CBaSE program provides launchpad for aspiring local entrepreneurs
Since 2014, The Hub Incubator Program has helped kickstart more than 40 U of G businesses on campus. Run by U of G’s Centre for Business and Student Enterprise (CBaSE), the program receives as many as 30 applications every semester, with only six to ten startups being accepted each term.
Applicants are reviewed by CBaSE staff and external evaluators through their written applications, followed by a pitch presentation for those who are shortlisted. The chosen entrepreneurs are individuals who can demonstrate promising business progress, who prove to have talented team members, and who emphasize sustainability and positive social impact.
The six startups that have been chosen for the winter 2018 semester include:
● Kreeyo: A website and mobile application that connects parents with caregivers (babysitters and nannies) within their area
● Fibrtex: Upcycling apple waste into an eco-friendly leather alternative
● Udderly Ridiculous: An artisanal goat milk ice cream producer who believes ice cream should taste Udderly amazing, be Udderly enjoyable, and is Udderly responsible
● Partrunnr: A platform that helps connect companies providing on-demand heavy equipment services with those who need them
● Selene Biosystems: Specializing in the design and manufacture of rapid lateral flow assays that can be used in such diverse fields as industrial bakeries, crop quality control, and medical diagnostics
● Dronemates: A drone service that provides unique aerial footage for practical and artistic applications, such as film, forestry mapping, agriculture activity monitoring, real estate marketing, construction evaluations, inspections in high-risk areas, and special events
After being accepted into the program, entrepreneurs are granted up to $8,000 in funding to execute their business idea, and are given access to a communal workspace on campus as well as mentorship from the experienced CBaSE team and an entrepreneur-in-residence.
At the end of the term, each of the businesses participate in a competition-style event called the pitch finals. Teams present their progress to a panel of judges, who decide if they will be granted an additional $4,000 in funding. In addition, audience members have the opportunity to cast their vote for the business they think will have the most social impact; the winner of the People’s Choice Impact Award receives $500.
The Hub Program is open to any team of entrepreneurs with at least one co-founder who is a current U of G student or alumnus and between the ages of 18 and 29. Each team is expected to complete at least 30 hours of work per week; co-op students are also eligible to receive school credit through their project.
“It is a very unique opportunity to spend a co-op term working for yourself on your own business instead of for someone else,” Hub Incubator services manager, John Lam, wrote in an email interview with The Ontarion. “Instead of doing a small part for a large company, students get to learn about every aspect of being a business leader.”
Some of the most successful startups that have risen from The Hub include:
● Escarpment Labs: A local yeast lab in Guelph that provides liquid yeast cultures for the production of Canadian craft beers
● Revel Cider: An artfully-minded craft apple cider company created using 100 per cent Ontario fruit through mixed culture and spontaneous fermentation
●Welo: A probiotic, cold-pressed, all-natural juice company that donates a portion of their profits to funding the construction of water wells in Kenya
●Taurus 3D: A 3D printing company that provides amputees with affordable prosthetics
●The Making-Box: An improv and stand-up comedy theatre in downtown Guelph that runs improv classes and hosts shows featuring Canadian comedians and local talent
Although there are many tales of success, unfortunately not all startups will endure. “Entrepreneurs set targets and goals and inevitably, not all of them are achieved,” explained Lam. “Despite that, failure isn’t an appropriate word to describe that outcome, because something good is usually the result. The entrepreneur learns something critical, views things from a different perspective, or makes a crucial partner, and what ends up happening is that they are guided towards the right direction and their chances of success increase.”
Photos by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion