ThisIsThePlace

Subheadline

Clothing brand MOTUS, co-founded by two �鶹��Ƶ students and their younger sister, is collaborating with the university on a capsule collection

Startup co-founders and siblings Sydnie and Malik Pottinger are set to make history by becoming the first students to partner with the University of Toronto’s Trademark Licensing Office to create a capsule collection with their clothing brand MOTUS.

Sydnie, a third-year student at St. Michael’s College, and Malik, a fifth-year student in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE), will see their MOTUS line of fashion wear, complete with the university’s iconic T-and-leaf logo, go on sale at the �鶹��Ƶ Bookstore’s St. George campus location in March.

The collection includes a varsity jacket, sweatsuits, beanies, soccer jerseys and T-shirts.

Bringing this dream to fruition has been a family affair for the Pottingers, whose younger sister Calille is also involved in the company – and whose parents have been a constant source of encouragement.

The siblings, whose university years saw them turn out for the Varsity Blues – with Malik playing basketball and Sydnie, volleyball – began to consider creating a line of comfortable but stylish fashion pieces during the pandemic. They launched MOTUS in January 2023, taking on everything from designing clothing and creating a logo to arranging manufacturing and shipping orders.

Malik says the brand name MOTUS is derived from the Latin word for motion. “It fits us because we are always pushing ourselves and each other to have one foot forward, and it signifies always progressing and elevating,” says Malik.

The business began booming shortly after the e-commerce brand was launched, with Malik and Sydnie soon making regular trips from their small warehouse to the post office to mail orders.

It wasn’t long before they met their first benchmark of success: seeing people on the street wearing their clothes.

“Success is your brand being recognized,” Sydnie says.

The siblings then began to think of how to create a brick-and-mortar presence and pondered whether they could reach an arrangement to sell their items in the �鶹��Ƶ Bookstore.

“We brought up the idea to our parents. They encouraged us and said, ‘The worst that can happen is that the bookstore says no,’” Sydnie recalls.

Soon, they were in contact with �鶹��Ƶ’s Trademark Licensing Office, where they were introduced to manager Ivan Canete, who previously managed the Under Armour portfolio for the Sport & Rec programs at KPE. Together, they discussed how �鶹��Ƶ branding and logos could be integrated into a MOTUS x UofT collection.

In addition to the bookstore stocking their items, MOTUS also received support from Spaces & Experiences, which invested in initial inventory and connected the siblings with resources such as the Black Founders Network.

“We haven’t done a lot of this before,” Canete says of the collaboration, noting that only recently have big brands begun to create collaborative clothing collections with �鶹��Ƶ.

Canete says that since �鶹��Ƶ Bookstore royalties are poured back into student experience, partnering with students is a great path. “�鶹��Ƶ is pioneering this kind of thinking and developing a model for other schools to follow,” he says, describing the arrangement as part of the bookstore’s evolution.

“It's a great feeling to know that something that my sisters and I created in our parents’ living room is going to help other people,” says Malik, who is set to graduate from KPE this year. “We are the first students to collaborate with the university’s Trademark Licensing Program and it’s really nice to see MOTUS among big-name brands like OVO, Roots and Peace Collective.”

Malik plans to spend at least a year following his graduation solely focused on building the business. Sydnie, who has two years of school remaining and also coaches volleyball, will also continue to make a full-time commitment.

Among MOTUS’s next steps is to produce leather goods, says Malik, who has been looking into suppliers in Portugal. “We are already developing an assortment of items of this category for our brand. Our goal for MOTUS is to have an international footprint,” he says. “We are so grateful for �鶹��Ƶ’s backing.”

Malik says he would advise students to not let their studies box them into a corner. “Just take everything you learned from �鶹��Ƶ and apply it in whatever direction you want to take in your life,” he says.

“My first two years at KPE provided me with a great foundation and perspective to figure out what I like. That structure, combined with playing on the varsity basketball team in the first two years of my studies, provided me with discipline and routine that come in handy today.”

�鶹��Ƶ startup targets harmful side effect of cancer treatment

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:17:45 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ startup targets harmful side effect of cancer treatment

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 03/06/2024 - 11:17

Cutline

Nabanita Nawar and Pimyupa Manaswiyoungkul, co-founders of HDAX Therapeutics, met while they were pursuing doctoral studies at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga’s department of chemical and physical sciences (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Black Founders Network

�鶹��Ƶ

Dentistry

Health Innovation Hub

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

HDAX Therapeutics is focused on developing treatments for peripheral nerve damage, which can result from chemotherapy or radiation

Pain, numbness, sore muscles and even paralysis. These are some of the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, an often-debilitating condition associated with chemotherapy, radiation and other cancer treatments.

Such peripheral nerve damage can be temporary, but for some, it never goes away.

“There’s often really nothing for these patients except just symptom management and putting fingers and toes in a bucket of ice,” says Nabanita Nawar, who holds a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the University of Toronto.

Nawar is the CEO and a co-founder of HDAX Therapeutics, a startup that grew out of technology developed in �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga’s department of chemical and physical sciences. The company is currently working on treatments that focus on HDAC 6, a protein that has been implicated in cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative disorders – including the peripheral nerve damage experienced by many cancer patients.

“We are essentially developing new medicine for diseases that have a transport problem in the body,” Nawar says, referring to the protein’s key role in multiple cellular processes.

HDAX’s patented mechanism targets HDAC 6 to return damaged neurons to health.

“Our target, HDAC6, plays a key role in regulating microtubule stability and thus, affects axonal transport,” explained Pimyupa Manaswiyoungkul, who also earned a PhD at �鶹��Ƶ and is now chief operations officer at HDAX. “In diseased states for indications that we are targeting, these axonal transports are impaired resulting in nerve degeneration, which results in symptoms in patients.”

By using a “two-site binding modality,” the startup’s technology essentially holds the target with two figurative hands instead of one – like many of its competitors – providing a tighter grip on the protein and a key competitive advantage.

The treatment, still in pre-clinical testing, would be delivered in the form of an oral pill.

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

The HDAX team also plans to apply the startup’s technology to target transport mechanisms in cardio-metabolic diseases, including heart failure.

Manaswiyoungkul met Nawar in the lab when they were pursing doctoral studies. She says Nawar, who was on the medicinal chemistry side, would give her compounds to evaluate.

“The flow of how we worked in the lab helped us connect,” Manaswiyoungkul says.

Working with fellow researchers Elvin de Araujo and Olasunkanmi Olaoye, it wasn’t long before Nawar and Manaswiyoungkul shifted their focus to the challenges of translating their promising research into a viable business.

The team established HDAX in 2021 and received its first big funding injection – and a confidence boost – a few months later when it won a bio-venture pitch competition hosted by Medicine by Design, a �鶹��Ƶ institutional strategic initiative focused on regenerative medicine and cell therapy.

“That was the first thing that made us think, ‘OK, this may be a real company – this could really be something.’ It wasn’t just in our heads,” Nawar says.

HDAX has since attracted a total of $1.3 million in funding, Manaswiyoungkul says, noting the company and its five full-time employees is now preparing for its first seed round funding.

The work of Nawar, Manaswiyoungkul and their teammates hasn’t gone unnoticed. The two founders recently earned an unexpected individual accolade: inclusion in the Forbes list of 30 under 30 Torontonians. When the Forbes email landed in Nawar’s inbox, she says she was so surprised she wondered if it was spam.

As it turns out, the duo were nominated by one of their early �鶹��Ƶ mentors, Paul Santerre, a professor in the Faculty of Dentistry and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

“The [HDAX] technology circumvents toxicity in neuro and cardiac drugs, with amazing efficacy demonstrated in their neuro models,” Santerre says, adding that Nawar and Manaswiyoungkul “not only accomplished novel, impactful findings during their PhD/post doc training, but did the work to accelerate their evolution to becoming serious entrepreneurs.”

Along the way, the startup received extensive support from the �鶹��Ƶ entrepreneurship community, which ranks first in Canada for research-based startups and among the top five globally for university startup accelerators. In particular, HDAX worked with UTEST, the Health Innovation Hub (H2i) and the Black Founders Network.

Santerre says one of the keys to �鶹��Ƶ’s successful entrepreneurial support network is its “no wrong door” policy.

“This means, regardless of where you come from at �鶹��Ƶ, you will be supported by the incubators that best fit your venture,” he says.

Manaswiyoungkul’s advice for students thinking about making the leap into entrepreneurship? Just go for it.

“�鶹��Ƶ is a very accepting community and there’s always someone who has more experience and the willingness to help take your ideas forward.”

From nature to the lab: �鶹��Ƶ startup brews more sustainable food ingredients

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:22:34 +0000

From nature to the lab: �鶹��Ƶ startup brews more sustainable food ingredients

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/04/2024 - 10:22

Cutline

Pratish Gawand, who graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in chemical engineering in 2014, says many natural flavouring ingredients are produced in small quantities and end up being shipped long distances to the companies that use them (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Chemical Engineering

UTEST

Subheadline

Using precision fermentation, Ardra Inc. aims to replace natural flavour ingredients with more sustainable alternatives

Natural ingredients may seem better for the planet, but that’s not always the case.

Consider rose oil. It takes thousands of kilograms of rose petals to extract a single kilogram of the popular fragrance ingredient.

“If a multinational cosmetics or consumer goods company said tomorrow, ‘We’re not going to use any artificial rose oil,’ we couldn’t grow enough roses in the world to supply such a big company,” says Pratish Gawand, who graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in chemical engineering in 2014.

Pratish Gawand (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Gawand’s startup, Ardra Inc., aims to replace natural flavour ingredients in food with more sustainable alternatives manufactured using precision fermentation. Think of the fermenting tanks in a brewery, but instead of yeast, Ardra’s technology involves microbes that are genetically engineered to produce high-value compounds rather than ethanol.

Following fermentation, the ingredients must be purified to the high standards of “flavour houses,” where scientists known as flavourists formulate the flavours of food products.

“Humans are much more sensitive to detecting odours than even gas chromatography instruments,” says Gawand, who is Ardra’s chief executive. “We have to meet those kinds of standards, and we have done it.”

Typically produced in small quantities from plants and animals, most natural ingredients end up being shipped long distances to the companies that use them, which comes with a cost to the climate. Ardra’s process, on the other hand, would provide manufacturers with a local and more sustainable source of necessary ingredients.

“This addresses major challenges in the food industry – mainly around sustainability and supply,” Gawand says.

Ardra’s list of products includes heme, the iron-carrying molecule that turns blood red and gives meats their distinctive taste. Fermented heme can be used not only to enhance the taste of plant-based meats but also to give it other meat-like qualities. For example, Gawand says heme is thought to be among the reasons that meat chars on a grill.

Ardra can also ferment leaf-aldehyde, which replicates a variety of flavours including green apple, berry and citrus. And it makes natural petroleum-free butylene glycol, a versatile moisturizing agent often used in shampoos, lotions and cosmetics that is otherwise largely petroleum-based.

Gawand co-founded Ardra in 2016 with his �鶹��Ƶ PhD supervisor Radhakrishnan Mahadevan, a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Metabolic Systems Engineering. “�鶹��Ƶ was our very first investor,” Gawand says, adding that Ardra received its first investment from the university’s UTEST (University of Toronto Early Stage Technology) program.

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

“The university helped us put the company together, put the patent together and it wrote us our very first cheque.”

Ardra began its journey with butylene glycol technology.

“Krishna [Mahadevan] and I were inventors on that patent, along with Associate Professor Alexander Yakunin and PhD student Kayla Nemr. We assigned the patent to the university and licensed it out,” Gawand says.

Mahadevan, for his part, says his prior experience working with startups, including Geno – a San Diego, Calif.-based company that currently makes a more sustainable version of nylon, among other products – made him keen to explore the commercial potential of his group’s research.

He says Gawand had the passion and drive necessary to translate bench research into a viable business.

“He had a tough work ethic and would go to great lengths to achieve his research goals,” Mahadevan recalls.

He adds that Gawand’s commitment to sustainability also made a strong impression, recalling an essay that his former student wrote and shared with the lab describing the urbanization of the landscape near his hometown in India. (Gawand, an avid birdwatcher in his youth, lamented that new construction near his home drove out the egrets, cormorants and other birds that he remembered seeing on his walks to and from school.)

Ardra has come a long way since it was founded less than decade ago. It has raised more than $4 million in funding and has strategic partnerships with a U.S.-based flavour house and a European company.

Gawand says he hopes Ardra’s success will pave the way for other Canadian companies in the bio-manufacturing sector.

“I want to put the wheels in motion for Canadian bio-manufacturing and precision fermentation,” he says. “From Ardra’s success, I want to get Canada started on bio-industrial innovations.”

�鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship Week 2024: 10 startups to watch

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 20:00:17 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship Week 2024: 10 startups to watch

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 03/01/2024 - 15:00

Cutline

HDAX Therapeutics, a startup that grew out �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga’s department of chemical and physical sciences, is developing a drug that could prevent nerve damage caused by chemotherapy (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

�鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship

�鶹��Ƶ

Artificial Intelligence

Computer Science

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Sustainability

Translational Research Program

�鶹��Ƶ Mississauga

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

Preventing nerve damage caused by chemotherapy. Using artificial intelligence to help people who are Deaf communicate with machines through sign language. Accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in urban communities.

These are some of the innovations being advanced by members of the University of Toronto’s thriving entrepreneurship community.

Ranked among the top five university business incubators in the world, �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship is preparing to celebrate these and other startups during the eighth annual Entrepreneurship Week from March 4 to 7. The week-long celebration includes more than 15 events, including pitch competitions, startup showcases, workshops and more.

Here are 10 exciting �鶹��Ƶ-affiliated startups to keep an eye on in 2024:

HDAX Therapeutics

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

Chemotherapy kills cancer cells, but it can also cause irreversible nerve damage that results in pain, loss of sensation and even paralysis. HDAX Therapeutics, co-founded by alumnae Pimyupa Manaswiyoungkul and Nabanita Nawar, is looking to tackle the problem with a preventative drug that has delivered promising results in pre-clinical studies.

Waabi

(photo by Polina Teif)

Waabi is a self-driving technology startup founded by Raquel Urtasun, a professor of computer science in �鶹��Ƶ’s Faculty of Arts & Science and co-founder of the Vector Institute who headlined the Desjardins Speaker Series at last year’s Entrepreneurship Week. Her company operates at the intersection of autonomous driving, AI and commercial transportation. In September, it announced a 10-year strategic partnership with Uber Freight to accelerate the adoption of autonomous technologies in the trucking industry.

Kiwi Charge

(supplied image)

Kiwi Charge is looking to boost the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) via a charging-as-a-service model that caters to people living in apartments and condos. Founded by Abdel Ali, Kiwi Charge helps building owners offer EV charging amenities while avoiding hefty infrastructure costs, allowing tenants to enjoy a hassle-free charging experience. The startup was part of the 2023 cohort of the Nobellum Innovator Program, which provides support and capital to Black founders. Kiwi Charge will be at the True Blue Expo on March 7.

BlueDot

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

BlueDot is using AI to detect infectious disease outbreaks, carry out risk assessment and provide actionable insights to clients in public health, the pharmaceuticals and life sciences industries and global companies more generally. The company was founded by Kamran Khan, a scientist at Unity Health Toronto and professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Khan is scheduled to speak at Entrepreneurship Week, where he will take part in a panel discussion about mental health and wellness for startup founders.

Deaf AI

(photo by Alyssa K Faoro)

Deaf AI is using AI to train machines in sign language to improve human-machine communication for people who are Deaf or have hearing impairments. The company made an impression at the Desjardins Startup Prize Pitch Competition at Entrepreneurship Week 2023, winning first-place in the late-stage category as well as the Dongjun Wang Family True Blue Prize (People’s Choice Award). It was co-founded by Azadeh Bojmehrani, who earned a master of health science degree in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s translational research program (which is hosting a networking lunch event for health-care innovators and entrepreneurs on March 8 to cap off this year’s Entrepreneurship Week action).

Transcrypts

(supplied image)

TransCrypts, too, has enjoyed success at �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship pitch competitions, taking home the second-place prize in the later-stage category for the UTE Startup Prize during Entrepreneurship Week 2022. Co-founded by Ali Zaheer and Zain Zaidi, the company aims to enhance digital privacy and security by automating document verification – ultimately giving users ownership and access to their own data. The pair have participated in the Y-Combinator accelerator in Silicon Valley and raised more than $3-million in funding from investors that include Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks and a “shark” on Shark Tank.

Genecis

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

Genecis is a climate-focused biotech startup that converts organic waste into sustainable and biodegradable plastics. Founded by CEO Luna Yu, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from �鶹��Ƶ in only four years, Genecis aims to provide plastic manufacturers with competitively priced bio-plastics, while helping waste management companies save on their organic material disposal costs. Since competing in �鶹��Ƶ pitch competitions back in 2017, Genecis has raised more than $22 million.

Reeddi

(photo by Polina Teif)

Founded by �鶹��Ƶ Engineering alumnus Olugbenga Olubanjo, Reeddi is bringing affordable and clean electricity to under-resourced communities by renting out solar-powered energy capsules that can power household devices and appliances. Currently based in Nigeria, Reeddi aims to eventually expand its presence to other countries in Africa and beyond. The company was a finalist in Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, which recognizes efforts to tackle environmental problems.

Erthos

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

Co-founded by alumnae Nuha Siddiqui and Kritika Tyagi, Erthos is helping tackle the global plastic pollution crisis with its novel plant-based resin, which serves as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics. After starting with a focus on packing peanuts, Erthos has expanded its offerings to include cutlery, clothes hangers and packaging for consumer products, among others. In September, the company announced $6.5 million in Series A funding.

Ardra Bio

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

Co-founded by alumnus Pratish Gawand and Radhakrishnan Mahadevan, a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in �鶹��Ƶ’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Ardra Bio is developing technologies to produce sustainable biochemicals and novel food products including heme, a plant-based product that matches the flavour, colour and iron nutrients of meat, and leaf-aldehyde, which is used as a flavouring ingredient for foods and beverages and as an ingredient in the fragrance industry.

Learn more about �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship Week

Five things to look forward to at Entrepreneurship Week 2024

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 17:31:12 +0000

Five things to look forward to at Entrepreneurship Week 2024

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 02/26/2024 - 12:31

Cutline

�鶹��Ƶ’s annual Entrepreneurship Week takes place March 4 to 7 and features more than 15 events across �鶹��Ƶ’s three campuses, including pitch competitions, startup showcases, keynote speeches, workshops and panel discussions (supplied image)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus

�鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

The University of Toronto is gearing up for its annual tri-campus Entrepreneurship Week, a four-day showcase of �鶹��Ƶ’s diverse and extensive entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Taking place from March 4 to 7, Entrepreneurship Week features more than 15 events across �鶹��Ƶ’s three campuses, including pitch competitions, startup showcases, keynote speeches, workshops, panel discussions and more.

All events are free and open to students, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders and anyone else interested in learning about – and being inspired by – the startups, founders and research-based entrepreneurship ecosystem that have made �鶹��Ƶ one of the top five university startup incubators in the world.

“There is no wrong door for the entrepreneurs in our community. Regardless of what and where you study or how far along you are on your journey, there is a place for you,” says Jon French, director of �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship. “This week is an opportunity to showcase the calibre of our talented founders and the breadth and depth of opportunities we can offer over 600 teams annually.”

Here are some of the key events and themes for the upcoming edition of �鶹��Ƶ’s annual celebration of all things entrepreneurship:

Watch startups compete for funding and prizes

�鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship’s marquee business pitch competition is the Desjardins Startup Prize, which will see startups and their founders vie for more than $100,000 in cash prizes.

This year’s shortlist includes companies that are innovating across an array of important areas including neurodegenerative disease treatments, greenhouse gas monitoring, oral hygiene and AI chatbots. The competition, which is split into early-stage and later-stage startup categories, will take place during True Blue Impact Day on March 7.

On March 6, �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga’s ICUBE accelerator will host Pitch with a Twist, an annual pitch competition for women entrepreneurs that is judged by an all-women panel. The event, which marks the lead-up to International Women’s Day on March 8, will also feature a keynote address by Catherine Addai, founder of the women’s clothing company Kaela Kay.

Hear from entrepreneur-investor power couple Eva and Allen Lau

(photo supplied)

This year’s Desjardins Speaker Series address will be delivered by Eva and Allen Lau, spouses who are both alumni, successful entrepreneurs and co-founders of Two Small Fish Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm.

In a keynote titled “School of Fish: Lessons Learned from Swimming Upstream,” the Laus will discuss an array of topics including the story of digital storytelling platform Wattpad – co-founded by Allen Lau, with Eva Lau as one of its founding members – from its inception in 2006 to its $600-million exit 15 years later.

The Laus will also offer their advice for early-stage founders, discuss the current investment climate and explore opportunities and challenges in the Canadian innovation ecosystem – including their thoughts on key industries and technologies such as AI, quantum computing and electric vehicles.

The hybrid event will take place on True Blue Impact Day on March 7.

Get inspired by leaders from underrepresented groups

�鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship continues to celebrate and advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion in the entrepreneurship world through its Entrepreneurship Week programming.

At �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough on March 5, attendees can take in an International Women’s Day panel discussion featuring Fennella Bruce, media consultant and founder of FKB Media Solutions, and Melanie Ratnam, founder of the researcher-focused software platform Indaggo and president the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology. The event will also feature opportunities to network with women leaders and entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, on the St. George campus, the second day of Entrepreneurship Week will feature the return of the popular Fireside at FemSTEM conversation series featuring special guest Yasaman Soudagar, co-founder and CEO of the neuroscience startup Neurescence who completed her PhD in experimental quantum optics at �鶹��Ƶ and École Polytechnique in Montreal.

Another moderated conversation on March 7 will examine women who are transforming Canada’s music and arts landscape. The discussion, titled “I’m first cause I’m a L-A-D-I-E: Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Female Empowerment in Canada’s Hip Hop and Black Music Industries,” will feature: Tinesha Richards-Morris, director of 925 Agency Inc. and former managing director the arts and culture non-profit Manifesto; Annalie Bonda, label manager for independent record label Golly Geng Inc. and former executive director of arts training organization The Remix Project; and Keysha Freshh, a solo emcee and member of all-female hip-hop crew The Sorority. Audience members will have the chance to network with key figures in Canada’s music industry, learn how to navigate its barriers and discuss the role of gender in the Canadian music landscape.

Learn about mental wellness, stress management and how to deal with failure

This year’s Entrepreneurship Week will kick off with a keynote address and panel discussion on a critical but often overlooked topic in the world of entrepreneurship: stress management and mental wellness. The session will begin with a keynote from Lauren Brown, lead facilitator and program co-ordinator of mindfulness, meditation and yoga for �鶹��Ƶ’s Division of Student Life, that will explore how entrepreneurs can harness their intuition and tackle stress. The keynote will be followed by a moderated discussion with a panel of founders.

Themes of wellness and resilience will also be explored during “Redefining the 'F-word’ (Failure, not the other one),” a fireside chat with �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough's entrepreneur-in-residence Elina Chow and executive coach Matthew Fuller. The chat will include a candid exploration of failure in entrepreneurship.

Experience the new Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus

(photo by David Lee)

For the first time, this year’s Entrepreneurship Week will see several events hosted at �鶹��Ƶ’s new Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus.

The result of a historic $100-million donation by Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman, the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus serves as a hub for entrepreneurship, innovation and advancement in AI and related fields.

The building’s west tower will serve as the anchor location of Entrepreneurship Week 2024, hosting events including the curtain-raiser on mental wellness on March 4 and the entire slate of events on True Blue Impact Day on March 7, including the Desjardins Startup Prize and Speaker Series as well as the True Blue Expo featuring more than 40 startups, 12 campus-linked accelerators and numerous community partners.

Learn more about �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship

Seven takeaways from �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship Week 2022

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 15:46:24 +0000

Seven takeaways from �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship Week 2022

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/14/2022 - 11:46

Cutline

(photo by Jeff Beardall)

Alyson Bruce

Topic

Black Founders Network

�鶹��Ƶ

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Music

Health Innovation Hub

The University of Toronto recently hosted its sixth annual Entrepreneurship Week, a four-day showcase of the university’s vast and vibrant entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem.

Featuring over 15 sessions – startup showcases, pitch competitions, keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions and more – the event shone a bright light on the breadth and depth of the university’s entrepreneurship community.

Here are some of the top insights for current and prospective entrepreneurs from this year’s �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship Week:

Get rich quick? Not likely

In one of the standout moments of the week, sprinting legend and business leader Donovan Bailey shared his insights on the parallels between sport and business.

“I think the greatest misnomer is that you can get rich overnight. You can’t. You also can’t become an Olympic sprinter overnight. The first thing I tell entrepreneurs is the same thing I tell CEOs and young athletes: if you don’t put the work in, you’re not going to get the results.”

Hard work, passion, discipline and focus were among the characteristics that Bailey credits for his success as both an athlete and a businessperson.

In a candid fireside chat with Rita Trichur, a senior business writer for the Globe and Mail, Bailey shared his lessons in overcoming adversity – “win or learn” – and said that failing isn’t a word he likes to use.

Reinforcing the principle of community, Bailey encouraged young entrepreneurs not to be shy and to seek out successful people in their industry to provide mentorship.

“There are such incredible successful people out there who are willing to share the knowledge.”

Toronto is a hotbed for startups

�鶹��Ƶ was named the fastest-rising global institution for startup founders in the 2021 PitchBook rankings – jumping six places. And the university remains the number one university in Canada for research-based startups and is among the top 10 university-managed incubators globally.

“I like to think that the �鶹��Ƶ and the City of Toronto embody some of Donovan Bailey’s commitment to excellence and, to use a technical term, swagger,” said �鶹��Ƶ President Meric Gertler during his introduction of Bailey at the UTE Speaker Series.

In total, entrepreneurs associated with �鶹��Ƶ have launched more than 600 venture-backed companies, raised funding in surplus of $2 billion and created more than 9,000 jobs in the last decade.

“The �鶹��Ƶ is an anchor of the city’s achievement in creating an innovation ecosystem with 10-plus accelerators and entrepreneurial hubs across the �鶹��Ƶ’s three campuses,” said John Tory, Toronto’s mayor, in his opening remarks at the speaker series.

“These talented entrepreneurs are fostering meaningful economic and social impact, and this is one of the reasons why global investors are flocking to Toronto and international conferences like Collision want to be hosted by our inclusive and innovative ecosystem.”

In fact, Toronto-based and �鶹��Ƶ-affiliated startups Waabi, Ada, Deep Genomics, Xanadu and Cohere each raised over $100 million in funding from investors last year.

Lifting communities through entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is often thought of as a solo journey. But several of last week’s sessions made it clear that community, support systems and networks are the differentiating factor in the success story for many entrepreneurs.

For Jonathon Redbird, entrepreneurship is all about providing solutions that benefit your entire community – not just the bottom line.

Speaking at the session Two-Eyed Seeing in Entrepreneurship, Redbird and Christina Tachtampa of Redbird Circle Inc. focused on how Indigenous Knowledge applies to the fields of entrepreneurship and business education given the Indigenous Peoples’ long history as innovators and entrepreneurs.

Slowing down, adding value to your community and thinking about entrepreneurship in a way that considers the self, community and our connection to the spirit of the land, were some of the key takeaways from this session which provided a refreshing perspective on startup culture.

Support for Black entrepreneurs grows

Community was a topic raised throughout the week – most notably in relation to the two new programs launched to support Black entrepreneurs, the Nobellum Innovator Program and the Black Founders Network (BFN) Accelerate program.

Built by and for the Black community, BFN was launched in the fall of 2021 to support Black founders, create more Black-led business and celebrate Black Excellence.

At the UTE Speaker Series, Efosa Obano, program manager of the Black Founders Network, announced that applications are now open for the first BFN Accelerate cohort, which will accept eight to 10 Black-led startups to participate in its three-month program this summer.

Following a classic cohort-based model, BFN Accelerate will help Black-led startups from the �鶹��Ƶ community develop solutions to meet customers’ needs, launch a minimum-viable product, generate revenue, secure funding and explore value chain and distribution partnerships.

Moving the needle on gender diversity

More than half the winners of the University of Toronto Entrepreneurship (UTE) Startup Prize pitch competition that took place at Entrepreneurship Week were startups led and co-founded by women entrepreneurs.

In recent years, there’s been a perceivable shift in the startup playing field, which has historically been dominated by men. In part, this can be attributed to the greater emphasis placed on creating new opportunities for women-identifying entrepreneurs.

ICUBE at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga and the Health Innovation Hub (H2i) are two �鶹��Ƶ’s accelerators dedicating space to women-identifying entrepreneurs with inspiring speaker series such as Fireside at FemSTEM and a stage to showcase ventures at the Pitch with a Twist business competition and FemSTEM Pitch Competition, which is taking place on March 24.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Pitch with a Twist (part of Entrepreneurship Week), provides a community of strong female founders with a platform to showcase their ventures, network with top companies and win cash prizes.

For, Justine Abigail Yu, the founder of Living Hyphen – taking up space meant creating one.

During the panel discussion at Pitch with a Twist, Yu shared her motivation behind launching her startup. “In 2015, there wasn’t a lot of representation across media including the arts and literature space in Canada,” she said.

Recognizing this, she set out to create a space by and for bi-racialized writers and artists to share their stories and work by launching a magazine and podcast with a mission to “reshape the mainstream.”

In a fireside conversation hosted by H2i, Sandy Skotnicki, a �鶹��Ƶ alumna and the founding director of Bay Dermatology Centre, spoke about opportunities to innovate in the field of dermatology and reflected on her successful 20-plus year career advocating for changes to patient care and diagnosis.

Skotnicki’s advice to women entrepreneurs? “If you have something you’re strongly passionate about, think big, start bigger, don’t be afraid to do that.”

Innovation in the arts

What does entrepreneurship look like in the arts?

Similar to the approach taken by the creators of RedBird Circle, entrepreneurship in the arts is about more than generating revenue and raising venture capital.

�鶹��Ƶ artist and researcher Adrian Berry explained the approach as follows: “Recognizing a challenge and figuring out how to respond in an innovative way – but also in a thoughtful way. We try to innovate in a way in which we can improve our lives and thrive and keep making art.”

Berry and Hayley Janes took the stage at Entrepreneurship Week in a new session hosted by the Toronto Music Entrepreneurship Exchange. The research duo spoke to their individual research projects – both of which address the same challenge: precariousness in the arts sector.

“Toronto art workers and art organizations were vulnerable prior to the pandemic, during the pandemic, and after – in this post-pandemic world – due to limited resources, years of sector-wide financial precarity, societal inequalities, the list goes on and on,” Berry said.

The panel discussion was moderated by Ely Lyonblum, strategic research development officer in the Faculty of Music at �鶹��Ƶ. In addition to Berry and Janes, the session featured Faculty of Music alumni Adam Fainman and Renee Fajardo, who shared their unique perspectives on entrepreneurship and innovation in art and its role in cultural design.

Fainman, whose innovation in beatboxing technology led to new collaborative opportunities across music genres, and Fajardo, whose project aims to cater opera to a 21^st-century audience, exemplify how innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset can make an impact in the arts.

Making time for mental wellness

Mental health is health. And entrepreneurs, like everyone, can benefit from prioritizing self-care and mindfulness to cope with the stress of work and life.

Beginning with a guided meditation led by registered psychotherapist Soroosh Vafapoor, H2i hosted a stress management and mental health session to close of Entrepreneurship Week on a more relaxed note.

The session provided advice for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, featuring a panel of �鶹��Ƶ alumni that included: Harold Wodlinger, chief technology officer at ViTAA Medical; Michael Floros, founder and CEO at Cohesys; and Wendy Naimark, chief technology officer at Ripple Therapeutics.

Moderated by Professor Paul Santerre, director of H2i, the intimate session also provided professional insights on mental health best practices from Vafapoor. Entrepreneur or not, the tips offered by the panelists provided actionable tactics to mitigate stress and make time for mental health.

Wodlinger touted mastering the art of delegation to “spread the stress,” rather than carrying it all on our own.

Creating balance between work and home is also key.

“Make rules for yourself, define barriers and stick to them,” said Wodlinger.

One way to do this: add appointments to your calendar. Whether it’s penciling in time to focus on a project distraction-free or reserving a block of time for daily meditation, scheduling appointments with yourself can help you take back control of your day.

Vafapoor, meanwhile, recommends leaning toward self-compassion and kindness to cope with stress. “Be aware of what narratives arrive at your mental doorstep and challenge their authenticity and reality,” he said.

He also suggested that movement could help to decompress the mind – not necessarily “working out” but moving the body in the ways that feel good, whether that’s dancing, yoga or another form of mindful movement.

Startups focused on health, sustainability among winners at Entrepreneurship Week pitch competition

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 17:24:18 +0000

Startups focused on health, sustainability among winners at Entrepreneurship Week pitch competition

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 03/11/2022 - 12:24

Cutline

From left to right: Nabanita Nawar and Tobi Olaoye of HDAX Therapeutics, Stephanie Buryk-Iggers of SPARKED and Sofia Bonilla of HOPE Pet Food.

Rahul Kalvapalle

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

�鶹��Ƶ Mississauga

A drug discovery startup focused on brain diseases and a health-tech firm that makes a handheld device to screen for cardiovascular disease took home top prizes at the University of Toronto’s largest pitch competition of the year.

With treatments targeting brain cancers and neurodegenerative disorders at their roots, HDAX Therapeutics took home the top prize of $25,000 in the later-stage category of the UTE Startup Prize pitch competition, part of �鶹��Ƶ’s annual Entrepreneurship Week event.

The first-place prize in the early-stage category, meanwhile, went to SPARKED, whose founder was inspired to pursue solutions to prevent cardiovascular disease after she lost her father to a stroke.

The results of the competition, held virtually earlier in the week, were announced Wednesday prior to the UTE Speaker Series featuring Canadian sprinting legend, Olympic gold medallist and businessman Donovan Bailey.

“The greatest misnomer is [people] think they can get rich overnight – you cannot do that. You also can’t be the Olympic champion or the greatest sprinter on Earth overnight,” Bailey said, noting the fundamental secrets to success are the same in elite sport and in the business world.

“The first thing that I always tell entrepreneurs and CEOs is also the same thing I tell young athletes, which is that if you don’t put in the work, if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, if you’re not disciplined, if you’re not focused – you’re not going to get the results that you want.”

Sprinting legend and businessman Donovan Bailey, right, speaks with the Globe and Mail’s Rita Trichur during the UTE Speaker Series.

The pitch competition and fireside chat with Bailey were among the more than 15 virtual events – which also included startup showcases, workshops, panel discussions and more – comprising Entrepreneurship Week. Organized by �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship, the four-day celebration aims to mobilize and celebrate �鶹��Ƶ’s vibrant startup ecosystem, which includes more than 10 campus-linked accelerators.

Over the past decade, �鶹��Ƶ has produced more than 600 venture-backed startups that have created over 9,000 jobs. In 2021 alone, �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship supported more than 400 teams.

The pitch competition used rapid-fire format to guard against screen fatigue, with each entrepreneur given three minutes to deliver their pitch before taking part in a four-minute Q&A with the panel of judges that included: Janet Bannister, managing partner at Real Ventures; Lise Birikundavyi, managing partner at BKR Capital; and Mark Steedman, president and CEO at Fibrocor Therapeutics.

Nabanita Nawar, co-founder of HDAX Therapeutics and a PhD student and course instructor in the department of chemical and physical sciences at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga, impressed the judges in the late-stage category competition with her pitch outlining the startup’s novel approach to treating brain diseases.

By using a patented mechanism to target the protein HDAC6 – implicated in brain cancers and neurodegenerative disorders – HDAX Therapeutics is looking to bring a high degree of precision and efficiency to deliver a strong anti-tumor effect, which has already been observed in animal studies.

The company is led by trainees out of the lab of Professor Patrick Gunning, who has spun out several successful biotech companies.

Nabanita Nawar, bottom right, participates in the pitch competition on behalf of �鶹��Ƶ startup HDAX Therapeutics while Jon French, director of �鶹��Ƶ Entrepreneurship, top left, serves as the event’s moderator.

Second prize in the later-stage category went to blockchain startup TransCrypts, which boasts a platform that automates the process of issuing and verifying documentation for organizations.

As part of the presentation that wowed judges in the early-stage category, SPARKED founder Stephanie Buryk-Iggers, a PhD student in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, described how the death of her father following a stroke inspired her to seek out an accessible solution to screen for cardiovascular disease risk. SPARKED’s solution is an inexpensive handheld device that uses a saliva sample to screen for cardiovascular disease risk without the need for laboratory facilities or technical training.

Stephanie Buryk-Iggers, bottom right, makes her pitch to the judges on behalf of SPARKED, which makes an inexpensive handheld device to screen for cardiovascular disease risk.

The second-place prize in the early-stage category went to SnapWriteAI, which has developed a web platform that helps eCommerce businesses quickly generate product descriptions and features from images.

The virtual audience also had their say via the Dongjun Wang Family True Blue Prize People’s Choice award. The $3,000 prize went to HOPE Pet Food, which has created healthy and sustainable pet foods made from alternative protein sources such as insects. Meanwhile, Arterial Solutions, a diagnostics company that’s looking to introduce the first blood test for peripheral arterial disease, took home the $10,000 Lo Family Social Venture Fund Impact Award.

In all, the prize winners at the UTE Startup Prize Pitch Competition hailed from six different accelerators spanning all three �鶹��Ƶ campuses.

Bailey’s fireside chat, meanwhile, was titled “From the Track to the Boardroom” and was moderated by Globe and Mail business writer Rita Trichur. Bailey recounted his journey from winning the 100-metre sprint gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta to overseeing Bailey Inc., the company that manages an array of real estate and brand partnerships, and the Bailey Foundation, which supports a range of philanthropic causes.

He also talked about his approach to managing risk, his attitude towards learning from failure, barriers facing racialized entrepreneurs and his longstanding interest in real estate.

In response to a question from HDAX Therapeutics co-founder Tobi Olaoye during a Q&A session, Bailey highlighted the importance of entrepreneurs not being afraid to network and seek out mentors.

“It’s very important for you to reach out to someone who’s in the same industry you’re in, and who has the success that you’re trying to get,” Bailey said. “The internet exists, my man. At the end of the day, you can Google whomever and you can reach out to people. And if someone doesn’t have time for you, they don’t have time for you – but there’s always the second guy or second woman, or that person.

“Part of your passion in being successful is being relentless in ensuring that you’re successful – so you’re going to reach out to whoever to get there.”

�鶹��Ƶ entrepreneur to 'make the world a little more inclusive one necklace at a time'

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 17:07:01 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ entrepreneur to 'make the world a little more inclusive one necklace at a time'

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 03/11/2022 - 12:07

Cutline

Amanda Sottile, who studies issues related to disabilities, launched a jewelry business that sells necklaces with add-on magnetic clasps for people who experience challenges with fine motor skills (photo courtesy of Amanda Sottile)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Entrepreneneurship

As she pursues a career working with people with disabilities, University of Toronto student Amanda Sottile decided in the summer of 2020 to launch what she calls an “inclusive, high-quality” jewelry business.

Her company, Haven & Co., sells necklaces with add-on magnetic clasps designed for individuals who face challenges with their fine motor skills. The magnetic clasps are also sold individually and can be added to any necklace to make it more accessible.

Ten per cent from every order is donated to a charity that’s selected monthly.

“This lets them put necklaces on and off with ease,” says Sottile, who is in her third year in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education. “Haven & Co. offers inclusive, high-quality jewelry that can be used and loved by all.

“My goal is to make the world a little more inclusive one necklace at a time.”

While in high school, Sottile says she got interested in weight training and wanted to be an athletic therapist for a sports team. But her focus later shifted after she started volunteering – and eventually working – as a special education instructional assistant at CE Academy, a multidisciplinary therapeutic and education facility based on the conductive education (CE) model and philosophy for children with any condition affecting their motor (physical) development.

“I decided then that I wanted to be a physical therapist for youth and individuals with physical disabilities,” she says.

Over the past three years as a �鶹��Ƶ Kinesiology student, she has considered a number of different career paths other than physical therapy, but she is steadfast about wanting to work with youth or adults with disabilities.

As part of her research course at KPE, she is working with Associate Professor Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos and her research team to find the best strategies to foster quality participation on playgrounds for youth and children with disabilities. She is also working at the Jays Care Foundation on their inclusive programs teams, as part of the faculty’s in-field learning program.

Why did she decide to launch a jewelry business in the middle of the pandemic?

“I have always loved jewelry and accessories, but this venture allowed me to merge my love for accessories and my passion for helping individuals of all abilities by creating inclusive jewelry,” she says.

Although Sottile is the sole owner of Haven & Co., she says she would not be able to run her business without the help of her support system, including her parents, sister, friends, boyfriend and dog.

“My mom recently knit me jewelry pouches and my dad is my IT support and does all the post office runs,” she says. “My lovely sister and friends model my jewelry for all my photoshoots and are always wearing it and showing it off.”

Sottile says her boyfriend acts as a soundboard for her ideas and offers encouragement, while her puppy helps with the recycling by ripping up the cardboard boxes after they’ve been used.

“I’m so grateful for their support,” says Sottile. “It really is a family affair.”

A cut above: �鶹��Ƶ startup Fyyne makes hair services more accessible

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 22:01:50 +0000

A cut above: �鶹��Ƶ startup Fyyne makes hair services more accessible

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 03/10/2022 - 17:01

Cutline

Fyyne, a startup co-founded by two �鶹��Ƶ alumni, seeks to eliminate the difficulty in finding suitable hair services and prioritizes Black-owned businesses (photo by WestEnd61via Getty Images)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Black Founders Network

Faculty of Arts & Science

Jeffrey Fasegha and Olugbenga Olubanjo once shared a similar time-consuming frustration: finding the right barber.

The two University of Toronto alumni recall separately asking their respective friends about their experiences finding adequate hair services.

They soon learned many faced the same difficulties and began thinking about ways to help.

Jeffrey Fasegha and Olugbenga Olubanjo

“I think there is a gap between customers finding beauty artists and artists being able to communicate with new potential customers,” says Fasegha, who graduated from the Faculty of Arts & Science in 2020 with a degree from Rotman Commerce.

After initially working on their own solutions, Fasegha and Olubanjo later decided to join forces to launch Fyyne, a startup that prioritizes Black-owned businesses and seeks to eliminate the difficulty in finding suitable hair services.

The mobile-first social marketplace for beauty services helps hair artists start and scale their business, connecting them with customers. From barbers, braiders or anyone offering beauty services, professionals can register to Fyyne’s pro platform, which allows them to automate a booking process, track analytics like engagement with their profile, income and top services.

Meanwhile, customers can scroll through the app for the latest hair trends, find an artist who will best suit their needs and book an appointment in just a few clicks. They can also review an artist’s verifications, write (and read) reviews, as well as filter searches by price, distance or rating.

“We want to sit in the middle and find artists for customers and customers for artists,” says Fasegha, who was a member of University College.

Fyyne officially launched in Canada, the U.S. and U.K. in mid-February with more than 500 users registered so far. The startup is supported by an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Canada’s BKR Capital (formerly Black Innovation Capital), the first Canadian venture capital fund dedicated to supporting Black entrepreneurs in the technology industry.

Olubanjo, who graduated from �鶹��Ƶ’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in 2020, notes that even in a large, diverse city like Toronto, it can be difficult to find time with popular Black hair stylists in Toronto, which leaves customers searching elsewhere without much to go on.

“I’ve had to drive hours for a cut, but I had no idea what their work was like because they had no platform to list their reviews,” he says. “I would then wait hours, and I thought, ‘There has to be a better way to discover artists.’”

Fasegha similarly says he found it challenging to find a trusted barber when he first moved to Toronto from Calgary.

“I was literally stopping people on the street to ask them who cuts their hair,” Fasegha says. “It’s not because these people are not out there. There is no good way, yet, to connect with them.”

Finding Black hair services can be even more challenging for potential clients who live outside of major cities.

Fasegha, for example, played hockey in the Prairies and frequently moved to various small towns to pursue the sport. He says he often had little luck finding a barber to cut his hair – which is why Fyyne is making sure to feature artists in cities and smaller towns across all three countries and streamline community-based, word-of-mouth recommendations and reviews.

Fyyne’s arrival on the scene couldn’t come at a better time for the beleaguered Canadian beauty industry.

Hairdressers and other beauty services were forced to close their doors for long stretches during the pandemic, with Statistics Canada estimating that hairstylists (mostly women) were more than three times more likely to have lost their jobs in 2020 than other occupations.

By providing them with the tools to be discovered, sustain and grow their clientele, Fyyne’s co-founders say they’re essentially providing business owners with an inexpensive platform to market themselves as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed in many provinces.

“We’re amplifying talented artists who would have otherwise remained undiscovered,” Olubanjo says. “When you move to a new town as an artist, for example, you have to rebuild your customer base because you have to establish your credibility.

“Fyyne is solving that problem.”

Users can scroll through Fyyne’s app for the latest hair trends, find an artist who will best suit their needs and book an appointment with just a few clicks.

Fasegha and Olubanjo say they received considerable support through �鶹��Ƶ’s entrepreneurship community and accelerators.

Both are members of the recently launched Black Founders Network (BFN), which boasts more than 100 Black founders as members. Launched by �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough alumnus Efosa Obano, BFN was created to support Black entrepreneurs at any stage of their career through access to resources and inspiration to launch their startups.

“Having community support, especially in the early stages of starting your business, is important and this is what the BFN is trying to do as well, to scale up these interactions and support Black entrepreneurs,” Fasegha says.

Another key source of support for Fyyne was �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga’s ICUBE incubator, which employs a values-based approach to supporting and training entrepreneurs and served as a place for Fasegha and Olubanjo to test their ideas.

Both Fasegha and Olubanjo are no strangers to the business world.

Fasegha, who was named a Rhodes Scholar two years ago, started his first business at the age of 11, delivering flyers and franchising other paper routes, and later refurbished and sold yard and sports equipment. He is the founder of the Black Career Conference (BCC), which connects Black students, graduates, and entrepreneurs to industry professionals for an opportunity to connect with employers in various fields. He also co-founded Black Rotman Commerce (BRC), a student group whose mission is to support Black undergrads interested in business at the social, academic and professional levels.

“As a Rhodes Scholar, I’m interested in using entrepreneurship and innovation as a tool for economic and social development, particularly in Nigeria,” Fasegha says. “Fyyne is the application of my theory: being able to build platforms to help people commercialize their skills and make a living.”

Olubanjo, meanwhile, is the founder of Reeddi Inc., a clean energy startup company that brings affordable power to energy-poor communities. Rented for $0.50 a day, Reeddi’s rechargeable and portable batteries are powered by solar energy and used by more than 600 households monthly in Nigeria. Thanks to Reeddi, Olubanjo was one of 15 finalists of Prince William’s inaugural Earthshot Prize in 2021.

Whether working on Reeddi or Fyyne, the mission is the same for Olubanjo – he wants to lead the way to an equitable and inclusive future.

“I think it’s the only way I can make a creative future that I want for myself, and it’s the only way I can make positive change for people that I care about,” he says.

As for Fyyne, the future looks bright.

Hair services is a $125-billion global industry – a figure that represents just one quarter of the global beauty market.

No surprise then that Fasegha and Olubanjo can see the potential in extending Fyyne’s services beyond hair, noting that many customers similarly struggle to find services like makeup and eyebrows.

Says Fasegha, “At Fyyne, we are entirely focused on formalizing this informal industry of hair services, but I can also see our solution scale in a lot of different industries as well.”

‘There's no beauty without wellness:’ �鶹��Ƶ alumna's startup embraces rituals in hair care

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 15:38:32 +0000

‘There's no beauty without wellness:’ �鶹��Ƶ alumna's startup embraces rituals in hair care

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 03/10/2022 - 10:38

Cutline

Sumera Nabi, who graduated from �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough in 2008, is the creator of Glow Ritual a natural hair care company that aims to bridge health, beauty and wellness (photos courtesy of Glow Ritual)

Alexa Battler

Topic