The Niagara Youth Entrepreneur Kick-Off Weekend was all about great energy, inspiration and entrepreneurship.
Co-hosted by the Goodman School of Business BioLinc at Brock University and ncTakeOff at Niagara College, this event was a great collaboration effort to promote entrepreneurship in the Niagara region for young entrepreneurs.
The event brought together students from both institutions and youth from across the Region to join teams to create, plan and pitch a business idea over the course of just two days. Based on the famous ‘start-up weekend’ model, the event was designed to bring a diverse group of people together to generate and share business ideas, network and get excited about entrepreneurship.
The weekend’s events started with an inspiring keynote from Dr. Julielynn Wong, founder of 3D4MD. Wong shared her entrepreneurial journey with over 90 members of the Niagara community and talked about how innovative 3D printing technologies can be incorporated into the world of business.
3D4MD creates 3D printable medical equipment for doctors working in remote areas. Many of Wong’s innovations have been used on the International Space Station.
Students and young entrepreneurs then got down to business to form seven teams and develop their start-up ideas.
“The Kick-Off Weekend was an amazing opportunity to work with other inspiring, motivated young people and collaborate on building ideas together,” saysWajeeh Alvi from the winning team Beep-Beep. “It was entrepreneurship in action.”
At the end of the weekend, they pitched their ideas to a panel of judges comprised of Dr. Misheck Mwaba, Dean of Media, Trades & Technology, Niagara College; Brad Moore, Principal, Giant Shoe Creative Agency; David D’Angelo, President & Founder, Trivium Industries; David Anyon, Founder, The D. Stuart Co and Former Chair and CEO of Vintex Inc.
Several interesting ideas were brought forward including a social baseball league, a virtual “lost and found” mobile application, an online platform to sell used books, an on-demand tutoring service, a mobile application monetizing Instagram accounts and a unique information technology service provider.
The winning team developed an idea for a mobile application called “Beep-Beep” to provide students living away from home with a reliable intra-city carpooling platform.
The prize package, worth $10,000, included legal service from Fogler Rubinoff LLP, a media startup package from Niagara College and $500 in cash sponsored by the Brock Innovation Group (BIG) at Goodman.
