Dobson Cup judge on Montreal’s startup scene
Kristina Tomaz-Young knows a thing or two about startups. She’s been involved with several projects since 2007, both as an adviser and as founder of her own companies, including Venture Cap TV and Skill2Go. She sat with The Dobson Chronicles to discuss her development as a businessperson, how to garner success at home and beyond, and judging the McGill Dobson Cup. Of the Montreal startup culture, Ms.
From class project to the Grit Prize: one Dobson Cup team’s journey
CardioLink was the winner of this year’s Dobson Cup Grit Prize, which honours “outstanding dedication towards establishing [a] business venture.” The multidisciplinary team’s members are pulled from Ď㽶ĘÓƵ, Concordia University and the École de technologie supĂ©rieure (ÉTS). The CardioLink team is working towards a new, affordable method for replacing heart valves, which also happens to be safer for the patient and less frustrating for surgeons.
Spotlight on McGill X-1 Accelerator
As part of its series on social innovations at different universities, Le Délit recently took a look the McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship’s efforts, including the McGill X-1 Accelerator, which is a 10-week intensive that gives participants a chance at pitching their projects to the Centre’s network of entrepreneurs in hopes of landing funding.
Dobson Cup winners announced
From 136 initial pitches, 121 went on to compete. The semi-finals brought the field down to 40 finalists and now, the 2017 McGill Dobson Cup powered by National Bank has revealed the slate of winners. Up for grabs was a total of $106,000, which was awarded to the top teams in the categories of Social Enterprise, Health Sciences, Small & Medium Enterprise, and Innovation Driven Enterprise. This year’s slate of entries came from all of McGill’s faculties and schools.
Eytan Bensoussan on mentoring, entrepreneurship and modern business banking
Eytan Bensoussan (BSc’05, MBA/LLB’10) loves a challenge. He has studied math, bio-chemistry, political science and management. In his career life, he worked for McKinsey & Company, the Globe and Mail, and Ferst Capital Partners before co-founding Ferst Digital, which is a modern banking platform for small businesses and start-ups.
Electric snowmobiles set to take centre stage
Next winter, Whistler Blackcomb and Canadian Wilderness Adventures will become some of the first companies to offer electric snowmobiles to clients. The machines are made by Quebec-based Taiga Motors, which built on its first-place finish in the 2016 McGill Dobson Cup’s Innovation Track to expand its technology and develop a revolutionary all-electric snowmobile from the ground up.
2014 Dobson Cup participant on how winning changed her
Montreal-based Lantinga Vita is all about merging functionality, a chic design and sustainability. The company’s Tempus bag is an Italian-made, multi-functional bag that boasts a compartment for a 15” laptop and a thermal pocket for food. The company’s founder and CEO, Nina Lantinga, recently spoke with The Dobson Chronicles about the entrepreneurial life, growing her business and winning the Grit Prize at the McGill Dobson Cup 2014.
Winning Dobson Cup team on entrepreneurship, plans for the future and head movement as disease indicator
Startup Saccade Analytics was the first place winner of the 2017 McGill Dobson Cup Health Sciences Track. The team’s pitch involved analyzing eye and head movement to help diagnose neural diseases. The team sat down with the Dobson Chronicles to talk about what made them dive into the entrepreneurial life, and eye-head movement as an indicator of disease — including, but not limited to, concussion.
Dobson Cup winners announced
The McGill Dobson Cup 2017 powered by National Bank is over, and the winners have been announced. From the initial 136 applications, 121 teams pitched their startups in the run-up to the semi-finals. Then, 40 of those teams moved on to the finals on March 22. All in all, $106,000 of seed funding was divided among the top entries across four categories: Social Enterprise, Health Sciences, Small & Medium Enterprise and Innovation Driven Enterprise.
Social enterprise and innovation: an interview with Jake Wildman-Sisk
As judge for the Social Enterprise category at the semi-finals of this year’s McGill Dobson Cup, Jake Wildman-Sisk’s credentials are solid: Not only did he help develop the first social systems innovation lab in New Brunswick, but he has also worked for the Fredericton Food Bank, and is currently an innovation fellow at the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation’s RECODE initiative, which supports students’ efforts to become agents of progress.
Social Media for Startups: a workshop to build from
At the last of this season’s McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship workshops, participants were treated to an in-depth understanding of what social media can do for startups. The workshop, led in part by Desautels Marketing and Communications Coordinator Véronique Beaulieu-Fowler, delved into best practices for solidifying a company’s online presence.
GroundIt’s CEO on her entrepreneurial journey
Business partners Audrey Bolduc and Mitalie Makhani won the 2015 Dobson Cup with their pitch to make fertilizer from used coffee grounds. Now CEO of GroundIt, Ms. Bolduc returns to judge the 2017 Dobson Cup.
New financial skills workshop at McGill Dobson Centre
The McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship’s recent Startup Financials workshop gave attendees a solid basis from which to build out financial projections, which can be the weakest link in many business plans. Expert presenters included pros from White Star Capital, Appetite (Honorable Mention at the 2016 Dobson Cup), and of course, National Bank.
Dobson Cup hopefuls: 40 startups through to 2017 finals
The Semi-finals of the McGill Dobson Cup 2017 powered by National Bank are over, and of the 121 teams that competed, 40 of them are still standing.
L’Oréal and the McGill Dobson Cup announce new award
For 2017, the McGill Dobson Cup powered by National Bank will feature a new prize!
