Entrepreneurship

Each year the Forbes 30 Under 30 list highlights some of the most innovative minds in North America working in 20 fields including energy, health and entertainment. The 2021 list includes eight standouts with connections to the University of Waterloo.  

From gamers with business game to apps that help bring us together, these are the alumni and former students who are making an impact. 

Maybe you’re working from home, run off your feet with deliveries, or trying to keep up with retail regulations.

Whatever work you do, it’s probably undergone some drastic changes this year.

At its core, Velocity is about unleashing social and economic impact by equipping founders to scale their solutions to real-world problems. And one of the most pressing issues of our time is the climate crisis.

Five recent nanotechnology engineering graduates from the University of Waterloo have come a long way since they came together over a shared interest in optics and frustration with the poor quality of their smartphone photographs.

One of the surest signs that Sam Dugan, 22, is a born entrepreneur might be this: he got the brainwave for his latest business venture, completely out of the blue, when he was on a date.

Two years later, while juggling studies as a third-year mechatronics engineering student at the University of Waterloo, he has turned that idea into a startup technology company to reduce injuries at ski resorts.

This fall, Good Company helped Waterloo offer a Convocation ceremony like none before: a completely virtual event broadcasted live to alumni, their friends and families all over the world.

Amit Mehta (BASc '19), one of Good Company's co-founders, took a break from broadcasting to talk about the changes they've made during the 2020 pandemic and share some advice for new grads. Watch the video to see what he had to say.

A team of former engineering students from the University of Waterloo has made a shortlist of finalists in a high-profile international invention competition.

Scope, which is developing a better zoom function for smartphone cameras and other applications, is one of 20 teams from countries around the world still in the running for the 2020 James Dyson Award.

Welcome to Career Perspectives, where we share a conversation between two Waterloo alumni. In this conversation, Anne-Marie Marais (BES ’95) and Karlena Waugh (BA ’14) discuss their experiences as freelance entrepreneurs. Anne-Marie offers digital marketing services through her business Long Legs Media, and Karlena is the events and community-building expert behind Mini K Creations. The services they offer may be different, but many of their experiences are same.

Digital X-ray technology developed by a University of Waterloo spinoff company has won approval from Health Canada.

A medical device licence issued for Reveal 35C, a dual-energy X-ray detector created by KA Imaging, follows clearance from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States earlier this month.

When investors logged in to Y Combinator’s virtual summer 2020 Demo Day, they got to see Waterloo entrepreneurship in action. Four companies with ties to Velocity and the University of Waterloo took part in the event, which brought together a class of 198 of founders from 26 different countries.