This month, 11 Canadian ventures will be showcased at the NEXT Venture Reveal, formerly known as Prototype Day. This year, the event will be held virtually through Zoom on May 11.
”We are optimistic about the massive impact entrepreneurs will have on our future economy.”
NEXT Canada provides entrepreneurs with access to capital, education, mentorship, and networking in order to build and scale a company through its accelerator programs. Although only 11 startups will pitch, this year’s event will reveal the 80 ventures that will join the Next 36, Next AI, and Next Founders programs, and will also match founders to mentors and investors.
“At NEXT Canada, we’ve spent the last 10 years supporting Canadian entrepreneurs through our accelerator programs and mighty community,” NEXT Canada said in a statement. “We aren’t going to stop now. Our virtual doors are open for business.’
Five startups from the Next AI program will pitch, three will pitch from Next 36, and an additional three will pitch from Next Founders. Each venture will submit a brief video pitch in advance, and at the event the video showing will be followed by a discussion between the founders and a panel of experts. The event will be hosted and moderated by Ajay Agrawal, academic director at NEXT Canada.
In October 2016, NEXT Canada launched Next AI to support commercially viable artificial intelligence (AI) ventures. The program identifies ideas or early-stage teams and provides them with capital, mentorship, education, and a network. The pitching startups from Next AI include:
Lucid: Creates AI music therapy products that increase access to methods for improving mental health and wellness.
MapinHood: Leverages crowdsourcing and AI to help pedestrians navigate trips by foot.
Minerva AI: Provides predictive identification of who posts money-laundering and risk to financial institutions.
Eaigle: Uses a proprietary AI platform to non-invasively measure body temperature to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Summatti: Analyzes 100 percent of customer interactions and giving businesses consumer insights.
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The Next 36 program selects 36 entrepreneurial undergrads and recent grads from across Canada to provide them mentorship. The pitching startups from Next 36 include:
Moment Technology: Creates renewable power storage by repurposing electric vehicle batteries, increasing access to reliable and sustainable energy.
ALT TEX: Uses re-engineered waste to create sustainable textile solutions for environmentally-conscious fashion designers.
ACE: An interview preparation platform that gives users the tools and research-backed mock interview questions to help them prepare.
Next Founders is a more flexible program that offers à-la-carte education founders can opt-into based on their individual needs. Startups pitching from Next Founders include:
Homewise: Automates the mortgage process online, giving clients quick access to mortgages from more than 30 banks and lenders.
Chinova Bioworks: Creates a natural preservative extracted from white button mushrooms, for use in food and beverage products.
MetaVRse: Offers a universal development engine that allows creators to build and deploy interactive visual experiences online.
“At NEXT, we are optimistic about the massive impact entrepreneurs will have on our future economy, and our ability to enable their continued success by the actions we take now,” NEXT Canada said.
Image source NEXT Canada via Facebook.
