The Desjardins Startup Prize is University of Toronto Entrepreneurship’s annual business pitch competition, awarding $100K in prizes to recognize, reward, and accelerate the University of Toronto’s most innovative startups.

The competition will take place as part of True Blue Impact Day on March 9th, in the culmination of U of T Entrepreneurship Week. Audience members are invited to watch virtually or attend in person at the MaRS Discovery District.

Click here to learn more about the Desjardins Startup Prize, including eligibility and prize categories.

Finalists

Anutio

Co-founded by Ehi Agbonlahor

Anutio is a 24/7 AI-powered personalized career advisor app that empowers students and professionals with personalized data to create fulfilling career paths through discovery of their natural strengths, interests, and priorities aligned to emerging lucrative career pathways for the future of work

The BRIDGE / Black Founders Network / The Hub

AI/Machine | Learning Education | Social Impact

Laetech

Co-founded by Brian Webb and Yizhou Chen

Laetech is developing novel reconstructive and cosmetic solutions by harnessing the healing power of a patient’s own cells, with the goal of decreasing pain and discomfort while increasing the scope of care surgeons can provide to their patients.

H2i

Health & Life Sciences

SilicoLabs

Co-founded by Kyla Alsbury-Nealy, Benjamin Alsbury-Nealy & Chirag Chopra

SilicoLabs has developed a no-code software platform that empowers users to create 2D and 3D interactive experiences and real-world simulations to train, test and assess human and AI behaviour. These experiences can be delivered on desktop, mobile, VR and AR devices, and integrates data from biosensors (ex. EEG, heart rate, spO2, etc.).

H2i / UTEST

Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality | AI & Machine Learning

Specifix Dx

Co-founded by Jessica Jenkins, Siobhan Wilson, and Jaspreet Randhawa

Specifix Dx aspires to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and decrease mortality due to antibiotic resistance. This will be achieved through the creation of UroStix, a rapid urinary tract infection (UTI) detection test that can reduce false positive UTI indications by at least 70%.

h2i

Health & Life Sciences

Tuuli

Co-founded by Hudson Yuen & Vit Vimal

Tuuli is the first integrated platform for building material data discovery and management. We cut the time it takes to select sustainable materials by 80%, empowering real estate developers, architects, and governments to fuel the green building market of the future.

The Hatchery

Construction & Infrastructure | Cleantech & Sustainability

Acrylic Robotics

Co-founded by Kyle Suri

Acrylic Robotics is using robotics and AI to bring scalability to the art world, capturing artists’ brushstrokes while they paint and reproducing each stroke with robotic arms using real paint on canvas, allowing artists to sell more editions per design. 

Arts, Entertainment & Media | AI/Machine Learning  

Deaf AI

Co-founded by Azadeh Bojmehrani

Training machines with artificial intelligence to do sign language to improve the experience of communicating with those who are deaf or have hearing impairments. “Our mission is to serve deaf people to have better experiences in public life through AI-based solutions.”

UTEST

AI/Machine Learning  |  Social Impact

Inwit

Inwit is Toronto’s first Zero Waste Takeout Ordering Platform. It is an innovative solution to single-use waste. A marketplace that encompasses a reusable container borrowing system, rewards system, and a food ordering platform, all tracked by NFC technology.

ICUBE

Social Impact | Cleantech & Sustainability

Pahk Solutions

Co-founded by Tina Saberi & Foad Arvani

Pahk Solutions provides a tech platform to communities enabling them to reduce their aggregate carbon footprint by managing the personal footprint of individuals. Pahk differentiates itself by making the process easy and engaging for users through automatic carbon monitoring and a gamified user experience.

The Hatchery

Cleantech & Sustainability

Shiphrah Biomedical Inc.

Co-founded by Allen Kember & Salim Kandedi

For all pregnancies that have never been evaluated for sleep apnea, we’re developing a user-friendly, web-based, AI-powered platform that enables contactless and accurate sleep testing at home for streamlining sleep apnea screening, diagnosis, and treatment during pregnancy.

H2i

AI/Machine Learning | Health & Life Sciences

Judges

Mehdi Bakhty 

Managing Director Tech & Innovation Team, Desjardins

Eva Lau 

Founder & General Partner, Two Small Fish Ventures

Mike Murchison 

Co-founder & CEO, Ada