The Velocity Fund on Thursday awarded $125,000 to seven startups based at the University of Waterloo to help them with their product development.

The Velocity Fund Finals are held three times a year to find and reward the best young companies coming out of the university. The Velocity Fund hands out about $400,000 a year to help develop startups affiliated with the university.

The 16th Velocity Fund Finals were held Thursday, allowing a range of startups three minutes each to pitch to a panel of judges. The winners in the more advanced division receive $25,000 in development funds and are welcomed into the Velocity Garage startup incubator.

The four winners were:

- CubeXLab Technologies, which provides automated vision inspection solutions that are highly affordable, flexible and easy-to-use for part and component manufacturers in automotive, fastener, plastic injection and pharmaceutical industries.
- Knote, which offers a natural language processing platform to help companies leverage the power of artificial intelligence in documents and big data processing. Its tools enable companies to support employees by automating routine, time consuming work, and by improving efficiency.
- Salient Energy, which is commercializing a revolutionary new battery based on research at the University of Waterloo. Its zinc-ion battery is perfectly suited, both technically and economically, for storing electricity in the grid.
- UpGrain, which uses low frequency electro-magnetic field stimulation of seeds to increase overall yield of various crops by 20 percent. The company uses advanced mathematical algorithms to calculate the most suitable time to maximize treatment effects on seeds.

Salient Energy was also the top hardware or science company, which means it took home an additional $10,000.

The early-stage companies that won $5,000 each were Gymnatik, The Playful Pixel, and MycoCup, which was voted in as the People’s Choice award winner.