Entrepreneurship

Peter Harder (right) moderates a panel discussion on Managing Global Connectedness featuring Torsten Kolind, Abdallah Al-Hakin, Ricardo Sodre and Prashant Pathak (left to right).

Every business, every idea and every product being created right now, is being “born global.”

That’s the takeaway from the Waterloo Innovation Summit, which ended its two-day run Tuesday at the University of Waterloo.

Reach for opportunities and don’t be afraid to take risks: It was a message that clearly resonated with the 200 audience members, speakers and panelists taking part in the first day of the 2014 Waterloo Innovation Summit.

The ability to combine technological creativity with business prowess was fundamental to messages delivered by presenters at the second annual gathering of entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, students and academics, taking place at the University of Waterloo on April 14 and 15.

Hacking government files and helping people usually don’t go together.

But that’s exactly what Carlos Saavedra and his partner did when they built newRoots - an app that matches new immigrants with Canadian cities that offer the greatest opportunity for success.

Aleks Poldma and Spencer Kelly have started their own business but they aren’t in it for the money.

The fourth-year mechanical engineering students are co-founders of Hydrated World, a clothing company that donates money to the Safe Water Project in Africa for every fifth item sold.

On April 14 and 15, the University of Waterloo will be at the centre of a global innovation conversation during the Waterloo Innovation Summit held on campus.

Participate in the summit online

Watch the summit online and join the conversation April 14 at 1:00 p.m. and April 15, at 9:00 a.m..

Palette, a company that created a freeform hardware interface that can be built like Lego to control your favourite software, won the first-ever award for best hardware-based startup at the Velocity Fund Finals, and was one of several big winners at the event.

A financially secure retirement is becoming the exception not the norm, says Lee Anne Davies, CEO of Agenomics, a consulting firm specializing in money management and aging.

Today, more and more Canadians are finding themselves burdened with debt during retirement—a worrying trend that shows no signs of slowing.

Four teams of entrepreneurs could soon see their names on a big cheque to help grow their ideas. This week, University of Waterloo startup incubator Velocity revealed the 10 finalists competing for a share of $100,000 in grant funding at this term's Velocity Fund Finals on March 27.

The teams will pitch their ideas for a chance to win one of four grants of $25,000 and a place among the 30+ startups operating at the Velocity Garage in downtown Kitchener.

Would the pain and agony of shovelling snow be less if you knew you were charging your cell phone at the same time as you shivered?

Bin Ma is a computer scientist helping researchers around the world find medical treatments for illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Bin Ma and PEAKS co-founder Ming Li