14th Schulich Startup Night: Virtual Excitement
With the ongoing pandemic, Schulich Startup Night (SSN) took place virtually this month, with a pitch competition and fireside chat. This bi-annual event gives students and alumni an opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of top industry professionals for a chance to win a $5000 cash prize.
Chris Carder, Schulich’s new Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Schulich Startup Night Organizer, and Detlev Zwick, Schulich’s Interim Dean, kicked off the event with welcome remarks and acknowledgements.
“Entrepreneurship has a long tradition at Schulich. With the excellent work that Chris and his team are now doing, Schulich is becoming recognized as a key entrepreneurial hub, where theory and practice meet to create a truly inspiring space for innovation, exploration and action,” shared Dean Zwick.
The alumni pitches featured:
- Christine Trinh (MBA ’13) of Beeja May;
- Myra Arshad (BBA’18) of ALT TEX; and
- Abhinav Singhvi (MBA’20) of DrCar.
The student pitches featured:
- Amy Ge (MBA’21) of Heartcade;
- Daniel Ding (IMBA’21), Vishal Kankatala (IMBA’21) and Yaseen Khan (MBA’21) of Kanstar Technology; and
- Dimash Kunayev (MBA’21) of Engamio.
After much anticipation, the judges announced Christine Trinh as ‘Schulich Startup Night Alumni Winner’ and Amy Ge as ‘Schulich Startup Night Student Winner’.
Once the competition concluded, guests were invited to tune into the fireside chat in the evening with Schulich alumni and serial entrepreneur and investor, Mudit Rawat (MBA ’09) of PlanetCorp. The session was moderated by Daniel Warner (MBA ’12) CEO and Founder of RemoteClinic.
During the session, Rawat discussed the pillars needed to establish a startup, the challenges and factors needed to drive it forward. “It is super important to have the domain expertise and understand the industry you are trying to build,” said Rawat. “There has to be a balance between vision and execution.”
Thank you to our generous sponsors, including our Official Cash Prize Sponsor, Audrey S. Hellyer Charitable Foundation; our Supporting Sponsors, Zeifmans LLP, Wildeboer Dellelce LLP and Bereskin & Parr; and our Prizing Sponsors, BEST Lab, Indochino, and YSpace. We appreciate your support of Schulich student and alumni startups.
Watch now:
Fireside Chat with Mudit Rawat ›