Introducing the Spring 2020 Concept $5K Finalists

Last week we held another round of the Concept $5K Semi-Finals, however this semester was quite different. Although Ontario is slowly opening  up and inching back to business as usual, we aren’t quite there yet. Instead of our usual in person event featuring the always popular Campus Pizza and a big crowd, this semester’s Semi-Finals were done completely online. This did not stop an enthusiastic virtual audience from logging on to enjoy the show and although the event was confined to screens, the ideas pitched were as big and bold as ever! 

Over the course of two nights, 34 student led teams took to the virtual stage and pitched their startup ideas to our panel of judges. With only 3 minutes to pitch, and putting faith in the video conferencing technology the stakes were high. Each team delivered impressive pitches that focused on outlining the problem, how they plan to solve it, the potential market size for their solution, the abilities of their team to succeed , and how they would use the $5K grant if they won.

This new virtual semester also brought a bit of a change to how our judges normally pick the finalists. Rather than picking the top 5 from each night, this term we selected the top 10 overall as chosen by our judges. Making the tough decisions on the Finalists were three incredible people who watched all of the pitches in real time and provided useful feedback to each pitcher. A huge thank you to our team of judges featuring two Velocity Business Advisors: Mila Banerjee and Scott Rose, and Director of Velocity Incubator, John Cappucitti. 

The following day our judges reconvened and debated their favourites and who they had placed in their top 10. After some tense discussions and considerations, they landed on the teams that will move on and compete in the Concept $5K Finals. 

Now that you are all caught up on how we picked them, we are proud to present the Spring 2020 Concept $5K Finalists! 

Meet the Finalists

Aqua-Cell Energy
Aqua-Cell Energy is developing large scale batteries to store renewable energy for continuous solar and wind power. 

Citrus
Citrus is solving the technological inadequacies of Lyme disease diagnostic tools.

CloudSafari Inc. 
CloudSafari is automating the travel-booking process for local tour operators in Africa.

Eight Stories of Modesty
Eight Stories of Modesty is Hijab brand that aims to create a meaningful journey for customers by bringing to light the experiences of women that wear the headscarf.

Lumos
Lumos is building light therapy wearables.

moxHealth
Mox Health is a convenient and easy to use transdermal patch to detect female ovulation.

Ottofollo
Ottofollo is developin an Intelligent iPhone User-Tracking Video Stand.

Scribble
Scribble is a web-based platform for remote software development teams to collaborate on technical diagrams in real time.

Waitless
Waitless provides an easy approach for customers to reach phone support.

VidarDB
VidarDB is creating the next generation database system. 

Concept $5K Finals

This semester’s Concept $5K Finals will once again be completely online. The finalists three minute pitch videos will be uploaded to our YouTube channel and their ideas shared with the world. Our panel of judges will gather and view each team’s pitch videos before ultimately selecting the top four and crowning winners of the Spring 2020 Concept $5K Finals. Additionally, our wonderful virtual audience will also be helping to crown one team as The People’s Champ, a $500 award given to the pitch video that receives the most likes on YouTube. Stay tuned with our social media and check out the videos when they come out, these are some incredible ideas that will help shape our future, don’t miss out!