Entrepreneurs are the people who take chances with innovative ideas and business. They make things happen and break new ground.
In the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, the entrepreneurial spirit is in our DNA. Many of our programs link with entrepreneurship. And numerous startups have grown from the work of our students and professors.
One thing that makes Waterloo unique is how new ventures resulting from research at the university remain the intellectual property of the people involved. It’s a policy of “creator-owned” intellectual property.
What this means in practice is that all kinds of new companies “spin-off” from the university. Explore with us the top 12 entrepreneurial spinoffs from the Faculty of Mathematics.
1. Wish. Started by math grads Peter Szulczewski and Danny Zhang, this online shopping giant is rising to challenge Amazon. The company sponsors scholarships at Waterloo to give back.
2. DataBricks. Another of the very large spinoffs with connections to the Faculty of Math, DataBricks is a cloud storage platform and provider. The company has investors like tech giants Microsoft. Databricks’ CEO is Ali Ghodsi, a professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science.
3. OpenText. This information management company is headquartered in Waterloo and developed through the research of computer scientists at the university, Gaston Gonnet and Frank Tompa. These professors laid the groundwork for the company in the late-80s, and it took off in the early-90s, on a path to becoming the major tech industry player that OpenText is today.
4. Etherium. Not precisely a spinoff in the same sense as some others, Etherium is a cryptocurrency company founded by former math student Vitalik Buterin. It is currently the second-largest cryptocurrency, behind Bitcoin.
5. Maplesoft. Founded by computer scientists Keith Geddes and Gaston Gonnet, Maplesoft creates software for mathematical modelling and simulations. The company is very active in support of scholarships and student initiatives at the university.
6. Arctic Wolf. In cybersecurity, Arctic Wolf is a rising star and among the fastest-growing tech companies in North America. Kim Tremblay, a former Faculty of Mathematics master’s student and Waterloo-tech maverick, co-founded the company.
7. Ecobee. Best known for its intelligent thermostats, Ecobee is a company that specializes in all forms of smart devices for the home. The company was founded in 2007 by mathematics graduate Mark Malchiondo.
8. Canopy Growth. One of the best-known names in the growing legal marijuana industry, math graduate Mark Zekulin was a founder of Canopy Growth. One of the company’s investors is Snoop Dogg.
9. Quantum Benchmark. Founded by Joseph Emerson and Joel Wallman, two computer science professors, Quantum Benchmark specializes in cutting-edge software solutions. The company uses experimental quantum technology to solve real-world problems.
10. Kira Systems. Using machine learning technology, Kira Systems reads and understands documents in a way that gets at every nuance. They specialize in legal documents and contracts. Alexander Hudek, a PhD graduate in math, founded the company.
The final two companies in our list show what current math students are doing. These two startups were recently named winners of the Concept $5K Challenge.
11. House AI. This company provides data analytics solutions to the healthcare industry. The team consists of computer science student Matthew Jiao, Waterloo computer engineering student Adam Lam, and Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry student Amrit Bhogal
12. SAFI. This startup and social enterprise produces hand-held pasteurization devices for herders and farmers. The team includes Waterloo double degree students Miraal Kabir, Alex Shehdula, Daria Margarit and Martin Turuta.
Unfortunately, in a short write-up like this, we can only give a select sample of the long list of startups and spinoffs that originated in the Faculty of Mathematics. Check out this list of “Startups and Founders” for a fuller rundown. And then ask yourself: Do you have the next big idea for an innovative startup?
By the Numbers is a weekly series that reflects on the lighter side of student life, research and innovation in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. Stay tuned to this space for the next installment.