Recent graduates of the University of Waterloo’s Nanotechnology Engineering program demonstrated their pitching talent, which is a key to entrepreneurial success, by winning the Digifest 2016 IT’S A START Pitch Competition.
Perry Everett, Arylla’s Business Developer, pitched the concept of using Arylla’s anti-counterfeit technology to eliminate counterfeit prescription drugs. He and fellow class of ’16 graduates Benjamin Rasera and Graham Thomas have created a method that involves a specialized fluorescent ink and a mobile app to reduce counterfeiting by allowing manufacturers and customers to identify authentic goods.
Their ink, which is invisible to the naked eye, can be used to give a product a unique nano-fingerprint that can be identified at any time and cross-referenced with information stored in a database. While the technology is complex, using it is simple:
- Apply the ink to a product.
- Take a flash-enabled photo of the site of application. The process will activate and document the ink’s nano-fingerprint.
- Upload that photo to the Arylla app, which uses an algorithm to convert the nano-fingerprint into a code that it stores for future reference.
- Take another flash-enabled photo of the product, at any time, and upload it to the Arylla mobile app. Again, it uses an algorithm to convert the nano-fingerprint into a code. This time, it searches its database for a match.
Perry Everett, Arylla’s Business Developer, pitched their technology and its user-friendly design, marketability and business plan. In the five minutes allotted to him, he impressed the audience and convinced the judges that the Arylla product was worth their investment.
Digifest is an international festival that is held in Toronto each year to celebrate digital content innovation. It showcases groundbreaking creations and trending content in digital media, art, design and technology. The fourth annual IT’S A START Pitch Competition saw ten finalists compete in front of a panel of judges from industry, government and academia. Congratulations to Everett, Rasera and Thomas for their big win at the competition and the boost the prize money will give them as they begin marketing their technology.