In partnership with Simon Fraser University Venture Connection, the 2015 Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize competition took place this week at SFU’s Segal Graduate School of Business. Competitors delivered 10-minute pitches, followed by Q&A sessions before a panel of judges.
In the end, Empower Operations, led by SFU professor Gary Wang and students George Cheng and Geoff Groos, took home the $3,000 cash prize for its automated design software, which reduces the need for costly prototypes. TerraTap Technologies took home the $1,500 second place prize for its content management system neartuit.
“This year’s participants impressed us with their innovation and passion, showing that British Columbia’s entrepreneurial spirit is most certainly alive and well,” said Don Coulter, president and CEO, Coast Capital Savings. “On behalf of Coast Capital Savings, I would like to congratulate Empower Operations and TerraTap Technologies on their win and all of this year’s participants.”
In addition to the cash prize, Empower also received in-kind prizes totalling over $30,000 from Coast Capital Savings, Deloitte, McCarthy Tétrault, Skyrocket Digital, Launch Academy and the Surrey Board of Trade.