Five companies on Tuesday graduated from The Summer Institute program at University of New Brunswick during the program's annual Demo Day.
The Summer Institute teaches sales, marketing, and customer validation skills to companies with positive social and environmental impacts. The graduating companies, all Atlantic Canadian, were the 10th cohort to complete the program which began in 2014 and has since graduated 60 ventures.
The graduating companies are:
Fredericton
Maxime Noël, Brandon Saulnier, Majd Awabdeh
A modular vertical farming solution to food scarcity, the company uses technology to implement an almost fully automated community greenhouse that allows for the growth of a variety of crops. Its system operates off of individual growing racks consisting of two growing trays, contained within a climate-controlled greenhouse.
The greenhouses can grow $20,000 of crops a year, the equivalent of feeding ten families of four. It’s intended the $65,000 greenhouses will be bought by clients such as food banks to help communities.
Co-founder and COO Max Noel said one in six Canadians suffer food insecurity and in New Brunswick, the ratio is one-to-five. The company is looking for a $300,000 investment.
Renata Souza
Weaver, NB
Renata Souza Personalized Wellness and Lifestyle Solutions
Souza is growing the business to include wellness-related physical products via an online shop, as well as a wellness retreat program in New Brunswick.
Softland Supporting Students
Antigonish, NS
Anamika Saxena, Amanjyot Singh
An online platform for international students and universities that provides unbiased guidance and real-time connections. Through one-to-one virtual meetings with qualified mentors, international students can learn more about different aspects of the day-to-day life in a country they are planning on moving to.
Founder and CEO Anamika Saxena said the site will initially focus on Atlantic Canada, which receives 65,000 international students annually. The company is seeking $500,000 to build its team, conduct research, conduct customer acquisition and marketing.
Clean Cuts
Fredericton, NB
Nathaniel Robinson-Dyck, Isaac Louis Richard, Reis Van Beek
A food-safe antimicrobial material used to create intrinsically hygienic culinary products. The material, made from natural additives and copper nanoparticles, is durable, low-cost, water-resistant, and it prevents bacterial growth on its surface, including any cuts or grooves, preventing the growth of mold and the development of odours caused by unwanted bacteria. CMO Nate Robinson-Dyck said the venture aims to address food-borne illness, a major world health issue.
Fredericton
Dhruv Hiten Patel
Semi-autonomous mobile robots for warehouses. The company aims to solve labour-intensive and physically demanding challenges by using semi-autonomous robots such as AMR, Industrial Robots and Service Robots.
CEO and Founder Dhruv Patel said the venture is raising $3million to work towards launching the robot in 2025.
