Velocity Science company Animus wins $5K at the Velocity Fund Finals

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Four Velocity Fund $5K competition winners holding their cheques.

Animus, Forsa, Pulse Home and TagBull were the four winning student-led startups at the 24th Velocity Fund Finals held this week at the Student Life Centre. Each company walked away with $5,000 each to help them further grow their ideas and develop their businesses. 

Animus, a Velocity Science company, is creating a pair of glasses that discretely integrates neuro-stimulation technology into the frame, allowing for non-invasive stimulation of deep brain regions without affecting surrounding structures.

Second year general science student Griffin Barnicutt gave the winning pitch.

A total of ten startups competed in the Velocity Fund Final $5K competition after qualifying to compete the week before. In the Velocity Qualifiers, 40 startups pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. The judges provided feedback on their pitching styles and insight on ways to improve their business ideas. The top five companies from each night of Qualifiers moved on to compete in the $5K Velocity Fund Finals. 

The purpose of the Velocity Fund Finals is to introduce and empower tomorrow’s great companies. Three times a year, companies gather to compete in either the Velocity Fund $25K competition or the Velocity Fund Final $5K competition. 

The $5K competition provides equity-free funding to early-stage startups to help remove some of the barriers that hinder innovation and entrepreneurial growth. Participants had exactly 3-minutes to pitch their solution to a real-world problem and convince the panel of judges that they should get a chance to win $5,000. 

The three Science finalists were:

  • CannaRemedies: CannaRemedies is creating Cannabidiol (CBD) nano-particles to produce ultrafast pain relief patches. Student: Ehsan Zare Bidaki, Current PhD Student, Vision Science
  • PhosphoPOWER Group: PhosphoPOWER Group is seeking to make renewables the primary source of energy generation in the world through the Ocean Battery.
  • Voice Outside Your Head Space (Voyhs): Voyhs is giving trans people resources to train their voice in order to boost their confidence and improve their lives. Student: Lynne Murdoch, Chemistry '22

Mingo, Reka and Stellar Care rounded out the top ten $5K finalists.