Viridis, a St. John’s-based startup developing solar panel kits to power the auxiliary functions of freight trucks, has won first place at Newfoundland and Labrador startup hub Genesis’s Pitch Showcase for companies from its Evolution accelerator.
Held during an intellectual property workshop Tuesday, the pitch event saw founders speak for four minutes each, followed by two minutes of feedback from the judges.
Genesis, which is attached to Memorial University, bills Evolution as a “pre-incubator” course meant to prepare young companies for longer programs, such as its own three-year Enterprise incubator. Evolution promises to help entrepreneurs clarify their businesses’ value propositions, find product-market fit and build relationships with mentors.
One of the events' sponsors was Springboard Atlantic, a regional innovation support organization currently backing a raft of intellectual property educational sessions at East Coast startup hubs under its federally funded Atlantic IP Advantage initiative.
Viridis itself, meanwhile, was co-founded by Memorial students Jake Head and Kyle Shal. The duo estimate that their Solaris system for powering trucks’ auxiliary electronic functions with solar energy, rather than off conventional diesel generators or heavy batteries, could save logistics operators as much as $7,000 per vehicle every year.
Digital entrepreneur Girish Verma, meanwhile, won the Top Student award for his company, uniconn, which is a platform for post-secondary students to organize club and society events, including selling tickets and tracking their groups’ reach on social media.
And systems engineering masters student Priya Sakthi won the inclusion-focused Belonging Award for her company, Greenthumb Energy. She plans to sell wind turbines for residential use that will spin around a vertical, rather than horizontal axis, offering a more compact package. She also intends to offer installation and financing services.
Here’s a look at the other companies that presented:
Soma
Soma is a tool for mental health professionals to monitor clients' wellness in real time via neurological and biometric feedback.
NodeWorks is an artificial intelligence-based task scheduling system that optimizes employees' work schedules in real time.
LC Advanced Materials
LC is applying advances in materials sciences to acoustic device manufacturing.
Clear Carbon Solutions
Clear Carbon lets businesses calculate their greenhouse gas emissions via a user-friendly web platform.
Mallax Automatic Inspection Tool
Mallax is a mobile app that aims to streamline e-commerce returns via artificial intelligence, reducing the need for customers to physically return items.
