Axem, a wearable technology that allows athletes to track their brain activity to enhance performance, has captured the $3,000 first prize at the latest Demo Day of the Collide Program at Dalhousie University.
Founded by Tony Ingram and Chris Friesen, Axem has already received initial commitments for tests from professional and elite sports teams, including the New England Patriots, Winnipeg Jets, the Canadian Women’s Olympic Soccer Team, and the Anaheim Ducks.
Dalhousie University’s Collide program wrapped up its fall cohort Monday night with the Starting Lean Showcase. A total of 11 teams presented their companies at the Demo Day last week and the showcase on Monday night.
The second-place prize of $2,000 went to the Canadian Ski and Snowboard Club – a social community run by Avery Birch. Samuel Levac-Levey’s Aria, a platform aiming to gamify the professional counseling process to help professional counselors measure client progress, captured the third-place award of $1,000.
“Collide applicants were very pleased with their experience in the program, as it gave them more than the chance to win prize money: it gave them education, confidence, connections and experience,” said the program in a press release.
Organized by professors Mary Kilfoil and Ed Leach, the Collide program is the portion of the university’s curriculum that teaches lean entrepreneurship to students and members of the community. The program is open to students, researchers, and others, and is free of charge.
The organizers stressed that Collide offered these participants the opportunity to meet and listen to various alumni and experts. The Collide alumni included Cam McDonald, Co-Owner of Iconic Brewing, and Chris Cowper-Smith, CEO of Spring Loaded Technologies, while the other speakers featured Don Sedgwick, of University of Kings College and Brian Lowe, a Co-Founder of First Angel Network .
The organizers are now planning the winter program which is set to launch in January.