Waterloo Region’s GTAN-START Pitch Contest has named its eight startup finalists. They’ll compete for three $5,000 prizes.
The GTAN-START contest is run by the Golden Triangle Angel Network. From 40 companies, judges narrowed their short list down to eight companies yesterday.
Companies range from the use of nanotechnology in promoting the healthy development of plants to a windshield coating that saves us from ever scraping ice after a storm.
“This year’s Top 8 Finalists are the most diverse and interesting group of companies that I’ve seen for an early-stage venture competition,” said the GTAN’s Benton Leong. “These are promising companies that can very well enjoy tremendous commercial success.”
The top eight companies will pitch at the GTAN|START grand event on May 2. The three winning companies will receive $5,000, and a chance to pitch in front of approximately 100 investors from the Golden Triangle Angel Network.
“We chose companies that have a product that meets a clear market need and entrepreneurs who can tell their stories clearly and convincingly,” said Leong.
Here’s a snippit from each of the finalists:
Edusight is an analytics platform for educators in the K-12 space. They provide teachers with simple online tools to track student performance. Saving teachers time on student performance tracking and report generation, capturing data on students’ behaviour & academic performance and providing advanced analytics to improve lesson planning and decision-making.
Valency provides project readiness tools to reduce risk for organizations managing a large portfolio of capital projects. Valency is an Ontario-based startup software company that leverages a proven planning toolset – developed by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) – for project risk assessment and scope definition.
Magnusmode Ltd. develops digital solutions for people with special needs (e.g autism) at every stage of their life journey. Products are focused on a quirky and likeable hero named Magnus. Magnusmode leverages today’s shift toward smart technology while combining traditional instructional methods with elements of game design to educate, empower and support people with special needs.
Meetmehalal.com (MMH) is the most effective and innovative Muslim introductions website in North America. The website is a combination between a Muslim matchmaking and a Muslim social networking website. MMH provides single Muslims a platform to meet other single, like-minded Muslims in a casual and fun environment while still staying true to Islamic principles.
From polar vortexes to heat waves, Neverfrost is designed to protect your car from almost everything Mother Nature has to throw at it. Neverfrost Inc is making a durable, transparent, anti-frost film so that you can stop scraping your car every winter. Apply it just once, and forget about scraping for up to 5 years.
Roots HydroGels creates a 100% biodegradable sugar-based hydrogels which provide a controlled release of water and active ingredients directly to plant roots at a sustained rate over a growing season. Since the Target Delivery Roots Hydrogel is pre-loaded with fertilizer, it delivers significant benefits to the grower and the environment.
TrendRadius is a customer insight analytics solution for Product Managers to help companies build profitable products. Automatically convert sales notes, support tickets, and customer inquiries via email into actionable metrics to validate your product roadmap. You can also prioritize features, evaluate customer acquisition and retention product strategies, and perform analysis using the insights TrendRadius provides.
Voltera’s circuit board printer enables hardware professionals and hobbyists to cut their production time from weeks to minutes, which greatly decreases their time to market. It uses conductive ink and a novel print head design to create functional circuit boards. Voltera fills the need for a low-cost, low-volume, rapid prototyping tool that offers designers multilayer functionality.
The competition happens Friday, May 2, 12-4pm at Kingpin Bowlounge.