Teams with ties to Waterloo Engineering took three of four $5,000 prizes on the line this week at the summer edition of the Velocity Fund Finals pitch contest.
Insula Medical, WatFly and Emergency Response Africa (ERA) competed against seven other early stage startup companies with three-minute presentations at the Student Life Centre. Teams in the finals qualified from an initial field of 42.
Winners of the Velocity Fund Finals pitch competition, including three Waterloo Engineering teams, pose with their ceremonial cheques for $5,000 at the Student Life Centre.
Insula Medical (Joel Ravi, Connor Al-Joundi, Raiyan Faruqui and Sara Salmon, all 4A mechanical engineering) is developing a compact and ergonomic insulin delivery system.
“This award will help us change the lives of type 1 diabetics by allowing us to further develop our product,” said Salmon.
WatFly (Abinesh Chandrasekhar and Gonzalo Espinoza Graham, both 4B mechanical engineering) is developing an electric air vehicle to combat urban traffic jams.
Emergency Response Africa (Folake Owodunni and Maame Poku, both master of business, entrepreneurship and technology) aims to provide care to victims at emergency scenes and facilitate access to hospitals, with an initial focus on Nigeria.
The fourth $5,000 winner, founded by Lynne Murdoch and Erica Phelps, was VOYHS. It is developing an app to help trans people boost their confidence and improve their lives by training their voices.
The Velocity Fund, which was established in 2011, stages a $5K pitch event each term.