Last weekend ncTakeOff and Brock University’s had the third annual Niagara Young Entrepreneur Kick-Off weekend. Students enjoyed a busy weekend full of brainstorming, networking, learning, and working on their 5-minute pitch!

There were 6 groups, from 2 to 6 members, building and preparing their original ideas. All of them motivated for their entrepreneur passion and the incredible opportunity to win a “Kick – Off Weekend Prize Package”, with an estimated value of $6,000, consisting of:

·      $500 CAH from Brock Innovation Group

·      Legal starter from Fpgler, Rubinoff LLP

·      Video from Visual After Visual

·      5 coffees with 5 mentors arranged by BioLinc and Innovate Niagara

·      Assistance with prototyping and design for 3D printing if applicable

·      Automatic advance into the 2nd round of BIG’s Monster Pitch Competition.

 

Ideas selected to compete were very diverse, but at the same time very creative and focused on solving a problem: make life easier and more enjoyable, specifically for students, workers and seniors.

To evaluate the pitches, there were 4 judges:

1.  Rob Belchior: Small business consultant at St Catharine’s Enterprise Centre.

2.  Hugh Scholaert: Industrial technical advisor from NRC-IRAP.

3.  Mick Higgins: CMO Caddle.

4.  Jessica Potts: President of Inspired Strategy.

They had a hard time deliberating about the winner. For that, they used the following criteria: Importance of the problem, sustainability of the idea, marketability, creativity, delivery and financial feasibility. In the end, League of Gamers won with their passion for gaming and excellent vision for their business. 

It was an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs and we had some amazing mentors volunteer their time to give the most valuable feedback to the students! Creativity and innovation sparkled at every moment during this event. If you have ideas and want to participate in this kind of competitions, stay tuned for upcoming ncTakeOff events and workshops.