Mashavu

From the press release:

Spring House, PA (March 12, 2008) - Advanta Corp. (NASDAQ: ADVNB; ADVNA) announced that Aaron Fleishman of State College, PA has been named February's $10,000 ideablob.com monthly contest winner for the best business idea.

Fleishman, a 23-year old Lewistown, PA native, is a Penn State senior majoring in chemical engineering. The concept for Mashavu came from a class design project to develop a prototype cell phone-based system to help victims in disaster situations and refugee camps. To pilot the program, Fleishman and Penn State Senior Research Associate Khanjan Mehta will lead a group of 14 students to Tanzania in June. His idea can be found at http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/1528-Mashavu-Networked-Health-Solu.

"The ideablob competition gave us a fantastic opportunity to announce our new venture and receive validation and startup funding," explained Fleishman. "We have assembled an excellent multi-disciplinary team of students and faculty to help make this project successful. Our pilot test should give us great direction towards developing Mashavu, implementing it effectively and making it sustainable."

Fleishman plans to use the $10,000 contest prize towards continued prototype development and component costs including additional laptops, medical sensors, cell phones and web servers.

Ideablob.com is a vibrant and active community where small business owners and entrepreneurs are sharing business ideas in exchange for feedback, advice and votes from the community. Advanta, one of the nation's largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market, awards a $10,000 monthly prize to the best eligible idea, as determined by the votes of the ideablob community. To date, Advanta has paid out prize money to a Chicago-based software developer, a Philadelphia-based non-profit founder, and New York- and Boston-based social entrepreneurs.

"Aaron is the fourth social entrepreneur to win the contest as voted on by the ideablob community," said Ami Kassar, Advanta's Chief Innovation Officer. "We find it very encouraging that there are so many good social entrepreneurial ideas out there, and even more importantly, that thousands of ideablob community members are supporting these ideas with their votes."

Fleishman was one of eight finalists competing for February's $10,000 prize. The eight finalists who will compete for March's $10,000 contest prize will be announced on ideablob.com on March 22, and the ideablob community will have 10 days to vote for March's best business idea. To review the ideas submitted by past ideablob winners, please visit www.ideablob.com.

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