Entrepreneurship

A video library developed by three University of Waterloo graduates could transform Africa’s education sector. The graduate entrepreneurs just received $60,000 from the AC JumpStart initiative to support their business.

HITCH is an educational platform that uses machine-learning software to curate videos based on African curricula while operating independently of Internet and power constraints. 

Waterloo alumnus Michael Litt (BASc ’11) has been named to Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. Created by Caldwell executive search firm, the annual awards recognize business leaders who transform their industries while giving back to their communities and the country.

Meet the alumnus who’s changing the landscape of business in Canada.

Michael Litt (BASc ’11)

Age: 32

Education: Faculty of Engineering — Systems Design Engineering

Drawing on the insights of others can be a valuable step towards creating positive change. See what four Waterloo alumni have learned as they’ve worked to make a difference in the world.

One of the core principles underpinning the University of Waterloo’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is the ‘creator-owned’ intellectual property (IP) rights policy, which grants ownership to the inventor. This is grounded in the philosophy that providing incentive through IP ownership is the best motivator to ensure that commercialization of research provides broad societal and economic benefit.

Almost every entrepreneurial story includes a chapter on struggle, with business founders facing self-doubt, financial hardship and personal sacrifice. Waterloo alumni Nirbhay Singh (BASc ’17), who goes by the nickname Harry Sahi, and his business partner Zaham Mustaq (BMath ’17) are passionate about rewriting that chapter to make it a little more serene.

Among the 10 companies vying for the top prize, four companies persuaded the judges that their ideas had the best chance at commercial success. Winners included:

Hamoon Ekhtiari (BMath ’09, MAcc ’09) is no stranger to embracing change and making ideas become reality, having worked across multiple sectors and disciplines. Upon graduating from Waterloo, Hamoon worked at Deloitte as a management consultant, built and raised $1M for a social enterprise from the ground up,and became the Founding Director for Studio [Y] at MaRS Discovery District, one of the world's largest urban innovation hubs.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo examined the word processing skills of toddlers who spend most of their time with adults compared with those who have more exposure to groups of children. They focused on how well the toddlers understood the speech of other children.

Global and individual health care continues to be deeply disrupted by technology. The Waterloo Innovation Summit investigates this ongoing transformation and how it will impact our lives.

On October 1, join global thought leaders and change agents on a deep dive into the burgeoning HealthTech boom. The day-long conference will feature a keynote address by Waterloo’s Nobel laureate, Donna Strickland, along with talks by expert speakers including current and future alumni.