past March, while A-Gro Solutions finished in the top spot among North American MBA’s at the New Venture Championship at the University of Oregon in April.

Thammasat’s Idyll Life Co., the Global Champion, was made up of 5 students in their second year of the Master of International Marketing. They created a business aimed to manufacture a pure all natural, zero calorie, high intensity sweetener centered on new extraction processes for stevia, a locally harvested “sweet” plant.

The Thammasat A-gro Solutions team presented a patented new agricultural sprayer, the Pro Mist, particularly aimed at Thai rice farmers, allowing them to save 50% of their fertilizer costs and increasing their crop yield by up to 22%.

“This is an incredible accomplishment for both these student groups to finish among the top 3, especially with the ranks of the universities they were competing against,” said Bill Randall, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Chairman of the Moot Corp Program at Thammasat. “It really shows how capable Thai entrepreneurs are and that there is tremendous opportunity for new start-ups right here in Thailand.” In the past 7 years, Thammasat has earned top honors in more than 20 such competitions.

Thammasat went head to head in the finals with the University of Michigan, which this year was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the Number 1 business School in the world. To earn their way to the finals, they had to topple the likes of Kellogg School of Management and London Business School, and ironically, Thammasat’s other team, A-Gro solutions. Thammasat is the only Asian School to have ever won the Global Moot Corp competition. Both Teams won additional awards for Best Booth Display, Best Written Business Plan, and Best Presentation, an extraordinary achievement especially for a group who were presenting in their second language, English.

Last month Thammasat’s Idyll Life Co. competed in the Asia Moot Corp Competition, Asia’s largest and most prestigious business plan competition. 20 of Asia’s top MBA programs were represented from almost every country in the region, including Thammasat, Sasin, and Mahidol University. Thammasat finished with an impressive first place, winning a prize of US$ 12,500 and the prestigious title of “Asia Moot Corp Champion”, as well as its bid to compete in the annual world championship in Texas.

Pitinapa Rakchaiwan, Pronpan Wisidwutikul, Twipat Tesprateep, Wanwipa Teerasopon, and Suttipan Sutas Na Ayuuthya represented Thammasat University, with their new venture, Idyll Life. Their business idea is based on a new technology to create a new all natural, 0 calorie sweetener called Pure Lite, from the commonly known stevia plant.

What makes Pure Lite so special is that, unlike normal stevia powder, it has no aftertaste. One of the biggest obstacles to stevia becoming a common sweetening ingredient in processed foods is the bitter aftertaste that comes from the plant. Idyll Life has the rights to a new technology that is capable of removing the bitter elements of this natural sweetener.

During the last several months the concept has created a lot of excitement for food processing companies. “We realized we had a great business idea when we started meeting potential customers here in Thailand. Every food company we met here, or in other international markets, was excited about our offering,” said Suttipan Sutas Na Ayuthya, who acts as the Director of Marketing for Idyll Life Co. Several local organizations are showing interest in bringing this project to market which would be a great model for development of Thai companies through SME and venture capital support.

With aspiring entrepreneurs looking for start-up funds from experienced investors, the MOOT CORP? Competition simulates the real-world process of raising venture capital. MBAs from business schools around the globe come to The University of Texas at Austin each May to present their business plans to panels of investors. From among the new businesses presented, the investors select the best new-venture opportunity. Founded in 1984, the MOOT CORP? Competition is both the first and longest operating, inter-business school, new-venture competition in the world, and attracts top schools such as London Business School, Oxford, INSEAD, Kellogg, University of Michigan, UCLA, University of North Carolina, University of Chicago, and Ivey School of Business, to name a few.

Idyll Life : Global Moot Corp 2005 Winner (US$ 183500), Best Written Plan (in Division III)  

Idyll Life photo : Gary M.Cadenhead (Moot Corp Director): 2 nd from left, Pitinapa Rakchaiwan , Suttipan Sutas Na Ayuthya , Twipat Tesprateep , Pornpan Wisidwutikul , Wanwipa Teerasopon        

A-Gro Solutions : Third runner up (US$ 3000) , Best Written Plan & Best Presentation (in Division IV)  

A-Gro Solutions photo : Ekachai Wangprapa , Germain Bergeron (Advisor), Supishsha Sajjamanochai , Atip Kulasiriswad , Bill Randall (Major Advisor), Anchalee Chaichanavijit , Nantakan Chookarnkhar , Dan McKay (Advisor)