A hardware and software company that stands to revolutionize how we give presentations was the biggest winner at the Velocity Fund Finals, a pitch competition for startups, which took place at the University of Waterloo today.

Ubiq allows users to present wirelessly from their tablets or laptops to existing projectors and TVs in their meeting rooms. The company won one of four prizes of $25,000 as well as the additional prize of $10,000 to help offset the additional costs for hardware and science companies. They will work out of the new Velocity Foundry space, opening in downtown Kitchener next week.

Ten companies competed for four prizes of $25,000, which they will use to help grow their businesses. Winning also guarantees them workspace and mentor support at the Velocity Garage if they are software companies, or the Velocity Foundry for hardware, materials and life sciences companies.

"The whole team worked so hard on our product for the past eight months to get to this stage," said Sumit Pasupalak of Ubiq, and a graduate of software engineering at Waterloo. "We still have a long way to go, but this support will help us get into the first round of manufacturing so that we can be in boardrooms across North America this fall."

The following three companies are the other winners of the grants worth $25,000 and space at the Velocity Garage or Foundry:

ExVivo is changing the way allergies are tested. Their product provides an alternative to existing skin prick methods by moving the reaction outside of a patient’s body. This will give allergists a more rapid way to screen for allergies and offer patients results that are safe, simple and certain. It is the first Velocity Science company to win the $25,000.

Grobo is a personalized, app-controlled, in-home gardening system that lets people grow a successful garden at anytime of the year, regardless of their experience level.

MAJiK Systems is a web app where factory managers and machine operators can view their machines’ status, efficiency and errors in real time.

"Velocity and its experiential learning component is part of the world-class education at Waterloo," said Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity. "We are excited about the success of these companies and the continued breadth of innovative products coming through this program."

Ten other teams pitched their startup ideas for one of three prizes worth $1,000 each.

The winners from that competition were:

  • Best Pitch: Boogaloo Bunks – Instantly transforms bunk beds into light-proof, sound-resistent personal pods complete with interior pockets and LED lighting
  • People’s Choice and Most Innovative: Suncayr – A UV-responsive marker that’s applied before sunscreen and changes colour once your sunscreen is no longer protecting you

All of the teams had three minutes to pitch their startup ideas to the panel of judges. At least one founder on a pitching team must be a current student or a graduate of the University of Waterloo within the past year. Velocity takes no intellectual property rights or equity in return.

"I meet startups from all over the world, and the quality of the ideas and the entrepreneurs here today was outstanding," said Tim Lee, a venture capitalist and partner with Sequoia Capital, and a first-time judge at the Velocity Fund Finals. "The Waterloo system provides a unique mix of industrial, commercial and technical training for budding engineers and entrepreneurs."

Other judges were Ted Livingston, founder and CEO of Kik, Karamdeep Nijjar, a venture capitalist with iNovia Capital, and Mike Stork, president of Stork Holdings.

More information about the Velocity Fund is available online.

Ubiq, Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity, as well as competition judges Tim Lee, Karamdeep Nijjar, Ted Livingston and Mike Stork.

Ubiq took home two prizes from the Velocity Venture Fund, held today. Also pictured are Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity, as well as competition judges Tim Lee, Karamdeep Nijjar, Ted Livingston and Mike Stork.

About the University of Waterloo

In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.

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