The University of Toronto has announced the 2020 winners of the Lo Social Venture Fund, which awards students and recent graduates that are working on companies with a significant social impact.

Established in 2020 through a generous $500K donation from Kenneth and Yvonne Lo and family, the Lo Family Social Venture Fund helps U of T students and recent graduates take the most promising, solutions-based social enterprises to the next level, providing support for student-driven ventures that will positively impact the global community – particularly in Asia.

Student-founded startup Themis — which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline contract-drafting for lawyers — recently took home the top prize at the eighth-annual Hatchery Demo Day 2020, hosted by the Entrepreneurship Hatchery.

Are you a U of T researcher passionate about ensuring powerful new technologies like AI are effective, safe, ethical, and fair? Would you like to collaborate with the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s academic community and contribute to our mission to ensure powerful technologies improve life for everyone?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing many industries and the applications of AI are becoming more widespread each day. Launched via the U of T Early-Stage Technology program (UTEST), Bridge7 is a startup working to apply AI “to improve the quality, consistency, and efficiency of cancer treatments.” On August 19, Bridge7 was announced as one of nine startups selected for the inaugural cohort of Canada’s Google for Startups Accelerator. The tech giant’s Global Accelerator Program was created to foster companies that focus on local issues, helping them address their specific markets and giving them access to Google’s resources.

Startup companies from the University of Toronto are racking up impressive performances at international pitch competitions – even as the pandemic forced the high-stakes events online.

Lab closures. Skittish investors. Cancelled conferences. During the first weeks of the pandemic, founders of early-stage startups had their hands full. But the lockdown also provided a rare opportunity: a chance to reflect and reassess their business plans.

For the finalists in the Women in Cleantech Challenge this meant 16-hour days, raising seed rounds virtually, refining their product market fit, and researching potential customers.

When Efosa Obano (BBA 2018, Strategic Management) talks about solving the problems he has witnessed firsthand in Africa, you quickly begin to realize there’s no challenge too big for him to take on.

Toronto-based quantum computing startup Xanadu on Wednesday announced the release of a publicly available photonic quantum cloud platform, which it calls the Xanadu Quantum Cloud.