GreenHouse celebrates their 29th Showcase; funded 7 new ventures!
Each term, GreenHouse hosts the Social Impact Showcase to celebrate the amazing work on students in our community. This term, 10 student-led ventures pitched their ideas for social and environmental change and 7 teams were awarded funding from the Social Impact Fund. We are grateful to the Waterloo Region Community Foundation for their support that allowed us to host our 29th Showcase at the newly opened SDG Idea Factory in downtown Kitchener. Congratulations to all of our participants on the impressive progress that you've made this term. You make the United College community proud!
And the winners are...
- KaziBridge, awarded $1,500, is connecting trade school graduates to businesses and individuals seeking quality service and is led by Ernest Mwesigye and Chinazom Uwaoma (Faculty of Engineering);
- Masana Beauty, awarded $1,500, is designing a self-cleansing makeup brush to help solve skin issues from the root cause and is led by Neha Grewal (Faculty of Engineering);
- Turion, awarded $1,500, is replacing corn-based bioethanol with a duckweed alternative and is led by Mulei Mao (Faculty of Engineering);
- MetaCycler BioInnovations, awarded $5,000, is converting food waste into bioplastics and is led by Nicole LeBlanc (Faculty of Science);
- Bio-Brick Labs, awarded $5,000, is developing and manufacturing environmentally sustainable building materials and is led by Adrian Simone and Rania Al-Sheikhly (Faculty of Engineering); and
- Swish, awarded $5,000, is developing a cost-effective product to clean solar panels without the use of water or expensive cleaning robots and is led by Miswar Syed (Faculty of Engineering).
And our People's Choice Winner is....
Real Research, awarded $1,000, is providing undergraduate students with more opportunities to get involved in scientific research labs on campus and is led by Ria Menon (Faculty of Science).
"I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this thriving ecosystem. The GreenHouse incubator not only provided me with a launchpad for my startup but also served as a catalyst for personal growth and development. It has been a truly transformative experience that has shaped my entrepreneurial mindset, expanded my horizons, and connected me with a network of inspiring individuals. I wholeheartedly recommend the GreenHouse incubator to any aspiring entrepreneur looking to turn their vision into reality."