Source: Cooperathon.
Innovators from across Canada converged on L’Olympia de Montréal on November 20, 2019 to celebrate the winners of the Cooperathon open innovation competition, sponsored by Desjardins.
As the world’s largest competition of its kind, the fourth annual instalment featured 18 winners from across the country, whose social innovation initiatives aimed to solve challenges related to the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for agriculture, education, energy, the environment, finance, and healthcare. Over the course of the past three months, teams from across the country composed of design thinkers, entrepreneurs, and subject-matter experts, were formed to compete for $100,000 in prizes.
This year’s grand prize was awarded to PLAKK, an AI platform developed by McGill University researchers to help physicians to predict the possibility of a heart attack or stroke as a result of arterial plaque. Co-founders Kashif Khan and Karina Gasbarrino, both PhDs in McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine, secured $65,000 in seed funding along with mentoring to grow their start-up.
Source: Cooperathon.
Prior to the grand final event, regional finalists from across Ontario came together on November 3rd at the Toronto Reference Library to pitch their ideas in the provincial semi-finals. Participants; facilitators; and mentors, including Venture Catalyst, LLC Founder and Principal, Adaora Ogbue; witnessed as the judges promoted Indaggo and SmartTrax to the national finals.
Indaggo, founded by Melanie Ratman, is an AI-driven marketplace which makes it easier for scientists and researchers to procure laboratory equipment and materials. Meanwhile, SmartTrax, led by Diana de la Cruz, is an organic waste management start-up which optimises waste pick-up and repurposes organic waste for re-use as biogas.
In addition to both teams securing a place to compete for the grand prize in Montreal, SmartTrax went on to win Cooperathon’s Ontario Regional Grant. The prize included $2,000 in pre-seed funding from Cooperathon, three hours of mentorship from NextCanada, and a three-month hot-desk membership at WorkHaus.
With the close of this year’s competition, Cooperathon’s Canadian edition now counts over 2,800 participants and more than 300 mentors and volunteers since its inception in 2015. Cooperathon events are also held internationally in Belgium, Chile, and France, bringing together socially-minded communities, entrepreneurs, researchers, academics, and institutional stakeholders to solve the world’s greatest social challenges.
For more information about the competition and a full list of the 2019 winners, please visit the Cooperathon website.