The entrepreneurship ecosystem at Waterloo Engineering nurtures promising ideas into thriving enterprises. In our weekly Founder Fuel series, we look at new ventures and how they have benefited from that crucial early support.
Andrew Martinko (BASc ’15, nanotechnology engineering, MBET ’16) and his Capstone team developed UV-activated ink that one applies with a marker before slathering on sunscreen. When the ink turns purple, it’s time to reapply. The idea attracted all kinds of attention, especially after they were named runners-up for the prestigious international James Dyson innovation award.
To bring their marker to market, Martinko and co-founder Chad Sweeting (BASc ’15, nanotechnology engineering) founded Suncayr.
They brokered an acquisition by Dig It Apparel, which brought substantial branding and sales experience, and focused on online sales. Today, they’ve attracted hundreds of thousands of Amazon customers and a raft of five-star reviews.
Go to Keeping sun-seekers safe for the full story.