Hatch: Pitch Night 2023
On April 11th, the Hatch pitch night took place at Oliver’s Pub, on the ground floor of Nideyinàn (formerly the University Centre). Eleven businesses were presented, many of which were just ideas at the start of the term. Student founders spent time connecting with and supporting the members of their cohort while getting feedback from a new panel of judges that included Justin Zhang, co-founder of Heaples and an alumni of the Hatch program, Hallie Kejick, Vice–President of Community Engagement at CUSA, and Dennis Sakalauskas, an instructor with the Sprott School of Business and founder of DPS Original. Pitches included a news outlets for the younger generation, a sustainable solution for the energy crisis, a seamless networking app, a food waste solution, a sexual assault and relationship awareness podcast for young women, and more. The Innovation Hub is proud of all who presented at the 2023 Hatch Pitch Night and cannot wait to see the bright futures of these young founders!
Hatch Audience Award Winner: Nexus
The Hatch CUSA pitch night came to an exciting close with an interactive audience award. All members of the audience were encouraged to cast their votes about whose pitch was their favourite, with the winner taking home the audience award. Although it was extremely close, the award ended up going to Nexus. Nexus is a social media app that is meant to simplify networking by allowing users to make faster and more seamless connections.
The app has many innovative aspects, but the key function that makes it different from other networking apps is that users will be able to make a connection by simply tapping their phones together. The founders (Aryaman Harlalka, David Perras, and Zach Rodgers) gave a captivating presentation that had the entire audience engaged and eager for more, leading to them taking home the Audience Award at the event. They plan on continuing on to the next phase of the incubator program, Launch, to refine their idea and pursue their entrepreneurial dream!
With all three of the founders coming from an industrial design background, they have plenty of experience, knowledge, and potential to make their idea become a reality. We look forward to seeing the future of Nexus and what it offers to those who use networking applications.
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