The University of Waterloo’s Velocity Fund Finals (VFF) has announced the winners for its 23rd event.
Membio, which is developing a scalable biological manufacturing platform, followed up on its Velocity $5K win in the spring with one of the four $25,000 prizes.
The other three companies that won big in the $25K competition include:
“We are really investing in what happens after this and putting effort into cultivating the business substance behind these pitches,” said Jay Shah, director of Velocity. “The pitch competition is one step along the journey, but we have to support the founders in building their businesses. So, that’s where things come in like the Velocity Garage Incubator, the Velocity Science Discovery space and other ways that we can add fuel to the fire.”
Intelline, which designs and manufactures affordable and scalable cryocoolers, received the top hardware company prize of $10,000.
All four winning VFF $25,000 startups took home an extra $5,0000 in intellectual property services from local firm, PCK | Perry + Currier, and will receive mentorship and coaching from the Velocity Garage startup incubator.
VFF also announced the winners in its $5K competition, including FEM in STEM, created by Mylene Tu to encourage women across Canada to develop careers in STEM.
“I created FEM in STEM as a way of bridging this gap, so girls across Ontario can apply, and if they get into the program they get access to biweekly modules that they can complete on their own, and we also follow up with them with mentorship,” Tu said.
The other three early-stage Waterloo student-run startup winners of the VFF $5K include:
