Entrepreneurship

An app that lets you anonymously flirt with people nearby and a platform that helps researchers gather data are two of the startup ideas that won $25,000 grants at the eighth VeloCity Fund Finals.

Ten startups competed for four $25,000 grants and the opportunity to build their businesses at the VeloCity Garage workspace.

The four winners are:

A company that will help parents get their kids interested in computer programming at a young age was among the winners today as more than 400 people looked on at the eighth VeloCity Fund Finals at the University of Waterloo.

Ten startups competed for one of four grants worth $25,000 and the opportunity to build their businesses at the VeloCity Garage in downtown Kitchener.

The four winners of the grants worth $25,000 are:

Light-bot - Gets kids interested in computer science by playing games.

HONG KONG — Three CEOs who grew businesses from roots at the University of Waterloo, the hometown of smartphone-maker BlackBerry, come together this week to share their stories about the challenges and opportunities of growing a global technology business in Asia.

John Baker, CEO of Desire2Learn, and Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik Interactive, both Waterloo, Ontario-based companies will join Jason Chiu, the Hong Kong-based CEO of CherryPicks Inc, for a series of events in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore hosted by the University of Waterloo’s dean of engineering, Pearl Sullivan.

The latest issue of the University of Waterloo Magazine highlights how our researchers are unravelling the mysteries of the mind and changing the world with mathematics. The magazine also features a story about the evolution of Waterloo's unique entrepreneurial culture - including a spotlight on VeloCity entrepreneurs.

Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the social media website reddit,told University of Waterloo students to move forward with their startup ideas and “play this like it's your last life remaining."

The successful startup investor dispelled myths about entrepreneurship, telling a packed house on Friday night that an entrepreneur is just someone who “has ideas and does them.”

After many years of teaching Spanish to Waterloo students, Camelia Nunez knows beginners learn best by engaging in meaningful conversations.  She also knows undergrads spend a lot of time chatting on their smartphones.

So she came up with an idea:  Why not use smartphones as a platform for students to receive and respond to messages in their new language?

The University of Waterloo is “definitely pretty special” because of its “spirit of getting stuff done,” says Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the social media website, reddit.

Entrepreneurs developing diverse businesses – everything from a puzzle game that teaches children about computer programming to an app that helps you order clothes online that actually fit -– will compete at the VeloCity Fund Finals on Nov. 28.

Sara Jalali arrived in Waterloo from Iran with a passion for film and digital media that she comes by honestly. Both of her parents work in the Iranian film industry: her father is a film producer and director and her mother is a film production coordinator.

PumpUp co-founders Garrett Gottlieb and Phil Jacobson believe their company holds the key to overcoming the excuses that keep many of us from staying in shape, by making fitness coaching easier and more affordable.