It’s the best of times … and the worst of times. Best, in that participants in this year’s Wharton School Business Plan Competition represented an unusually diverse number of industries, ranging from alternative energy and pet health insurance to medical devices and wireless mesh networking equipment. Worst, in that the ability of entrepreneurs to raise seed money from venture capitalists is distinctly hobbled by a dismal economy and, not surprisingly, an equally dismal venture capital industry. Consider the experience of the team that won last year’s competition. “I underestimated how tough it would be to raise capital in the northeast corridor,” says Onne Ganel, a team member of 2002’s first place winner Envisia, which has since changed its name to MicroMRI. “I haven’t heard of one company that has raised seed funds in the last year.…