The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business and Professor Roopa Reddy recently hosted the Quantum Valley Investments® Problem Pitch Competition Winter 2026 Finals, bringing together student teams to present innovative solutions to pressing real-world challenges across health, technology, and society.
The finals highlighted a diverse set of ventures:
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ABR Detect: Tackling delays in detecting antibiotic resistance
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Aqualis Bio: Advancing sustainable pigment solutions in salmon aquaculture
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Canada’s Emergency Room Issue: Bridging gaps in virtual healthcare access
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FireScape: Improving emergency response when critical information is incomplete
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Terms and Conditions Apply: Helping students make informed data privacy decisions
Congratulations to the winning team ABR Detect! ABR Detect is a portable, low-cost diagnostic device enabling rapid detection of antibiotic resistance at the point of care, addressing critical delays in treatment, especially in resource-constrained settings.
Thanks again to our judges for their time and expertise.
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Andre Edelbrock: Founder of Ethoca (acquired by Mastercard), global entrepreneur and investor with deep expertise in digital payments, cybersecurity, and identity.
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Drew Davidson: CTO of ArcticEdge Technologies, PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering, and current MBET student focused on developing safer materials to protect firefighters.
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Aliya Kassamali: Founder of Health Aisle Media, PharmD, MBET alumna, and board director bringing a unique lens at the intersection of healthcare, entrepreneurship, and strategy.
Explore each team’s full pitch on the Conrad School’s YouTube channel.
ABR Detect
Kulsum Ali, Ayesha Waseem, Sara Desoky
Aqualis Bio
Ellie Zarnke, Chuchi Chen
Canada's Emergency Room Issue
Olajide Adefila, Olakitan Bello
FireScape
Pranav Sisodia, Marco Li, Daniel Helmy, Komal Vachhani
Terms and Conditions Apply
Parth Sharma
About the Problem Pitch Competition
The Problem Pitch Competition is a core component of the Conrad School’s experiential learning approach.
Students identify and validate real-world problems before developing venture-backed solutions. The focus is on deeply understanding user needs, industry context, and the broader societal impact of the problem itself; an essential first step in building meaningful and scalable ventures.
Through this process, students strengthen skills in problem framing, market research, stakeholder analysis, and communication, while receiving feedback from industry judges and mentors.
We believe the Problem Lab and the Quantum Valley Investments Problem Pitch Competition will encourage students to focus on fully understanding a problem before venturing to solve it, and will lead to better ideas and strategies for new businesses.
The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business continues to support students in transforming bold ideas into impactful, real-world solutions through hands-on, interdisciplinary entrepreneurship education.