For the second time in as many years the University of Manitoba has been invited to ring the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Exchange on August 20, 2010.

The University of Manitoba was invited to this event because of its reputation for launching enterprises based on business plans developed by its students. The most successful of these businesses is Toronto-based NovaDAQ Technologies.

Originally presented in 1999 by student Rick Mangat at competitions across North America, NovaDAQ now trades on the TSX and was recently identified as one of the fastest growing technology firms in Canada. NovaDAQ, however, is just one of the 18 companies launched from business plans developed by University of Manitoba students. These businesses are in a variety of sectors ranging from agriculture to construction products.

NASDAQ is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the United States and fourth largest by market capitalization in the world. With approximately 3,700 companies and corporations, it has more trading volume than any other stock exchange in the world. It is also one of the leading sponsors for the Stu Clark Investment Competition, which is an international graduate level business plan competition organized by the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship (University of Manitoba), where students from all over North America pitch their ideas to venture capitalists.

For more information please contact Robert Warren, I. H. Asper Executive Director for Entrepreneurship, Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba at 204-474-8422 or robert_warren@umanitoba.ca.