The application period for the University of Waterloo’s VeloCity incubator space “VeloCity Fund Finals” pitch contest are open. The big event happens later this summer July 24.
The last time VeloCity put on its Fund Finals was in the winter time, where four startups each won the Velocity Fund $25,000. They were: freeform hardware platform Palette, oil field integrity analytics PetroPredict, entertainment organizing platform Sparkgig and product development tool TrendRadius.
Three times a year, Velocity offers grant programs to aspiring entrepreneurs to help them gain resources for their startups. It’s a great program that’s well-documented now in terms of the amount of startups that have received the healthy cash prizes. For students and alumni connected to the university it’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
VeloCity updated us all on the status of the last four winning startups, via its blog.
Palette is among the first to join the new Velocity Foundry, a space close to the Velocity Garage dedicated to hardware startups. Palette, the first freeform controller, also walked away with an additional $10,000 prize inspired by Bufferbox co-founders Mike McCauley, Jay Shah and Aditya Bali, to offset additional startup costs faced by hardware development companies.
PetroPredict recently won a few pitch competitions and continue to work in the Velocity Garage on their prediction engine for the oil and gas industry. It provides data analytics to allow smarter enterprise decisions.
Sparkgig is a community marketplace for hiring performers online, providing performers with the opportunity to create and share their own personal talent portfolio. It also gives event planners the opportunity to browse performers’ customized profiles and find the perfect match for their event.
Finally, TrendRadius is a customer feedback analytics for product managers. Specifically it helps product managers discover how to best retain current customers, acquire new customers, and converge towards product-market fit.
For those interested in applying for the July 24 competition, check out the requirements and apply here.