Concept $5K is a funding competition for startups produced by the Velocity startup incubator. Along with the prize money to further entrepreneurial efforts, the award is widely seen as a major public relations boost for winning teams.
The contest started out with hundreds of teams pitching to a panel of industry-expert judges. The winners needed to pass through three stages of judging to the finals.
Winners were announced at the Concept $5K finals, hosted virtually on Tuesday, August 3.
House AI is a startup that provides data analytics solutions to the healthcare industry, leveraging the team's experience in machine learning and artificial intelligence. The team consists of Waterloo computer science student Matthew Jiao, Waterloo computer engineering student Adam Lam, and Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry student Amrit Bhogal.
SAFI is a startup that is producing hand-held pasteurization devices for herders and farmers. The product helps herders to make milk safer, and the name of the company is derived from the Swahili word for 'pure' and 'safe.' The team consists of Waterloo double degree students Miraal Kabir, Alex Shehdula, Daria Margarit and Martin Turuta. The team also includes Hanna Rao from McMaster University and Kiana Dhindsa from Wilfrid Laurier University. They had earlier this year placed first in the Challenge4ClimateAction competition.