Every term, Carleton University’s Innovation Hub hosts pitch nights for each of its incubator programs, where student entrepreneurs showcase their innovative ideas and compete for prizes, mentorship, and networking opportunities. The energy in the room is unlike any other event on campus, with each student founder presenting their businesses ideas and solutions to a panel of judges, and an audience of students, staff and community members. From sustainability initiatives to mobile apps, to film festivals and more, the diversity of the startups presented at these pitch nights is truly impressive. The audience gets a front-row seat to learn how students took their ideas from the drawing board to reality and they are inspired to pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams as well.
In early April 2023, the Innovation Hub held pitch nights for three of its incubator programs: Changemaker, Hatch, and Launch. Each event was distinctive and the individual pitches showcased simple, innovative, potentially disruptive ideas that strive to change our world for the better.
Changemaker: Pitch Night 2023
Haven Books, CUSA’s student-run bookstore and cafe, hosted the Changemaker pitch night on April 5th. Haven provided a cozy, comfortable, laid-back atmosphere for the presenters, audience, and judges to interact as seven projects were presented. The Changemaker program provides Carleton students an opportunity to explore, design and propose real world solutions to challenges through the lens of the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals. Solutions can be applied on the global, national, or local level and may be presented in a variety of forms which include product ideas, social enterprise services, policy points or academic research. Contestants pitched savvy solutions that varied from goal-tracking apps, centralized student club platforms, to public transportation improvements. Three judges, Amanda Goth, University Secretary at Carleton University, Cheralyn Chok, Executive Director of Propel Impact, and Chris Lannon, Director of Industry Partnership Services at Carleton University, provided feedback to help student participants evaluate the viability and potential impact of their ideas in a new way.
1st Place Winter 2023, Fortunat Ouedraogo, Bachelor of Commerce:
Throughout the Winter 2023 semester, Fortunat Ouedraogo, a second-year Bachelor of Commerce student, formulated a practical solution aimed at offering a more vibrant university experience for students. His innovation, Civitas, is a web-based platform designed to foster a more active, engaged, and interconnected Carleton community.
Utilizing an interactive interface, Civitas is poised to highlight all university events while curating a personalized user experience based on individual affiliations. With integrated tools, the platform enables clubs and societies to effectively communicate and publicize their upcoming events. In turn, this draws prospective members and nurtures a more immersive and unique campus experience for students.
2nd Place Winter 2023, Satyan Thayaparan, Bachelor of Computer Science:
Addressing the often-overlooked issue of mental health stigma, Stayan Thayaparan, a third-year Bachelor of Computer Science student, conceptualized a solution offering an unpressured environment where individuals can freely discuss their mental health challenges. His solution, Open Space, fosters a comfortable, open-minded space where individuals share their experiences without fear of judgment or cultural stigmatization.
Open Space sessions serve as a platform for open discussion among young adult students facing mental health challenges. Recognizing that fear of judgement often hinders individuals from expressing their feelings, the sessions will be facilitated by individuals who share their experiences first, setting a precedent of trust and empathy. Sessions will be hosted 3-4 times per semester, strategically timed during stress-prone periods, ensuring the support is there when students are most likely to need it.
Hatch: Pitch Night 2023
A week later, 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.
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.
Launch: Pitch Night 2023
The final pitch night of the Winter term was held on April 13th for the Launch program, designed to help founders grow an existing business. Most of the participants at this stage are already incorporated, and are in the process of growing their businesses. This is the next step for many founders after they complete the Hatch program. Participants took to the RBCx Stage at Hub350 in Kanata to present their ideas. The Innovation Hub works closely with the team at CU@Kanata to build bridges with investors and entrepreneurs in Canada’s largest technology park. From bilingual marketing agencies, to pick-up sports coordination apps, to portable bidets, there was no shortage of brilliant ideas from our Launch participants.
Top Prize Winner: Nura Hashi – Wayso
After many intriguing pitches, the judges tallied up their scorecards to see who was to receive the top prize. Nura Hashi and her idea, Wayso, rightfully won the award. Nura gave a phenomenal presentation for her product, which is a portable bidet. She explained how bidet users typically feel isolated when they step out of their home due to the lack of bidet-use in Western culture. Because of the lack of bidets, users often end up resorting to rudimentary methods. Nura offers a solution with Wayso, a portable bidet that is compact, discrete, simple, and fairly priced. Along with her idea and presentation, Hashi showed us that she has put in the time and done the research to take Wayso to the next stage. With a great delivery, useful product, realistic budget, and solid plan / timeline, Wayso is on a direct path to business success.
Innovation has no boundaries. The Innovation Hub recognizes this and aims to push our program participants to new heights. We want to thank everyone who participated, contributed, and helped in any way to make the Changemaker, Hatch, and Launch 2023 Pitch Nights a success. We know we are not alone in eagerly awaiting every contestant’s remarkable ideas and contributions to their communities. Pitch nights inspiring atmosphere for those speaking and those observing. Interested in getting involved with the Hub and its programs? Keep updated with every Innovation Hub through our social media channels and website.
