Bloxo and Clean Catch Baits, a pair of enterprises that grew out of Saint Mary’s University, captured two of the top spots at the Apex Business Plan Competition in Fredericton last week.

The two-day competition hosted by the University of New Brunswick’s International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre had 41 entries from across the country this year. Last year, there were 18 entries from Eastern Canada.

Bloxo, which won $5,000 for top place in the undergraduate stream, has developed an app that allows sports facility managers to post open time slots. Players and organizers can book those slots and bring in other players, who can join and pay for a game.

“Most of the money [from Apex]will go towards our official launch of Bloxo that will take place in Wednesday March 4 at Volta,” said Bloxo CEO Mubdu Alali in an email. “We will be inviting stakeholders in the sports and activities industry in the region and will make a live demo of Bloxo at the event.”

Clean Catch Baits, which was second in the undergrad stream and won third place in the Elevator Pitch competition, is developing sustainable fishing lures as an alternative to single-use plastic gear.

The 2020 Apex winners are:

Grad Track

1st Place: FlutterLet (University of British Columbia)

2nd Place: P4Pizza (University of Waterloo)

3rd Place: Nufuuds (McGill University)

Undergrad Track

1st Place: Bloxo (Saint Mary’s University)

2nd Place: Clean Catch Baits (Saint Mary’s University)

3rd Place: StoneOyster BioTechnologies (University of British Columbia)

Entrepreneurial Powerhouse

University of British Columbia: StoneOyster Biotechnologies and FlutterLet

Best Elevator Pitch

1st Place: Nufuuds (McGill University)

2nd Place: GreenSource (University of New Brunswick)

3rd Place: Clean Catch Baits

Planet Hatch Start-Up Visa Award

WelcomeU (University of New Brunswick)

Viewer's Choice Elevator Pitch:

GreenSource