Three companies from Waterloo Region have been nominated for the 2016 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ontario awards.

The global accountancy consultancy announced the nominees for the competitions across the country on Wednesday, including 50 nominees from Ontario.

"Entrepreneurs have big ideas and take risks as they innovate, create jobs, generate wealth and invest in communities across the country," says François Tellier, Entrepreneur Of The Year national program director. "Ontario has so many impressive and successful entrepreneurs, and I know it wasn't an easy task for the independent panel of judges to narrow down from 165 nominees to 50 finalists."

An independent panel of judges will name winners in a number of diverse categories, and one of the category winners as the overall Ontario winner. That winner will then compete with winners from Québec, Atlantic, Prairies and Pacific for the Canadian Entrepreneur Of The Year title. The Canadian winner will go on to compete with winners from more than 50 countries for the title of EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year, in June 2017.

The nominees from Kitchener-Waterloo are:

Sustainable Products & Services

Carinne Chambers

Diva International Inc. | Kitchener

Designs and manufactures The DivaCup, a renowned healthy, sustainable feminine hygiene product.

Technology

Dave Kroetsch

Aeryon Labs Inc. | Waterloo

A technology and industry leader in the design and production of small Unmanned Aerial Systems.

Kurtis McBride

Miovision Technologies Inc. | Kitchener

A technology company that empowers transportation professionals in 50 countries, through data and infrastructure, to improve the transportation experience for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.