Angela Newnam (MBA 1996) did not set out to be an entrepreneur. But the self-described former “career gal” and mother of three became one by envisioning what she could not find: sexy, comfortable underwear that absorb odor and wick away moisture. The company she founded, Knock out!, was named winner of the Alumni New Venture Contest and its $50,000 grand prize at an April awards ceremony at HBS.

“I like to think of our product as the software that protects your hardware,” said Newnam, whose husband, Todd Newnam (MBA 1996) encouraged her to enter the competition through the HBS Club of Washington, DC. Launched in 2011, Knock out!, which also makes products for men, uses a patented “No Trace” technology. “Entering the contest and presenting before the judges helped me to step back and define where I want to take my business,” said Newnam.

Boston’s Stephen Kahn (MBA 1978) was runner-up and recipient of $25,000 for TrophoMax, a producer of patented seed and leaf inoculants. Jonathan Assayag (MBA 2010) of the HBS Club of Brazil was a semifinalist for Lema21, an online retail channel for quality eyewear. An online poll named Swing by Swing Golf the “Crowd Choice” winner; the mobile app, created by Brandon Molina (MBA 2010), offers distance-to-green accuracy using wireless and GPS technology.

Now in its third year, the Alumni New Venture Contest saw an increase in entries of more than 40 percent over 2011, for a total of 130 teams from HBS clubs around the world. The finals of the contest were judged by a panel of alumni from a wide range of fields. “The contest is a showcase for the terrific start-ups that so many of our alumni are working on,” said Senior Lecturer Michael Roberts, Executive Director of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at HBS. “It brought 11 excellent teams to Boston and gave them the opportunity to meet with faculty members, network, and get valuable feedback from our judges.”

Regional finalists included Little Teacher (Sophia Shing, MBA 1997); Pixie (Jennifer Lee Koss, MBA 2008); Yield Pop (Matthew Perkins, MBA 2009); Education Funding Partners (Mickey Freeman, MBA 1993, and Bradley Greenwald, MBA 1990); EnergyGridIQ (Reena Russell, MBA 2003); ClearCare (Jacquelyn Kung, MBA 2006); and Merlin Mobility, a platform that delivers technical support content to mobile devices through augmented reality (David Moeller, MBA 2008).

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