The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 4, 2013 | 10 Students brave the Pythons' Pit to win funding by Dennis Smith Metroland West Media Group Halton With nearly 200 onlookers yelling, "Fit the pit," local entrepreneurs successfully pitched three products recently at the inaugural Pythons' Pit. It was there that savvy investors anted up $200,000 altogether for muffins, high-quality bags and dental instrument cleaning equipment. Budding business tycoons appealed for funds in both high school and open categories at McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business - Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington. "This is neither charity nor goodwill. It's good business," said MC Sean Wise, a Ryerson University business professor. "All or none could walk away with the cash they need to succeed." Wise worked for the CBC-TV hit Dragons' Den, the model for Pythons' Pit. "This is creating opportunities for Halton entrepreneurs to secure investment capital and advice," he said. "It's an opportunity for high school students to further develop their entrepreneur skills." Oakville, Burlington, and Halton Hills entrepreneurs earned funding in the two categories. Oakville's Melissa Richardson of Totem Bags impressed with bags and goods made from `upcycled' materials, like bicycle inner At Pythons' Pit at McMaster DeGroot School of Business, Ron Joyce Centre, the student team from CreoSearch.ca pitch their idea -- Emily Chen, Simren Rai and Jessy Kang from Abbey Park High School. photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) tubes. "It's lowering the carbon footprint," she said. "I've created urban, hip, sustainable, one-of-a-kind totem bags." She accepted $100,000 in capital and loan money from panellists George Minakakis (formerly with Luxottica Group) and Randy Pilon (Virox Technologies Inc.) for 40 per cent of her company. "You need me to help grow your business," said Minakakis. Oakville residents George Botos and Manfred Vormbaum, along with Radu Elias, pitched equipment for cleaning and disinfecting dental instruments. "With our equipment, you'd need significantly less time and less space, said Vormbaum. "It would clean instruments in one easy step, with no scrubbing or toxic chemicals." But their firm DeVis Technologies displayed no product. "Get a prototype and put it in front of me," said Don Dalicandro of APEX Systems Integrators. Still, Pilon was intrigued and offered $50,000. "What I'm interested in is getting this in front of people who know about this," said the panellist. His capital was accepted -- funding in return for 7.5 per cent of DeVis. Oakville's Hailey and Jeremy Patry made a hit by serving tasty, all-natural muffins on napkins that resembled $100 bills. There are millions of Canadians with food intolerances and digestive disorders, said Hailey, founder of You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free. "Our future goal is to end world hunger," she joked at first. "Then, it's upset tummies and taste buds." Susanne Mikler (LC Liaison College Culinary Arts) suggested seeking manufacturing help. "For the supply chain, you're looking at a see Competing on p.14 S K N A B X I S S D E B SIX 2013 B I R M I N G H A M BA N K B E D C H A L L E N G E From April 1 to May 5, 2013, over 40 banks across Oakville are helping raise funds for the at Oakville Hospital. T A E R G E ON E S U CA W E' RE BA NK IN G ON $1 M IL LI ON ! your bank. Ask your branch how you can help! www.bankbedchallenge.com Come out and join us on Sunday, May 5 at 10:00 a.m. at Oakville Place