A student engagement platform designed to help address student loneliness within universities has won the recent Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre’s second annual Innovation Cup at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.

The platform, called Sociable, helps students connect with each other, get peer support, and gain access to campus events, contest organizers said in a press release. A feature of the platform is Pre-Connect, which allows students to join group chats before an event. The platform limits the range of connections to students within the same school, promoting meaningful interactions and relationships, the group said.

“The vision with Sociable is to be the platform that ends student loneliness,” said Olivian Sanderson, one of the three Sociable founders.

“We want to be in every school to give as many students as possible the accessible opportunity to meet people that they mesh well with. In a digital world, it’s so important to ensure we are still fostering those in-person relationships…”

The founding team, which includes Jason Phonchareon and Stuti Sandhu, will put the $10,000 prize money towards completing their user experience design, as well as legal fees, marketing, and cloud storage. 

This is the second year for the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre Innovation Cup; a 10-week experiential learning program for Saint Mary’s students. Each team is made up of three students from across the three faculties of Arts, Commerce and Science.

“During the 10 weeks of the program, students have weekly training sessions and workshops, connect with industry experts to increase their business understanding, skills and network,” said Michael Sanderson, Director, Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre. “All while turning their startup idea into tangible ventures…”

The other two finalists this year were Alaagi, a startup focused on creating biodegradable bioplastics from seaweed, and Bean, a food assistant that helps plan meals, track ingredients, and reduce waste. 

The judges for this year’s competition were: Katerina Msafari, Founder Success Lead at Tribe Network and COO of Adrigo Insights; Mike Rothenburg, Economic Development Officer at ACOA; Bethany Deshpande, who has founded and exited SomaDetect and is currently supporting innovative companies and leaders through strategic guidance and coaching. 

In the last five years, the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre has engaged more than 4,000 students and 3,000 businesses in entrepreneurial support and promotional activities, the group said.