University of Waterloo startup incubator Velocity has unveiled 10 finalists who will compete for their share of $100,000 in grant funding at the Velocity Fund Finals on Thursday, March 27.
The finalists will pitch their startup ideas for a chance to win one of four grants of $25,000 and a place as one of more than 30 startups operating at the Velocity Garage workspace in downtown Kitchener.
The 10 Winter 2014 Velocity Fund finalists are:
- Code Connect – a plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio.
- Homefed – an intermediary that facilitates the discovery, booking, and payment of home cooked meals, food events, and edible goods.
- LastRev – for designers to get feedback on their designs from team members.
- MAJiK Systems – builds real-time machine monitoring software for factories and machine manufacturers.
- Palette – a freeform hardware interface to control your favourite software.
- PetroPredict – a well integrity prediction engine for the oil and gas industry.
- Roshee – allows companies to manage every step of the corporate purchasing process.
- Sparkgig – an online marketplace for hiring performers.
- TicketLabs – provides an e-ticketing platform that uses social tools to drive ticket sales.
- TrendRadius – provides product management software as a service.
“The Velocity Fund Finals showcase some of the best innovations, business ideas and entrepreneurs coming out of the University of Waterloo,” said Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity. “This early-stage funding helps the startups grow at an accelerated pace, reach markets sooner, and further attract investment and support to become well-established businesses.”
A live stream of the Velocity Fund Finals will be available.
To qualify as a finalist, each startup submitted a written proposal and presented a three-minute pitch to a panel of judges from the Velocity community. The judges for the $25,000 competition include JS Cournoyer, cofounder of Real Ventures; Devon Gallowa, COO of Vidyard; Mike Stork, president of Stork Holdings.
