Nexus Robotics of Nova Scotia and Vertiball of University of New Brunswick were the two big winners at the Apex Business Plan Competition in Fredericton last week.

Eighteen teams from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario competed in either the undergraduate or graduate track at the three-day event, hosted by UNB’s International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre. The winners took home a total of more than $19,000.

Nexus Robotics won the $5,000 first prize in the Grad Track, while Vertiball won the same amount in the Undergrad Track.

With a team from Dalhousie and St. Francis Xavier Universities, Nexus Robotics is an AgTech company that is developing an autonomous weeding robot. It will be able to remove weeds on a farm without the supervision of a farmer. The company, which previously won $25,000 in Innovacorp’s Spark Competition, has secured a proof of concept and is now developing a working prototype.

Vertiball is producing a line of muscle-relief products that take a different approach to easing pain. The patent-pending design uses an ergonomic suction cup so the device can be placed on a wall at specific heights to easily target knotted muscles. Users have the ability to apply as much pressure as they feel necessary for comfort.

The other major winner in the competition was Eggcitables, which is producing a vegan egg alternative that can make egg-based meals like omelets, scrambles or quiches. The main ingredient, chickpea flour, provides comparable protein to a real egg with less fat and zero cholesterol. Eggcitables, a St. FX venture that won the 100 Entrepreneurs Planting Seed$ competition in Halifax this month, won a total of $4,000 with three different prizes at Apex.

Here is a list of the winners:

Apex 2018 Grad Track Winners:

Nexus Robotics       $5,000.00

Pi Security                 $2,000.00

Person Centred Universe      $1,000.00

Apex 2018 Undergrad Track Winners:

Vertiball                     $5,000.00

Eggcitables               $2,000.00

Potential Motors    $1,000.00

Best Elevator Pitch                 

Eggcitables               $1,000.00

Viewer's Choice    

Eggcitables               $1,000.00
Vertiball                     $1,000.00

Activator Grad Track              

Nexus Robotics       $500.00