Schulich Startup Night 19
On June 13th, Schulich Startup Night 19 took place at OneEleven in Downtown Toronto. Thanks to our community and sponsors, this was our biggest year yet with over $65,000 in cash prizes and 450+ registered attendees.
Chris Carder, Schulich’s Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Cherry Rose Tan, Entrepreneur in Residence at the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Detlev Zwick, the Dean of Schulich School of Business, kicked off the event with welcome remarks and acknowledgements.
“Entrepreneurship has deep roots at Schulich. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of Chris and his team, Schulich is rapidly gaining recognition as a central entrepreneurial hub, where academic theory seamlessly integrates with practical application, and fosters an inspiring environment for innovation, discovery, and impactful action,” stated Dean Zwick.
The Alumni pitches featured:
- Mia Zhang (MBA ‘20) CEO & Co-Founder of Master Cat
- Abdel Ali (MBA ‘21) Co-Founder of Kiwi Charge
- William Jones (MBA ‘14) CEO & Co-Founder of Leynek Medical
The Student pitches featured:
- Sebastian Stanescu (iBBA ‘24), Co-President of Calabaza foods
- Ayomikun Akintayo (Tech MBA ‘24) & Kian Rastegar (Tech MBA ‘24), Co-Founders of Edufund
- Cheyenne Legerton (MBA ‘24), CEO & Founder of Celley
After much anticipation, the judges announced Abdel Ali (MBA ‘21) from Kiwi Charge as ‘Schulich Startup Night Alumni Champion’, Ayomikun Akintayo (Tech MBA ‘24), Kian Rastegar (Tech MBA ‘24), Mark Ngyuen (Tech MBA ‘24) and Akash Choudhary (Tech MBA ‘24) from Edufund as ‘Schulich Startup Night Student Champion’, and William Jones (MBA ‘14) from Leynek Medical as “People’s Choice Award Winner’
Thank you to our generous sponsors, including our Official Cash Prize Sponsor, Audrey S. Hellyer Charitable Foundation; our Supporting Sponsors, Zeifmans LLP , R&D LLP and Wildeboer Dellelce LLP; as well as our Prizing Sponsors, BEST Lab, Indochino, and YSpace.
Last but not least, we are thrilled to introduce our newest award, generously sponsored by the Mikhail Khan Sami Family Fund, that was awarded to Sebastian Stanescu (iBBA ‘24), Co-President of Calabaza Foods.
We appreciate your support of Schulich student and alumni startups. We look forward to our next annual Schulich Startup Night!