Chris Andre enrolled in SDSU’s MBA program because of its strong entrepreneurial emphasis. He graduated May 18 as the president and CEO of eleDerm, a new biotech venture targeted at the anti-aging market.

Andre, whose graduate degree includes specialties in entrepreneurship and finance, says the entrepreneurial coursework helped him understand areas such as business development and marketing. He and fellow students Pam Harris, Kristi Hochvert, Sylvia Jeung and Kevin O’Brien are the team behind the venture that uses proprietary technology for dermatology applications.

Aging, says Andre, causes a reduction in collagen. This makes the skin less elastic and produces wrinkles. He says that eleDerm is creating a device for transferring vitamins and other agents into skin cells. This procedure would be done to re-establish collagen.

Andre fulfilled a graduation requirement by competing with his team in the April Moot Corp Business Plan Competition in Austin, Texas. The competition that Business Week calls the Super Bowl of business plan contests drew 30 student teams. The contest featured a $100,000 grand prize to be used as a bridge loan.

“It was a great opportunity and a great experience,” says Andre. “The venture is high risk; I learned we need to make it a little less risky.”

Judges encouraged the team to continue working on eleDerm because of the “large market” for the product. Andre plans to do that and work on some other projects. “I’m really excited about eleDerm, but it’s always good to have a Plan B and a Plan C,” he says.

— Liz Swain