Queen’s Innovation Centre hosts pitch competition — Kingston News
Sixteen entrepreneurial teams will be fighting for the chance to win up to $100,000 in funding at the Dunin-Deshpande Summer Pitch Competition finals hosted by the Queen’s Innovation Centre on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019.
The event is Kingston’s largest pitch competition, and participating start-ups and non-profits will compete to take their ideas to the next level.
The 16 participating teams will have seven minutes to pitch their business to the panel of judges. There will then be a six-minute question and answer period with the judges.
Sitting on the judging panel this year is Executive Director of the Deshpande Foundation, Raj Melville, Founder and CEO of technology and data firm Cabot 7, Benjamin Barrows, co-founder and Director of Product Development at PnuVax, Allison Turner, CEO of Post Beyond, David Lloyd, and CEO of RockMass Technologies, Shelby Yee.
The competition finals will take place in Queen’s Mitchell Hall Atrium on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Opening remarks will start at 2:45 p.m. and the pitching starts at 3 p.m. Winners will be announced at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets to the event are free. To RSVP, email [email protected]. Remaining seats will be available at the door on the day of the event on a first come first served basis.
The competition will also be streamed live on the Innovation Centre Facebook page and Youtube channel.
The 16 competing teams:
Backr is a tool which promotes fan engagement while creating revenue for creators. They work alongside creators’ existing social platforms and reward fans for every act of engagement, motivating them to do more.
Big Spoon Lil Spoon (BSLS) is a social venture that provides healthy living programs and life skills workshops to people with disabilities and their siblings. Each participant, or ‘lil spoon,’ is paired with a university student, or ‘big spoon,’ and together they take weekly cooking classes and learn essential life skills. BSLS’s goal is to help teach participants of all ages learn to be self-sufficient, and lead a happy and healthy lifestyle.
Cromble’s mission is to divert 100% of wasted spent grain and use it in the best way possible.
Doppl is building long-range smart sensor devices in addition to a telecommunications network for IoT devices. With the support of several local municipalities, Doppl’s first product enables city-wide monitoring of garbage bin levels allowing city officials to optimize and reduce costs of garbage removal. Doppl continues to develop new sensor products while scaling the Doppl Network across Canada.
HeroHub is an online platform that creates a greater social impact by connecting local charities & non-profits to individuals or businesses who are seeking volunteer opportunities, charity events, and to donate new or gently-used items.
InHabit CoLiving is a flexible shared living space for young professional, transient students and travellers that is affordable and creates a sense of community while addressing the housing and accommodation crisis in Kingston.
LifeLuxe is a recreational and community management platform for retirement residences that enables seniors to pilot their own social lives, while improving efficiency and data collection for staff.
Lifted is a bra company centered around making diversity and inclusion the new fantasy. The need to make “accessible expected” is what drives their company to strive towards redesigning the lingerie industry.
Netzero is a social enterprise that aims to empower people and businesses to make greener choices and take action in the climate change crisis. At Netzero, they believe that we all have a part to play.
Nufuuds is a packaged goods company using algae to address the environmental burden of food and lack of quality nutrient sources in our diets. They combine foods with algae to create whole-meals that are both nutrient dense and sustainable.
QueryFox is a user-friendly software that gives municipalities unprecedented control over managing resident issues, assigning tasks, sharing knowledge, defining trends. and creating metrics for budgeting and benchmarking.
Research Stream is a digital platform that connects researchers and participants for human subject research.
Wyndo is an AI-powered assistant that takes the guesswork out of insurance by simplifying the most sophisticated insights and allowing users to save money.