Orono-based Diabetes Sentry won first place in a national best pitch competition held at The PerfectBusiness 2010 Entrepreneur & Investor Summit.

The company has developed a device that straps on like a watch and sends out an alarm when diabetes patients are in danger of excessively low blood sugar. Diabetes Sentry is in the process of raising more money to manufacture more of its device.

Diabetes Sentry competed against more than 400 start-ups for the top prize, said Michael Russin, vice president of sales and marketing. According to the competition's website, the contest's winner receives a prize package worth more than $2,000 from marketing firm Deluxe Corp., among other perks.