Student startup Colare makes it easier for an employer to hire the right engineer for the job. The company uses simulation-based assessments to test candidates on real-world engineering tasks, such as CAD modelling and printed circuit board design.
Waterloo Engineering student Nain Abdi, inspired by his own co-op hiring experiences, co-founded Colare in 2025 with Esther Thomas to improve how engineering talent is evaluated.
Abdi, a third-year electrical engineering student, said Waterloo’s robust ecosystem of entrepreneurship programs — like Enterprise Co-op (E Co-op) and Velocity —helped him launch Colare while continuing his engineering studies.
“Waterloo programs are rooted in setting students up for an entrepreneurial path if they decide to take it,” Abdi said. “The idea of starting something yourself is always alive here.”
Colare took shape during Velocity Cornerstone in fall 2024, a two-week intensive program focused on market validation and venture refinement. Through the program, Abdi and Thomas pivoted their original idea, clarified the core problem they wanted to solve and emerged as first-place winners in the program’s pitch competition, securing early funding.
Adoption was further accelerated through E Co-op, which allowed Abdi to grow Colare while earning co-op credit and accessing mentorship and industry connections. With pilot success and growing validation, Abdi is now positioning Colare as a new standard for hiring engineering talent — a venture firmly rooted in Waterloo’s co-op and entrepreneurial foundations.
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