The academic engine for entrepreneurs

This fall term, Enterprise Co-op students took part in the Ignition Week pitch competition. Meet the winners!

Within just a year of starting the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program, Chinazom Uwaoma had already founded two promising startups, both aimed at driving social impact in Canada and around the world.

Inspired by his experience finding housing when he first arrived in Waterloo region, he and fellow MBET student Ernest Onuorah created MergeToOwn, an online platform that reduces barriers for first-time homebuyers by supporting successful co-ownership.

And he didn't stop there. Chinazom also created ESOTE, a platform that uses AI technology to support startups around the world to easily recruit junior and intermediate co-op students from Canadian postsecondary institutions.

It was a question from a rural farmer in Ghana that planted the seed of a new business in Lydia Konlan's head. "How do I find markets for my products?"

This led her to create FarmicleGrow (formerly Rural Agrihub), a business that uses demand data to understand customer and wholesale business needs that can be shared with rural farmers so they can successfully bring their products to market.