Dare to Dream Recipients
2022 Recipients
Active Learning - Leila Seyidova
For the child who needs to be prepared for the 21st century, Kids Escape is a mobile and virtual educational escape room that prepares your child for the future through collaboration, ideation, leadership, empathy, and innovation at school and home.
Carbon Trace - Lisa Anchalia
Our AI-focused SaaS solution helps businesses optimize carbon emissions and makes computing and forecasting their carbon footprint effortless. Our advanced NLP-based algorithm is trained to automatically pick and drop relevant fields from the customer's ERP/CRM to the appropriate missions category.
Pulse Financial - Nick Ponari
An AI CFO companion for your business to help you make the best decisions for your business while teaching you corporate finance and cash management.
Good Weather - Malaika Thompson
Providing the best sneakers and clothing for the best price can connect many people based on their love of urban street culture; our store embodies many aspects of the sneakerhead streetwear culture. We are the only black-owned sneaker and streetwear boutique in Toronto.
SnapSmile - Kartik Balasundaram
An app that helps dentists stay engaged with their patients' oral care journey, which is critical in maintaining a relationship. We do all the work for the dentist by delivering personalized content, helping their patients easily schedule appointments, and viewing all their oral health records.
2021 Recipients
EcoPod - Nikola Cugalj
EcoPod is a four-season backyard studio that can be used for work or leisure. The company currently offers three customizable models that can be used for home office, additional living room, art studio, wine room and more.
Pally - Jay Lee
Pally is a B2B SaaS tool that helps small businesses get their products into large retail chains. Users pay a monthly fee to create a profile and upload product information. They can then select which retail chains they want to work with and apply to get their products into retail stores using the software.
Majoun - Manal Khader
Majoun is a premium edibles brand based on the origins of cannabis confections which date back over one thousand years to the ancient Islamic World. The brand incorporates all natural ingredients and flavours based on authentic recipes.
Fixvi - EMBA Students
Fixvi is a SaaS platform that modernizes the relationship between homeowners and contractors for home repairs and renovations, stewarding the transition of the home service sector into the digital economy.
2020 Recipients
Grace & Nelly - Ruvimbo Chimutsa
Grace and Nelly provides access to affordable, sustainable menstrual products for women and girls in rural communities in Zimbabwe and worldwide. Over 500 million menstruators do not have access to menstrual products worldwide. As a result, 5% of girls in Zimbabwe drop out of school due to having their period. Grace & Nelly’s reusable sanitary pads offer an affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly menstrual product that will also generate employment in rural communities in Zimbabwe.
HOPE Pet Food - Kasey Dunn
Pet parents are awakening to all the health, environmental and animal welfare issues associated with the meat ingredients in traditional pet food. Pet parents are looking to reduce their own meat consumption but currently lack safe alternatives for their pets. HOPE is the future of pet food. We create the kindest, most nutritious and sustainable pet food with our patent-pending formula.
Footy Five - Jovan Novakovic
Footy Five offers competitive youth soccer clubs, academies and organizations that want to increase technical/tactical player training time outside the collective team setting while avoiding astronomical field rental expenses. Footy Five has developed a user-friendly, digital platform and application for players to pursue individual/small group training outside of collective team training sessions.
SHINE - Jessica Takimoto
SHINE Strength & Confidence is a digital group fitness company on a mission to close the confidence gap. Through our proprietary, choreographed, and exercise-science-based total body workout program, we offer live stream fitness classes that are fun, challenging and inclusive for all fitness levels.
2019 Recipients
MedaKi - Sundar Manku
At MedaKi, our focus is on increasing accessibility to health care products and providers, specifically pharmaceuticals. We are heading towards a future where all pharmacy services and products will be delivered through an application on your mobile device or desktop. With our solution, we will allow users to connect with their local pharmacy directly!
TrakTab - Matthew Mastromarco & Vinson Lee
TrakTab looks and operates like a traditional pillbox but has increased functionality through the use of IoT technology. Each compartment features an invisible sensor that detects when the pill has been removed so that the adherence information can be logged. This information is securely sent to our web platform using 3G technology on the network, where statistics and graphics are generated to be viewed, enabling the family and healthcare professionals to ensure that the user is adhering to their prescriptions. Automated reminders can then be initiated through phone calls or LED displays.
Indie Tech - Sophia Stone
An AI-driven SaaS consulting management system that automates the engagement process to save both time and money. Right at the start, our innovative consultant marketplace ensures the ability to find the consultant you need within your budget, saving time and money. All interview scheduling, contracts, and background checks are automated, speeding up the selection and onboarding process — reducing any administrative delays. Managing deliverables and milestones in a single location shift the focus to execution by keeping consulting firms, independent consultants and clients informed and aligned. Consulting has never been this easy. Indie Tech - the future of consulting.
Lunar Loyalty - Sam Shore
Lunar Loyalty is a community-centric rewards program with the mission to help communities grow by making local shopping more attractive and accessible. While traditional loyalty programs reward customers for shopping at one specific store, Lunar allows shoppers to earn and spend points at any participating stores in their community. It integrates directly with members' credit and debit cards and allows these local shoppers to earn gift cards to local stores. Lunar handles the entire process. No added transaction time. No hardware. No hassle.
2018 Recipients
Acre Organics - Katie Callery
Acre Organics a plant-based foods company that makes healthy, delicious and sustainable Oat Milk. Our milk offers a dairy-free alternative that tastes great, and is made for consumers who are health-conscious, have allergies, or choose to eat a more sustainable diet. Acre Organics will be one of the first Canadian brands to develop a 100% gluten, nut and soy free Oat Milk beverage product that will act as the perfect, delicious & healthy alternative to dairy milk. Made from organic, Canadian oats, the product will be developed and manufactured in Ontario with unique branding and packaging that is eco-friendly and 100% recyclable.
Quickefi - Newton Zheng
Quickefi is a platform that makes it easy for people to lend and rent everyday items with people near them, with all items on the platform fully insured. Using machine learning and an in-depth vetting process, Quickefi provides the safest way for rental transactions to occur. Owners can make side income when they are not using their products, while renters can find items at 30% lower prices than traditional rental stores. People are already sharing their cars with Uber and their homes with AirBnB, so why not share their household equipment as well?
CABTREKS - Jasdeep Toor
CABTREKS spawned from the opportunity created by two massive problems in different industries. Ride-sharing companies like Uber are massively disrupting taxi drivers - their utilization is often below 50%. Meanwhile, retailers are struggling to meet the demands of same-day delivery that consumers have come to expect as economies of scale from the large players have allowed them to provide this type of service. Through a digital platform, CABTREKS takes these two problems and connects them to create an opportunity by linking retailers in need of delivery services to cab drivers that can meet this demand. This model allows retailers, specifically pharmacies, to meet the demands of their customers while providing an additional revenue source for the drivers.
Otonomy - Ryan Jamieson
Today in Canada finding a small business to buy, or finding a buyer to sell to, is a difficult process at best as the current options in the market are either ineffective and/or expensive. We are on the cusp of the largest transition of wealth in human history as the baby boomer generation begins to retire. It is estimated that 47% of small businesses in Canada will change ownership to a younger generation in the next five years, and if those owners cannot find a suitable successor, they will shutter their businesses. To help address these problems we are launching Otonomy, tech based matchmaking platform for buyers and sellers of small businesses. Our goal is to provide a single place for current and future small business owners to connect, interact, research and ultimately match.
2017 Recipients
Vacation Fund - Erica Pearson
Vacation Fund is an employer-endorsed travel saving program, that allows employees to direct a portion of their pay cheque into a separate Vacation Fund Account and allows employers to match a portion of the contribution. The value proposition to the employers is increased employer satisfaction, employee productivity, a unique benefit to attract and retain talent, and solves the challenge of companies having to manage an over accrual of vacation time.
Spectra Plasmonics - Tyler Whitney
The need for quick and ultrasensitive chemical detection techniques is rising globally. These techniques are used to monitor environmental impacts of various pollutants, ensure quality control in food and pharmaceutical industries, and in the defence against illegal drugs and terrorism agents. The best detection methods that are available today require expensive reagents, specialized personnel, and centralized laboratory facilities. Spectra Plasmonics uses patent-pending technology to provide organizations with a quick, accurate, and cost-effective solution to their trace chemical detection needs. Our vision is to bring high quality chemical detection out of the lab and into the field, allowing professionals to make the right decisions when and where they need to.
TalentFit - Mitch Gudgeon & Kyle Brykman
TalentFit was launched with a vision to disrupt how companies hire, and how applicants find jobs, by focusing on matching applicants to companies based on ‘culture-fit’. Since inception, TalentFit has received feedback from 100's of job seekers and companies to identify their pain points in the hiring process and in managing organizational culture. TalentFit is now poised to change the hiring game for companies and job seekers alike with a product that simplifies and enriches the hiring process while reducing bias and stress, as well as provides HR & leadership with actionable culture insights.
Mia Technologies - Leanna Li
Mia technologies is a startup that utilizes machine learning technology to provide dynamic discounting solutions for small businesses in the service industry. The ultimate goal is to allow businesses to optimize revenue every hour throughout the day and attract the right number of customers exactly when they are needed.
1 Million Teachers - Rizma Butt & Hakeem Subair
1 Million Teachers offers a reward based teacher development that keeps teachers engaged, motivated, and excited about learning and teaching – transforming teachers into life-long learners, helping them inspire others, giving them outlets for a more lucrative career and rewarding future. Without qualified and motivated teachers, children stand very little chance of realizing their potentials. Unfortunately, there is a huge shortage of such teachers across the world. 1 Million Teachers (1MT) closes this gap by attracting new teachers into the profession, training both the new and existing teachers, and motivating them to keep improving their performance through a comprehensive reward-based development program that combines high quality online and classroom-based training with mentorship on a scale never attempted before.
2016 Recipients
Iris Technologies - Colin Harding
Iris Technologies produce an e-paper screen to reduce the negative health repercussions of using LCD screens for individuals recovering from minor traumatic brain injuries, living with chronic migraines, or suffering from eyestrain. The product is a 13.3” secondary computer monitor designed to be used concurrently or as a substitute to an LCD screen. The monitor uses E-paper technology, which refreshes only when the content of the screen changes. It does not have the bright flashing pixels of an LCD screen and is not backlit. Iris’ secondary monitor thereby does not trigger concussion symptoms found with LCD screen use. This allows patients to reintroduce daily tasks and a level of productivity into their life. The monitor can also have substantial benefits to someone suffering from chronic migraines or from eyestrain cause by long-term computer use.
EduChain - Mark Balovnev
To this day, there is no comprehensive solution for the issuance and sharing of digital academic credentials such as transcripts and diplomas. Credentials are still printed, stamped, and mailed – a costly and slow process. EduChain aims to enable universities to issue official digital academic credentials instantly, and automate their verification. It brings control over records into the hands of the registrar, and control over who views academic records into the hands of the student. Using blockchain technology, the platform brings about a paradigm shift in the way credentials can be managed, disrupting incumbent intermediaries and creating value for universities, students, and employers. EduChain’s vision is to create a global, decentralized platform that will redefine how people issue, share, and verify credentials.
LaBroga - Lisa Orr
LaBroga is a vintage inspired luxury shoe bag, created for women who love their shoes. Founded in 2016 by Lisa Orr and designed using an intensive prototyping process with input from women, the bag was successfully launched on Kickstarter in October 2016 with the initial production run shipped out as promised in time for the 2016 holiday season. The LaBroga shoe bag is hand crafted in Canada with premium leather and is dedicated to delighting its customers with beautiful quality and excellent service.
Ioffe Biotechnologies - Altair Ioffe
Ioffe Biotechnologies was created to explore human potential. We are passionate about bio-hacking and harnessing the power of biology, and we want to make that safe and accessible for the average consumer. Our first product, Indezone, is a new pill that has been approved by Health Canada to enhance cognitive performance, and is available without prescription. More than just a caffeine boost, Indezone delivers the building blocks for important brain chemicals (like dopamine and serotonin) which are needed to stay motivated and focused, while also minimizing side effects and crash. Simply put, it does what coffee and energy drinks cannot. Indezone is just our first step. We also have advanced technologies in the pipeline for treating disease in humans without drugs or vaccines.
InterestPiggy - Manny Kandola
InterestPiggy has revolutionized the process of shopping for financial products. Before InterestPiggy, finding a competitive interest rate meant shopping from provider to provider. This is time-consuming, restricts your search to regular business hours and limits the number of providers you can connect with – leaving you to wonder if you received the best combination of interest rate and service. InterestPiggy puts the control in your hands. In a few short moments, you’ll provide your requirements to a nationwide network of financial service providers who are waiting to compete for your business.
2015 Recipients
SharpScholar - Jawwad Siddiqui
SharpScholar’s data-driven educational approach is a result of intensive research studies with educational innovators at top Canadian universities including University of Toronto and Queen’s University. The company is founded by three distinguished students of Queens University and University of Toronto. In less than six months, the company has acquired 30+ distinguished professors at 6+ schools with 9,000+ students. Furthermore, the company’s educational software tool has been recognized and praised by four different research studies.
SimplyFeed.me - Vladimir Bogdashkin
SimplyFeed.me aims to revolutionize how we consume, and innovate how we live. By providing residents of Kingston with an alternative to grocery shopping, planning, and consumption, we hope to reduce food waste, save time and money. Pre-portioned meal ingredient delivery is a new wave of the future. Facilitating the cooking experience at home SimplyFeed.me will infuse the fun back into cooking. In order to attract a higher percentage of customers, our recipes will provide variance to accommodate different religions, cultures, nationalities, and lifestyle choices. The primary goal of the company is to provide the consumer with the worry-free convenience of meal ingredient delivery to induce inspiration in the kitchen.
TheTalentWiz - Logan Houston
Currently small-mid sized businesses (SME’s) spend $1,300 more per hire than large businesses. This is because SME’s do not have access to the same recruitment tools that large businesses do, specifically Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). TalentWiz.com is a web application focused on providing small-mid sized businesses with a recruitment solution that meets their needs, reduces their recruitment costs, and improves their quality of hire. TalentWiz.com will provide SME’s an Applicant Tracking System that is affordable to business of all sizes, and provides them with the tools to significantly improve their recruitment process.
2014 Recipients
EasyQ - Ali Raza
A mobile-based software solution making the process of managing restaurant waitlists easier and more efficient. The company’s vision is to leverage the latest technology to facilitate interaction between restaurants and their customers in order to reduce staff workload, enhance customer service and capture customer demographic and behavioural insights.
Journal Prep - Kyle Maloney
Journal Prep was founded with the vision of creating an online hub of services and information that could help researchers with all aspects of preparing their data for publication in English-language academic journals. Co-founders and Queen’s University graduates, Shawn Maloney (BSc ‘05) and Kyle Maloney (BComm ‘14), launched the company in 2010 and in less than four years have worked with clients in over 60 countries. In addition to serving individual researchers, Journal Prep provides services to academic publishers, having secured two copy editing contracts with leading medical publishers in 2012. Corporate services are also a focus, with particular emphasis on medical writing projects with pharmaceutical companies and hospitals.
Wavecore - Jeffrey Ralphs
Paddling and rowing athletes have never been able to effectively improve their balance off the water. For many beginners just starting out this means never advancing past the learning phase and for the most elite level athletes this means missing out on the podium. KRG Racing has built a seated stability device that enables athletes of all levels to develop their balance and core strength off the water. It is called the ProBalance and after testing the device with Canadian Olympic athletes and at world-class health clubs it was discovered that the system’s potential to raise athletic performance extends beyond just paddle-sport athletes. Gym-goers can benefit from using the ProBalance as a challenging and effective tool for developing core strength. Through balancing in the seated position, users can recruit and develop a higher proportion of muscle fibers when performing abdominal exercises on the ProBalance.
2013 Recipients
AppArmor - David Sinkinson
AppArmor develops custom mobile apps that leverage the latest technology and provide unparalleled tools to foster community safety for college, university, and corporate campuses. Unlike other generic safety apps, AppArmor provides a custom tailored solution to meet the unique needs of a community. They combine existing safety infrastructure with their pre-built modules to create a highly customized mobile app.
Encore - Nicholas Klimchuk
Encore was this year’s winner at Queen’s Entrepreneur Competition. Encore is a concert listing app designed around the experience of live music events. It aggregates photos and videos taken by concert-goers on social media sites (from Instagram to Twitter) to create unique time capsules for these concerts and festivals. Users can find upcoming local events, relive their favorite past shows and share their best music moments with friends. Their short-term business model is to make commission from ticket sales, digital music, merchandising, exclusive events offers, and sponsorship and advertising.
Pagetype - Royston Sequeria
Pagetype is a digital publishing platform for authors, designers and layout artists to collaborate and sell their works across multiple devices.