Name: PigCHAMP

Year Founded: 1999

Industry: Software

Revenue Generated for the University: $172,048

Summary: PigCHAMP’s software was developed by a group of veterinary medicine faculty and graduate students in the early 1980s, general manager Dave Farnum said. The record-keeping computer program helps farmers and researchers sort and analyze data on their animals. “It keeps track of all the animals on a farm,” Farnum said. The University sold the software itself for several years. “Market share for the product started to grow quite rapidly. This had turned into a business, so a decision was made to move it outside the University,” he said. In 1999, a group of University employees and investors arranged a licensing deal to sell the software. In 2001, the company was purchased by Farms.com, an agricultural marketing company based in Ames, Iowa. PigCHAMP registered $1.6 million in sales for 2002, and Farnum said he expects approximately $2.5 million in sales by the end of 2003. “It struggled with revenue for a long time, but it’s certainly become a nice, profitable business for us,” he said.