U of G hosts the largest Canadian business pitching competition and draws a crowd
by Sandra Anger and Jessica Perfect
On Saturday, Jan. 16, the University of Guelph hosted the Central Regional Round of the Student Business Pitching Competition for the second year in a row. The event was well attended. Seventy guests and competitors from the Central Region of Canada (Manitoba and Ontario) competed for cash prizes, awarded by a panel of six judges consisting of prominent Canadian business executives.
The competitors were made up of ten teams who competed for an opportunity to advance to the National Round held in Vancouver on Feb. 6. Enterprize Canada is the leading sponsor of the event and also runs entrepreneurial seminars and networking workshops for Canadian undergraduate students.
The ten qualifying teams were students from Western, Carleton, Ryerson, Waterloo, York, and U of T. Each team was required to present a fifteen-minute proposal of their business plans, with a 40 per cent weight towards their final score. Their written business plan was worth 25 per cent, and the viability of the company accounted for the remaining 35 per cent. A common theme throughout the ten presentations was a reliance on social networking tools to promote their businesses and receive customer feedback.
The four teams selected as finalists all hailed from Ontario. Coming in fourth place was ConnectAd from Western, with their ad management business proposition. Simon Choy and Charles Dieu planned to target non-profit organizations in Ontario and assist them in raising funds through pay per click (PPC) advertising. In third place was eHost, a group from York University whose demonstration video and presentation was commended by the judges. Ryerson stuents Paige Boersma and partner Alex Perlin secured second place with their online and storefront clothing boutique, Bicyclette. Bicyclette is mediation between a “Fast Fashion Retailer and an Independent Boutique,” geared towards women 18-45. First place went to Asim Hussain and Sukhsager Jolly, a pair of Waterloo students pitching Biofront. The judges described the group as credible and competent and said that they built trust through the presentation of their company.
“It was a great experience,” said Boersma. “I’m on a bit of an emotional roller coaster right now, having put so much time and effort into working on this and then the shock of securing second place.”
The four finalist teams in the Central Regional Round will proceed to the National Round in February to compete for the grand prize of $27 000. Fifteen thousand dollars will be awarded in cash and the remainder in professional services intended to assist with the development of their business.
Judge Steve Fox, Senior Vice President of Nestlé Canada, spoke on behalf of all the judges saying, “The potential of all the ideas here is astounding….it was a privilege for us to be here.”
University of Guelph’s Dean of the College of Marketing and Economics, Julia Hughes, stated that she was privileged to be able to sit in on the judges’ deliberation and was happy to hear that their consensus was “the future is in good hands.”