Two Waterloo Engineering students in the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program successfully pitched their ventures at the GreenHouse 31st Social Impact Showcase.
Adedayo Adefarakan, founder of PharmaChill, received $10,000 and Kevin Shang Ye, founder of Care Connect, received $1,000 in funding from the Social Impact Fund.
Adefarakan founded PharmaChill to provide transparency and visibility in the last mile delivery of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals in Nigeria. His goal is to bring PharmaChill and its product, pharmabox — a temperature controlled pharmaceutical packaging solution, to Nigeria to improve the quality of vaccines and immunization for children.
Ye developed CareConnect, a platform that connects clients with caregivers seamlessly to arrange in-home health care. CareConnect is focused on providing flexible solutions for both their clients and caregivers. Currently, Ye has met with 14 caregivers and elders who are on board. CareConnect plans to expand to the Greater Toronto Area and Middlesex County in the next six months, with the potential to reach a global scale in the future.
“GreenHouse, now in its 11th year of operation, has provided social innovation and entrepreneurship education to thousands of students, and has supported through the Social Impact Fund for the development of 120 student-run social ventures — that’s a lot of positive impact, both for the students and for society as a whole,” said Richard Myers, principal at United College, during his opening remarks on March 27 at the GreenHouse 31st Social Impact Showcase.
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