(Halifax, NS) – Dalhousie University is pleased to announce the winners of the Ready2Launch Pitch Day. Ready2Launch is a three-month summer accelerator for early-stage startups. The 2021 program concluded on September 9, with nine teams competing for a chance to win three cash prizes.
During Pitch Day, the graduating teams presented their ventures to a panel of judges. In first place was Drinkable Water Solutions, winning $5,000. Drinkable is a CleanTech company building a handheld water testing device. The $3,000 second place prize went to Formula Consulting Inc, who are developing an algorithm to increase efficiency in heavy civil construction. Finally, HOLLO medical won the $2,000 People’s Choice Award. They are developing a pocket-sized holding chamber for inhaler users.
“We came into Ready2Launch at a pivotal time in our team’s growth and needed guidance on our market analysis, business model, and primary research”, says Matthew Mizzi, CEO of Drinkable, “R2L exceeded our expectations with quality content, impressive organization, excellent communication and an incredible network. We couldn’t be happier with our progress during the program.”
We are excited to see how the relationships formed in Ready2Launch continue to grow as the ventures progress.
The program brought in experts from the local and national innovation ecosystems as mentors, board members, and Pitch Day judges. The judging panel was made up of Brent Walker, Managing Director at Morrison Park Advisors; Patrick Keefe, General Partner at BUILD Ventures; Dr. Jennifer Bain, Associate Vice-President Research at Dalhousie University; Amanda Tarr, Manager of Programs and Acceleration at InnovaCorp; and Jolene Reid, Investment Principal at Sandpiper Ventures.
“We were thrilled to have the support of numerous players in the Atlantic innovation ecosystem throughout the Ready2Launch program”, says Spencer Giffin, Associate Director of Commercialization & Startups at Dalhousie“from Pitch Day judges to volunteer board members and mentors, their expertise added tremendous value to the teams. We are excited to see how the relationships formed in Ready2Launch continue to grow as the ventures progress.”
Participating teams represented Dalhousie University, including the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus, Acadia University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Saint Mary’s University and the University of Prince Edward Island, with Morrison Park Advisors, and Build Ventures providing funding and advisory support to teams. One-third of cohort participants previously participated in the Lab2Market program, which is a precursor to Ready2Launch.