Yesterday, Communitech hosted its Fierce Founders Bootcamp Pitch Competition, the culmination of two weeks of a startup bootcamp for 26 female founders. While eight founders pitched during the competition, only three founders were chosen to receive a portion of $100,000 to go towards building their business.
In the end, Borealis Wind, which is developing a blade heating retrofit for wind turbines, took first place with a $40,000 prize — and is the first startup accepted into the Communitech Fierce Founders Accelerator. Navi and Oneiric Hockey shared second place, each with a $30,000 prize.
“Our goal is to increase the number of female founders participating in the tech ecosystem. During the bootcamp we help participants build on their ideas and learn business fundamentals,” said Danielle Graham, women in tech program manager at Communitech. “We will continue to work with the founders to establish successful businesses, connect them to the tech ecosystem and help build their network of community support.”
Well done @pressioninc! #FierceFounders pic.twitter.com/3iU9ZIpE1d
— HH Waterloo Ontario (@HHWaterloo) August 25, 2016
The founders pitched before a panel of judges including Steven Woods, Senior Engineering Director at Google Canada; Mallorie Brodie, CEO and co-founder of Bridgit; Janet Bannister, general partner of Real Ventures; Alison Nankivell, vice president of funds and co-investments at BDC Capital; Louise Upton, management consultant partner at Deloitte, and Andrew Lipstein, head of global programs and governance at Thomson Reuters Labs.