Dalhousie University has issued the following press release:

Canada’s Business Model Competition to host student entrepreneurs from universities across Canada

Halifax - Dalhousie University’s Rowe School of Business is excited to be hosting Canada’s Business Model Competition on March 13 and 14. Thirty teams of student entrepreneurs from more than twenty universities across Canada will compete for $50,000 in prizes presented by Deloitte.  The final competition will take place on Saturday March 14 at 2 pm in the Kenneth C. Rowe Building and is to the public.

Canada’s Business Model Competition is the national qualifier for the International Business Model Competition and is organized by the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship at Dalhousie University. At the two-day competition teams will showcase their start-ups and their use of Steve Blank’s business model canvas. According to Dr. Ed Leach, director of the Norman Newman Centre, “The business model canvas is a powerful learning tool for companies to test their start-ups in the real world against actual customers. This tool is being used by entrepreneurs from coast to coast including the CBMC qualifying teams and we are excited to be bringing them here to Dalhousie University.” The team best able to use this tool will win $25,000 in cash and in-kind services and will advance to the International Business Model Competition being held at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, in early May.

Brian Black, a senior manager at Deloitte, asserted “It is imperative that the private sector support student entrepreneurship and innovation in order to allow the Canadian economy to grow and compete on the world stage.” In keeping with this philosophy, Deloitte presents the $50,000 Deloitte Smart Launch Award to the business model competition each year. Last year, first place was awarded to Teknically from Wilfrid Laurier University, second place to Sparkgig from the University of Waterloo and third place went to Santé West from the University of British Columbia.

•             Teknically from University of Wilfrid Laurier: Teknically builds software as a service solution that solves problems for small businesses.

•             Sparkgig from the University of Waterloo: Sparkgig is an online marketplace that connects performers to event opportunities or gigs. 

•             Santé West from the University of British Columbia: Santé West has developed a knee brace that uses partial load bearing technology to reduce injury recovery time.

With the help of partners like Deloitte, McInnes Copper and ACOA, the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship and Dalhousie University are hosting more student startups, providing more learning and having a bigger impact on the Canadian university start-up ecosystem than ever before.