Despite the move to an online environment, The Hub hosted another successful Startup Intake Competition on Saturday November 14th, 2020. On a full-day of webinars, a total of 35 student-led teams, divided into two sessions, and eight judges gathered on Zoom. Each team had six minutes to pitch their ideas which ranged from online grocery marketplaces, sustainable SPF products, humanized lung models and more.
A total of $30,000 in seed money was awarded between 9 winning teams: Legazelle, Scoops Supplements, ExViLent, Arbre, Sumer, FittedFast, Axonaly, Pinch and Gradient Robotics. These awards function as seed money—helping students launch their ideas into tangible startups.
“This year held an incredible group with great ideas,” says Hub Director Gray Graffam. The “total ask”—if all 35 companies were to be funded—was approximately $160,000. There was a variety of companies working in different sectors, such as law, technology, health and science, art, food service and more. The Hub is open to business ideas in any sector.
This year, participation in The Hub has increased by 50%. Since the summer, the startup incubator continues to be fully operational hosting workshops, coaching sessions and more online. This competition also included talented and diverse teams: approximately 42% women and 70% ethnically diverse entrepreneurs. The teams also varied across disciplines, with founders from a wide range backgrounds, including Psychology, Arts, Biology, Law, Medicine, Business, Computer Science and more.
“Some people may ask: Why start a business now during a pandemic?” Graffam says, “because there are unexplored ideas and the Hub might be able to help facilitate them and push them in the right direction.” The winning teams of this year’s Startup Competition represent a wave of young entrepreneurs with new, fresh, and innovative startups.
Learn more about the Startup Competitions winners & their pitches:
· Gradient Robotics https://www.gradientnow.com/
· Legazelle: https://legazelle.ca/index.html
· Scoops supplements: https://www.scoopssupplements.com/
· ExViLent: https://exvilent.com/
· Arbre: https://www.wearearbre.ca/
· Sumer: https://www.sumer.ca/
· Fitted Fast: https://fittedfast.com/
· Axonaly: https://www.axonaly.com/
· Pinch https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinch-delivery/
-- article by Jenefer Savoeung