A trio of student teams from the University of New Brunswick’s Master of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship or MTME, program pitched their startup ideas Friday.
The pitches were part of MTME: NEXT, their degree’s concluding demo day. The top team, Ounje Bazaar, won a $1,000 cash prize.
The Fredericton university’s MTME program, managed under the umbrella of its J. Herbert Smith Centre, offers students specialized training in how to commercialize technological innovation. Dhirendra Shukla, chair of the J. Herbert Smith Centre said students were encouraged to rally around a small group of companies this year, consolidating their efforts and resources instead of spreading them across many smaller businesses.
“Thank you to all the students,” said Shukla during the event. “Congratulations. I know it’s never, never easy to stand up here and present. And you’ve been doing it, and doing it, and gradually getting better and better. That was a phenomenal presentation.”
Ounje Bazaar is founded by students Prerna Sharman Dabral, Damilare Onawoga, Anthony Onyewadume and Omotayo Odediran and plans to offer a grocery delivery service specifically for ethnic food from areas such as the Caribbean, Kenya and India. The team is looking to raise $650,000 for product development, marketing and to hire staff.
Their website will also feature a database of recipes to offer users ideas about how to prepare their newly purchased ethnic groceries.
The two runner-up companies were BendV and Praktical.
BendV plans to create a platform that will offer users access to pre-recorded yoga classes. Yoga aficionados will be able to film themselves practicing and then receive real-time feedback on their technique from an artificial intelligence system. The company is founded by students Farnaz Emadi, Oluwakanyinsola Olajide, Avery Lough and Susmita Holder.
And Praktical describes itself as “CARFAX for real estate,” using third-party inspectors and contractors to assess the condition of a house and estimate any repair costs. Sellers will enrol in the program and have the inspections completed before listing their house, and prospective buyers will then be able to purchase the report for $15.