London-based FoodFund Takes Home TELUS Pitch 2019 Prize of $100,000

Photo Credit Arlene Dickinson

Workhaus had the pleasure of partnering with TELUS for their TELUS Pitch 2019. Entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to take part in Canada’s largest small business competition.

As a part of our partnership, the winning companies of the Multicultural Business of the Year Award and the Most Promising Startup award were given one complimentary year-long membership with Workhaus.

Our Founder and CEO, Adrian Joaquin joined a panel of like-minded entrepreneurs where he outlined the importance coworking holds for company culture.

“You don’t join a coworking space for the physical resource, you don’t join a coworking space to share a roof over your head or to share a printer. You’re there because there are tons of like-minded people around, and you’re there to share networks, ideas and intellectual resources. That’s the real value of a coworking space. So really a coworking space is there to augment the culture that your team has.”

Adrian also highlighted that this holds most true with smaller companies whose main focus on growth often means culture takes a backseat in early stages.

Adrian was joined by Founder and CEO of Willful and startup speaker Erin Bury, Founder and CEO of TheAppLab Kundan Joshi, and one of the judges for the main event of pitch finalists, Kevin Au-Yeung, Founder and President InnoVision Holdings Corporation.

The event came to a head Tuesday night with an esteemed panel of judges that has the tough task of choosing a winner. The TELUS team worked tirelessly to narrow down from 6500 pitches to a mere five. CEO of Venture Communications Arlene Dickinson, Managing Director of Facebook and Instagram Canada Garrick Tiplady, VIP of Telus Small Business Solutions Suzanne Trusdale, Founder and President InnoVision Holdings Corporation Kevin Au-Yeung, and VP Sales and Management for Samsung Canada Mobile, Jennifer Safruk. Hosted by entrepreneur and author Amber Mac, Telus introduced us to the five finalists and went through their pitches before revealing the winner.

The Top Five Pitches

The grand prize winner received $100,000 cash prize while the other four received $10,000 each.

Each company had mere minutes to pitch their ideas to the judges. While there could only be one winner, each pitch was spectacular in its own right and had the audience sitting on the edges of their seats.

Creation Crate
Chris Catbonton
Toronto, ON

“Creation Crate delivers monthly DIR electronic projects to your door, with a focus on STEM experiences and 21st-century skills.”

FoodFund Inc.
Divyansh Ojha
London, ON

“FoodFund faces food waste head-on with a subscription-based platform connecting imperfect produce from farms to their local communities.”

InStage
Imran Mouna
Toronto, ON

“InStage provides enterprise virtual reality training for employees and students who routinely speak in-person to customers or colleagues.”

Goldilocks Sustainable Goods
Amy Hall
Victoria, BC

“Goldilocks creates an eco-friendly alternative to plastic wrap with handmade, reusable beeswax food wraps.”

HigherEdpoints.com
Suzanne Tyson
Toronto, ON

“HigherEdPoints.com transfers billions of unused loyalty points to the education sector, putting them towards tuition and student loans.”

And the winner is…

Photo Credit TELUS

Divyansh Ojha of FoodFund Inc. Founded back in 2016, FoodFund intends to use the prize money to expand its operations, broaden its offering, and build a food literacy curriculum.

Congratulations to all those who pitched! Workhaus is proud to have been apart of something so special.