Opportunities for Student Entrepreneurs

Brock LINC is working with student entrepreneurs at Brock University to help turn ideas into business opportunities. Come talk to us about an innovative idea, a project or even a business plan, and we’ll provide you and your team with the necessary guidance, business advice, market intelligence needed to convert your idea into a commercializable product. Know more.

Are you a Broadbased Technology (BBT) teacher or a student in a high school BBT class? If yes, then Brock Maker Challenge may be the competition for you and your school team. Brock’s Faculty of Education, the Confucius Institute at Brock University and the Goodman School of Business – Venture Decvelopment invite Ontario secondary school Broad-Based Technology teams to:

  • Participate in a real-world BBT challenge.
  • Showcase your school’s design and build skills.
  • Celebrate Ontario’s Indigenous Culture, Community and Technological Ways of Knowing that impact modern society.
  • Design a BBT project that could win your school an entrepreneurship prize of $1,500.
  • Earn $3000 to build your winning design project.

To know more about the Brock Maker Challenge, click here.

The CNE Ontario Pitch Competition is back. If you are working on an exciting startup here is your chance to win thousands of dollars in prizes. The CNE Ontario Pitch Competition is a national competition with seven different categories of businesses. There is a chance for businesses in all different sectors to get a piece of the prize. The grand prize will be $25,000 and will be chosen on August 19. Find out more here.

If you’re a student at Brock University, you can now start and run your own business for a term, earn up to $10,000, and help grow Niagara’s economy!

Learn more information.

Enactus Student Entrepreneur Competition

Every year Enactus hosts a Student Entrepreneur Competition where full-time students who have been running a business for 6+months are eligible to win $10,000, a trip to Vancouver and a mentor to help them grow their business. Nomination applications can be found here.

Futurpreneur Canada is proud to present the Growth Accelerator, an exciting opportunity for innovative entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their business to new heights.

If you’ve launched an innovative business, have demonstrated a track record of revenue growth and are ready to make key decisions about expansion, the Growth Accelerator could be just what you need to take your start-up to the next level.

The James A. Gibson Library and the Department of Geography & Tourism Studies are pleased to announce that Brock University is one of a select group of universities and colleges in Canada that Esri Canada recognizes for its strong, multidisciplinary focus on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For the sixth consecutive year, Brock has been selected to participate in the Esri Canada $1,000 GIS Student Scholarship Program. This Scholarship is meant to help support a Brock undergraduate or graduate student who is currently enrolled, dedicated, and high achieving to continue his/her studies in GIS and consider it as a post-graduation career option. The following guidelines will provide the requirements for the application process, project content, deliverables, and the recipient’s responsibilities to Esri.

Click here for more information.

The Council of Ontario Universities (COU), in partnership with the Government of Ontario, has announced the fourth annual Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) Ontario undergraduate student competition. They are seeking innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions to accessibility-related barriers in the community.

Ignite Pitch Series 2019 application intake is open and closes Friday March 15, 2019, at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time. Six finalists will be chosen to pitch at an evening event in May 8, 2019 from 5-8pm. Ignite Pitch Series is organized by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce. No fee is required to participate. Participation in Ignite Pitch Series constitutes acceptance of the terms, conditions and provisions set out below.

Win $5K for your Startup!

One of Toronto’s leading pitch competitions is back! The Digital Media and Gaming Incubator at George Brown College is proud to present the 2019 IT’S A START Pitch Competition.

Next April, ten startups will be selected to pitch their ideas in front of a live audience and judges at Digifest 2019.  All startups have the opportunity to pitch their business idea, convince the judges of its value, and impress the crowd in 5 minutes for the chance to win cash, space along with an opportunity to attend Beijing’s Overseas Talent Entrepreneurship Conference (OTEC).

If you have a smart sustainable future idea, please submit an application. We invite everyone from creative professionals, budding entrepreneurs, new startups, students or recent graduates to submit. Whether your business is a Mobile App, Game, VR/AR Media, Content Property, Product, Digital Design, AI Innovation, or Robotic Innovation, we would love to hear your ground breaking ideas.

Since 2015, MX.com has been commited to helping its students find investors, build relationships and even business partners. It’s all in our: MX is an exclusive, not for profit members-only venture. Membership consists of registered student entrepreneurs from any discipline or faculty, registered mentor entrepreneur investors and member universities and colleges.

Incorporated in late 2015, MX has been committed to helping graduating millennials create their own career opportunities by integrating their own business plans with mentors and entrepreneurs who can bring “in the trenches” mentoring in the critical first 6 months in addition to a modest startup seed capital of up to $5000. The link between students and mentors is a business plan developed with the assistance of business departments at participating MX Member Universities and Colleges.

Learn more about MX here.

Monster Pitch is Brock Innovation Group (BIG) at Goodman’s version of the popular TV show, Dragon’s Den. Four groups of students pitch their business idea to a panel of judges and compete to win a start-up prize package. Students can compete to expand their existing business or turn their ideas into a reality.

Watch the Free Video Series for Entrepreneurs: Bruce Croxon and Jim Treliving Share Lessons in Growth and Leadership Backstage at ACG Toronto

The Niagara Falls Small Business Enterprise Centre is your one first stop for information and advice on starting your business.

They offer free and confidential consultations (by appointment) to discuss your business and assist you in the development of your business plan. We can guide you through any registration/licencing requirements and help answer any business related questions you may have.
Learn more here. 

The SmartStart program is designed to support new ventures led by Ontario’s next generation of entrepreneurs, to transition their start-ups from product development, to market entry and company building. The program provides up to $30,000 (to be matched 1:1 by the start-up) in seed funding and support for entrepreneurship skills training and professional advisory services, helping to grow the start-ups and make them investment- and customer-ready. The SmartStart program is delivered by OCE on behalf of the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

For more information click here

The Queen’s Entrepreneurship Competition is an external competition that provides an amazing opportunity for undergraduate students to pitch their business ideas for a chance to win $50,000 dollars!

More details can be found at the application form here.

The University of Windsor EPICentre, will be hosting its third annual RBC EPIC Business Model Canvas Competition on Friday, November 9th and Saturday November 10th. This competition will give students from post secondary institutions across Ontario an exciting opportunity to test their business ideas in the market. The fast visual methods used in the business model canvas are perfect for entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Learn more here.

NSERC invites post-secondary students to participate in Science, Action! video contest

Attention students – have 60 seconds to show how your research project is creating a better future for Canadians? You could win $5,000! The National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is launching a new edition of its Science, Action! video contest for post-secondary students to help Canadians discover the impact of science and engineering. The contest is now open!

Spin Master Innovation Fund

Do you have an innovative business idea? Think you have what it takes to disrupt your industry and change the game? Futurepreneur and Spin Master are looking for young innovators to compete for up to $50K in financing from the Spin Master Innovation Fund.

If you are an Ontario resident aged 18 and over and not attending school full time, you may be eligible to apply for funding of up to $5,000 to start or expand your business. Learn more here. 

Starting Point brings together entrepreneurial students from universities and colleges across Canada to hear from amazing speakers, learn from experts in their field, and earn money for their business.

Starting Point is gearing up for it’s 3rd year. This year’s theme: “Make it Happen!”

Registration is now open! Learn more here.

The Enterprise Centre has the information, resources and tools entrepreneurs need to start and grow a business. We have an office located in downtown St. Catharines and a satellite office in Welland, but we are here to service clients’ needs across the Niagara region. Learn more here. 

Studio Y Fellowship

The Studio Y Fellowship is an intensive 8 month program for young people aged 18-29 to develop into the types of learners, leaders, and innovators our world needs to navigate 21st-century challenges. The fellowship is a 40 hour/week commitment, and Fellows receive a $20,000 stipend to cover living costs during their time with MaRS.

Summer Company

Summer Company offers students two things:

  • funding to kick-off a new summer business
  • advice and mentorship from local business leaders to help get the business up and running

Learning how to run your own student business is one of the best summer jobs you can have.Be your own boss while learning what it takes to manage a business. Sales, marketing, invoicing, bookkeeping, customer relationship, management — these are just a few of the highly useful skills you will develop.

Find out more about Summer Company.

The Next Founders

The Next Founders is designed to support and nurture the founders of massively scalable, high-margin ventures who want to grow their company while growing as an entrepreneur.

Over three months, we provide tailored education taught by some of the world’s top faculty and entrepreneurs, in combination with access to an extraordinary community of investors and entrepreneurs.

The Next 36

The Next 36 is a resource-rich program designed to nurture the entrepreneurial promise of 36 undergraduates with extraordinary potential. It was founded by a small group of entrepreneurs, business leaders and academics in response to Canada’s need for more high-impact entrepreneurs, and is championed by Founding Patrons W. Galen Weston, Paul Desmarais, Sr. and Jimmy Pattison.

Applications are now open for the 2016 Cohort!

The $100,000 Small Business Challenge

The Small Business Challenge is a unique opportunity to help your small business overcome a current business problem with the help of a $100,000 business grant, new technology from TELUS, and national coverage from The Globe and Mail. To compete in the 5th annual Small Business Challenge, start by telling us a little bit about yourself. What is your business vision? What is your business’s biggest challenge? How can the grand prize help you overcome that challenge? Be sure to make a compelling case, because once you’ve done so, our panel of business experts will decide which competitor will be awarded the grand prize. This year’s $100,000 winner could be you—and that’s something to get excited about!

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) are intended to stimulate interest in research in the natural sciences and engineering. They are also meant to encourage students to undertake graduate studies and pursue a research career in these fields. They help students to gain research work experience that complements studies in an academic setting. these awards can help provide students with financial support through their host university.

Launch Your Career As an Entrepreneur

Venture for Canada is a fellowship for top, young university graduates to spend two years working at innovative startups across the country with the mission of training these graduates to become entrepreneurs moving forward.

We are part of the Venture for All Network, which is a global network of organizations, hosted by Columbia Business School. As a Fellow you:

  • Work at leading firms such as Wattpad, Shopify, Nymi, Vidyard, and WealthSimple.
  • Receive five weeks of training at Queen’s University, as well as ongoing support and training over a two year period.
  • Join an incredibly supportive community of top-performing recent grads who are are passionate about entrepreneurship.

43North

43North gives out $5 million in cash prizes each year to some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs and startups from around the globe. Think you have what it takes to be one of our next winners? Prove you do by signing up for this year’s competition! Buffalo, a piece of the $5 million pie, incubator space, mentorship opportunities and tax breaks await you.