Join us and learn how our distinct innovation ecosystem is designed differently, and why this difference is the reason we are home to top creators, explorers, and ground-breakers worldwide. This unique event will allow you to explore all that our innovative institution has to offer through panel discussions, founder stories, networking and more.
Connect and hear from Velocity, Problem Lab, Zero, Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, GreenHouse (Social Impact Incubator), Grebel Peace Incubator, and the Library. Gain insight as to what your student entrepreneurial journey can look like and find out more about our many free resources. Anyone can benefit from an entrepreneurial mindset and our University of Waterloo and Velocity community starts right here on campus. Whether you have experience or not, are exploring a big idea, or founding a company, Velocity is here to help.
PLUS! Stay to the end to be entered to win a pair of Airpods! Double your chances to win a pair of AirPods when you tackle our All-Access scavenger-hunt happening from 2-5pm!
Can you unlock the innovation ecosystem scavenger-hunt? Innovation Ecosystem All-Access Six locations, three hours and six trivia questions to solve!
In this scavenger-hunt like race, participants challenge themselves by visiting all six locations on the map that will be provided, to solve a skill testing question and be entered to win a pair of AirPods and bragging rights.
Innovation Ecosystem Agenda (Subject to changes):
11:15 | Doors / Seating
11:35 | Welcome: Adrien Côté, Executive Director of Velocity John Dick, Director of Velocity Campus
12:00 | Hear about Velocity, Problem Lab & Zero
12:15 | Q&A with early-stage startups & founders:
- Sway, Ayush Bhargava, founder of Sway, Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering
- Sway’s social commerce platform lets creators launch curated shops on their social media. Creators can seamlessly promote and sell brand products to their audience through Tiktok and Instagram Shops integrations. Sway was founded by Engineering student Ayush Bhargava. Sway’s campus to incubator journey was highlighted with winning a Concept $5K Grant with their sustainable fashion marketplace solution called ChangeRoom in fall 2020. They then propelled further as they pivoted to address a larger market and completed the Cornerstone program where they were able to validate their solution.
- MedAtlas, Margaret Mutumba, CEO and co-founder of MedAtlas, PhD student, Public Health and Health Systems
- MedAtlas is a digital health startup making it easy to find licensed specialists and doctors from anywhere in Africa. MedAtlas was founded by Margaret Mutumba, a PhD candidate in Public Health and Health Systems at Waterloo, Samuel Mutumba and Christoper Nsimbe. Earlier this year, Mutumba shared that it wasn’t until she had attended a Concept pitch competition that she thought, “I could do this.” MedAtlas went on to become the third-place recipient of the Concept Graduate Student Startup Fund in 2020 and a first-place showing at the Concept $5K competition in 2021. MedAtlas has also completed the Cornerstone program and participated in Translation through Velocity’s on campus programming.
- MicroBuild Masonry, Adrian Simone, CEO and Co-founder of MicroBuild Masonry Civil Engineering student, Faculty of Engineering
- MicroBuild is a biotech start-up focussing on the research, development, and manufacturing of sustainable construction materials. MicroBuild was a fall 2021 $5K recipient and a participant of Velocity’s Cornerstone program.
- “The Velocity community has given MicroBuild the resources to not only grow but thrive. They’ve connected me to people that have joined my team, to resources that helped develop our business, and to advisors who we rely on every day. I believe that no matter what stage you’re at, their coaching, grants, and seminars can help accelerate any start-up.” – Adrian Simone
- Cauchy Analytics, James Lowman, Founder, Cauchy Analytics PhD candidate, Faculty of Engineering
- Cauchy Analytics is building a medical device that will non-invasively image and measure blood flow directly from the heart. The intended use is for hospital ICUs, providing critical care physicians with trending cardiac information nonexistent in today’s emergency rooms. Cauchy Analytics was a recipient of a Velocity winter 2022 $5K grant.
12:30 | Intermission
12:40 | Panel discussion with Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, GreenHouse, GreenHouse (Social Impact Incubator), Grebel Peace Incubator, UWaterloo Library
1:00 | Networking
Food and beverage catered by University of Waterloo food services. Limited capacity seating and standing room.
Register today!