A PhD student who aims to protect wild fish stocks by producing food made from insects won big at the recent Illuminate program at Memorial University in St. John’s.
Jessika Lamarre, founder of Invertable, took home multiple awards at the inaugural pitch competition for women and gender-diverse students hosted by the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Invertable is developing a feed substrate for insects that will allow them to be turned into food pellets for farmed fish.
“There is a dichotomy between how important of a resource fish is to us and the way we overfish them and treat the marine environment altogether,” said Lamarre, whose field is cognitive and behaviour ecology.
“Aquaculture could be a good solution to move away from harming wild stocks, but that’s only if we stop using wild stocks as a source of food for our farmed fish.”
Invertable won the Diamond Award for overall winner as well as the Leadership Award, Social Impact Award and Community Choice Award, which was voted on by the live audience.
The venture won cash prizes totalling $7,500 as well as mentoring from women business leaders.
PureFlow, founded by mechanical engineering students Hannah Doyle and Kamsi Ifeanyichukwu, was the runner-up with the Promising Idea Award valued at $1,000, organizers said in a statement.
PureFlow aims to develop an eco-friendly, biodegradable tampon with a built-in illness-detection sensor for proactive vaginal care. The founders plan to use their winnings to develop a prototype.
Forty-nine students enrolled in the Illuminate program with 17 students across 15 teams opting to enter the competitive stream.
The other finalists were:
* Borrowit: a platform that connects owners of household items with people in need in an effort to contribute to environmentally and financially sustainable communities (founders: Maryam Mofrad, Roxana Popescu and Klára Šteflová, all master of science in management students at the Faculty of Business Administration);
* Simply Wedding: advocates for zero-waste weddings by promoting a circular economy within the bridal community (founders: Ka Yan (Nancy) Leung, master of business administration student, and Sinney Cheuk); and
* UrHome: addresses the housing crisis with an app that connects landlords and tenants, streamlining rental processes and payments (founders: Ms. Doyle and Ms. Ifeanyichukwu).
Deanne McCarthy, CEO of Swiftsure, will provide mentoring as part of the Diamond Award. Constanza Safatle, CEO of Newbornlander, will provide mentoring as part of the Social Impact Award while Jennifer Bessell, CEO, of the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs, will provide mentoring as part of the Leadership Award.
