$100,000 awarded in student startup competition

March 24, 2017

On March 23, The Forge held it’s third annual Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition. The event was attended by over 200 guests including students and individuals interested in the Hamilton entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Ten McMaster University entrepreneurs were finalists in the competition. Their startup ideas ranged from a website overlay startup that optimizes websites to a new and improved eye drop that helps keep active ingredients in your eye for more effective treatment.

The big winner of the night, 20/20 OptimEyes, took home $30,000 to further accelerate their biotechnology startup. The company is developing a transformative improved eye drop for ocular diseases. The drug delivery platform, targeted initially for dry eye disease, allows patients to put in drops painlessly and less frequently, thus improving patient compliance and increasing clinical outcomes to improve their vision.

Three winners each won $20,000 in cash and there were also in-kind prizes awarded from sponsors.

The audience was asked to vote for their favourite startup. Entrepreneur Rotimi Fadiya, on behalf of The sKan, was awarded the $5,000 People’s Choice prize.

The panel of judges decided the winners and provided the Top 10 Finalists with feedback.

This year’s judges were: Dan Sinai, Senior Executive, Innovation Ecosystems, IBM; Lynn McNeil, COO, ChipCare; Marc Gibson, Operations Manager, JLABS; and Stuart Wheldon, Technology Investor and Entrepreneur.

This year’s winners are:

Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition Award $20,000: Sarosha Imtiaz, Aiva Labs
Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition Award $20,000: Anthony Gatti, NeuralSeg
Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition Award $20,000: Alex Ianovski, CataList
People’s Choice Award $5,000: Rotimi Fadiya, The sKan
Emerging Leader Award $5,000: Rotimi Fadiya, The sKan
The Faculty of Engineering Award $20,000: Frances Lasowski, 20/20 OptimEyes
The Faculty of Engineering Innovation Award $10,000: Frances Lasowski, 20/20 OptimEyes

Forge@MAC was sponsored by the McMaster University Faculty of Engineering, Nix Sensor Ltd., Fresh 95.3, Clausehound, School Digital. We were also supported by our partners McMaster University, Innovation Factory, W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Bruha.

The Forge is McMaster University’s on-campus entrepreneurship initiative and Hamilton’s startup incubator.

Republish this Article for Free

Republish this Article

We believe in the free flow of information. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivs 2.5 Canada (CC BY-ND 2.5 CA), so you can republish our articles for free, online or in print.

All republished articles must be attributed in the following way and contain links to both the site and original article: “This article was first published on Brighter World. Read the original article.”

<div>On March 23, <a href="https://theforge.mcmaster.ca">The Forge</a> held it's third annual Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition. The event was attended by over 200 guests including students and individuals interested in the Hamilton entrepreneurial ecosystem.</div>
<div></div>
<div><a href="https://theforge.mcmaster.ca/2017/03/10/announcing-forgemac-student-startup-competition-2017-finalists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ten McMaster University entrepreneurs were finalists in the competition</a>. Their startup ideas ranged from a website overlay startup that optimizes websites to a new and improved eye drop that helps keep active ingredients in your eye for more effective treatment.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The big winner of the night, <a href="https://theforge.mcmaster.ca/company/2020-optimeyes/">20/20 OptimEyes</a>, took home $30,000 to further accelerate their biotechnology startup. The company is developing a transformative improved eye drop for ocular diseases. The drug delivery platform, targeted initially for dry eye disease, allows patients to put in drops painlessly and less frequently, thus improving patient compliance and increasing clinical outcomes to improve their vision.</div>
<div>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Three winners each won $20,000 in cash and there were also in-kind prizes awarded from sponsors.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">The audience was asked to vote for their favourite startup. Entrepreneur Rotimi Fadiya, on behalf of The sKan, was awarded the $5,000 People’s Choice prize. </span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">The panel of judges decided the winners and provided the Top 10 Finalists with feedback. </span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">This year’s judges were: </span>Dan Sinai, Senior Executive, Innovation Ecosystems, <a href="https://www.ibm.com/ca-en/">IBM</a>; Lynn McNeil, COO, <a href="http://www.chipcare.ca/our-team/">ChipCare</a>; Marc Gibson, Operations Manager, <a href="http://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/about-us/team/marc-gibson">JLABS</a>; and Stuart Wheldon, <a href="https://hamiltonartscouncil.ca/people/stuart-wheldon">Technology Investor and Entrepreneur</a>.</p>

</div>
<div>This year's winners are:</div>
<div>
<ul>
 	<li>Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition Award $20,000: Sarosha Imtiaz, Aiva Labs</li>
 	<li>Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition Award $20,000: Anthony Gatti, NeuralSeg</li>
 	<li>Forge@MAC Student Startup Competition Award $20,000: Alex Ianovski, CataList</li>
 	<li>People's Choice Award $5,000: Rotimi Fadiya, The sKan</li>
 	<li>Emerging Leader Award $5,000: Rotimi Fadiya, The sKan</li>
 	<li>The Faculty of Engineering Award $20,000: Frances Lasowski, 20/20 OptimEyes</li>
 	<li>The Faculty of Engineering Innovation Award $10,000: Frances Lasowski, 20/20 OptimEyes</li>
</ul>
<div></div>
<div>

Forge@MAC was sponsored by the McMaster University Faculty of Engineering, Nix Sensor Ltd., Fresh 95.3, Clausehound, School Digital. We were also supported by our partners McMaster University, Innovation Factory, W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Bruha.
<div>The Forge is McMaster University’s on-campus entrepreneurship initiative and Hamilton’s startup incubator.</div>
</div>
</div>

Media Enquiries

Phone: (905) 525-9140 ext. 24073
Email: comms@mcmaster.ca

The Communications and Public Affairs Office is staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The University has a broadcast quality television studio to facilitate live and pre-recorded interviews with media. Learn more about our experts.

$100,000 awarded in student startup competition

Related Stories

CHANNELS

$100,000 awarded in student startup competition

Republish this Article

Media Enquiries

Related Stories

Gordon Guyatt awarded Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research

McMaster awarded $300,000 to boost innovation and commercialization

CHANNELS