Building a generation of student entrepreneurs

Velocity’s Health Innovation Challenges, in partnership with the Grand River Hospital Foundation (GRHF), offer University of Waterloo students an experiential learning opportunity with local hospitals and organizations. Students hear about the real-world challenges faced by patients and health-care workers in local hospitals and work with Velocity experts to develop practical solutions.  

“As Waterloo students, we gain skills by trying to solve real-world problems,” says Tiffany Teng, a fourth-year student who participated in the recent Health Innovation Challenge. “But it’s crucial to have programs like Velocity that help us apply our skills into real-world contexts, especially if it can provide aid to our local hospitals.” 

Innovation challenges encourage students to form their own teams, either by working with peers from the same faculty or program, or by creating interdisciplinary groups with members from different areas of expertise. They then select a challenge identified by Grand River Hospital and design solutions with real-world applications, leveraging each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Throughout the 10-day sprint, student teams engage in research and development workshops and receive one-on-one mentorship with industry experts. The partnership between Velocity and GRHF streamlines the ideation process for students, giving them the space to learn, build and create health-tech products from scratch, culminating in a pitch for funding.

“We watched you dive headfirst into real-world health-care problems, and you’ve taken risks, putting in countless hours to develop solutions. That determination and creativity is exactly what the future of health care needs,” says Carla Girolametto, integrated director of innovation and research at Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital. 

Students participating in Velocity’s innovation challenges are going above and beyond their coursework, dedicating extra time and effort to develop innovation solutions and gain entrepreneurial experience.

Velocity founders share their journey from ideation to validation

Michael Phillips (BASc ’17), CEO and co-founder of Vena Medical, and Christy Lee (BASc ’24), founder of PatientCompanion, participated in a fireside chat during the Health Innovation Challenge. Both are examples of Velocity-linked founders who, as Waterloo students, identified health-care problems, brainstormed solutions and pitched their ideas at past Velocity programs.  

“Think of problems early. Waterloo offers co-op and internship opportunities that let students learn firsthand about problems directly from so many different companies — an absolute cheat code we should be taking,” Phillips says. “Focus on looking for areas with interesting problems you’re passionate about. Find one problem and one solution, and with time, you can develop a product.”

Phillips and his co-founder at Vena Medical, Phillip Cooper (BASc ’17), have recently developed a breakthrough stroke treatment with the world’s first tiny camera capturing colour video from inside the brain. Lee, now at the Innovation Arena, is collaborating with Grand River Hospital and Brightshores Health System to implement her patient-nurse communication app.

Students found Phillips and Lee’s conversation inspiring, demonstrating that they too could embark on a similar entrepreneurial journey. The discussion highlighted working with Velocity to develop and validate their solutions, find investors and successfully bring their ideas to market.

At this year’s Health Innovation Challenge, students designed health technologies, from innovative patient mobility aids to an AI-powered app with augmented reality features for cancer patients. Three teams received $5,000 in funding to help them continue validating and pivoting their solutions with Velocity’s support, accessing the Innovation Arena’s resources for collaboration, manufacturing and connections in the health-care sector.

“The road does not end here, Velocity has so many more ways to help you keep developing your ideas — whether you choose to continue what you’ve done in the Health Innovation Challenge or come back for our next event, Future Cities Innovation Challenge. Fundamentally, we are here to help bring your ideas to life,” says Krysta Traianovski, associate director of Founder Development at Velocity.

Velocity innovation challenges — whether focused on health, sustainability or security — provide students with the roadmap to develop tech solutions that address real-world challenges presented by local hospitals, Canadian businesses and organizations. Building disruptive technology has been a core focus for Waterloo researchers, students and entrepreneurs since the University’s inception.

Since 2008, Velocity has launched more than 400 companies, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among students. The Innovation Arena further streamlines commercialization pathways for startups, accelerating the delivery of health technologies. The demand for innovation challenges stem from Waterloo students’ determination to create real-world solutions and their commitment to making a meaningful impact.

The article was originally published on UWaterloo News.