NewSpring Announces Winners of Third Annual Investment Thesis Competition for Local MBA Students
June 17, 2019
Wharton MBA students participate in growth equity competition for a third consecutive year
RADNOR, PA – June 17, 2019 – NewSpring, a family of private equity strategies, today announced the winners of its third annual Investment Thesis Competition. This initiative, sponsored by NewSpring Growth, the firm’s dedicated growth and expansion stage strategy, features participants from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Investment Thesis Competition provides interested MBA students the opportunity to develop a growth stage investment thesis and receive direct access to NewSpring investment professionals. The competition culminates with a pitch to NewSpring Growth’s Investment Committee, which involves the participants outlining their thesis, providing a walk-through of their process, and offering their thoughts on actionable opportunities for the firm to pursue.
We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2019 Investment Thesis Competition:
- Nancy Hilliker and Lindsay Pistor secured a first-place victory for their ecommerce customer experience thesis, which focused on the need for retailers to adopt emerging technologies to enable enterprises to treat each customer as the point of sale. They determined advanced technologies, like artificial intelligence and machine learning, can improve the customer experience via personalization, while driving up operational productivity along the supply chain.
- Liban Ahmed is the second-place recipient for his findings on how advanced agriculture technology can be used to meet the rising global food demand. The three leading sectors of AgTech that Ahmed found to present the most market opportunity were smart farm equipment, precision agriculture, and AgTech marketplaces.
- Gary Chalik and Peter O’Hanlon received third-place recognition for their proposal of telehealth as a cost-effective solution for meeting the medical needs of an expanding and aging population. They identified telehealth as a compelling industry segment that is expected to see continued growth, while highlighting emerging areas of opportunity in the market (e.g., the growing cyber security needs associated with the proliferation of digital health platforms).
Throughout the Investment Thesis Competition, NewSpring Growth team members worked closely with the Wharton participants to analyze market sizes, understand competitive dynamics, evaluate business model diligence, and identify actionable investment prospects.
“The Investment Thesis Competition is a mutually beneficial opportunity for both the MBA participants and our team members. Students gain hands-on experience and receive expertise training, while we connect with talented members of the Philadelphia investment community to share ideas,” said Justin Nadile, NewSpring Principal. “NewSpring looks forward to continuing our relationships with Wharton and for future opportunities to support the next generation of successful investors.”