Liftoff! pitch competition showcases UCalgary's entrepreneurial spirit

Colokick emerged as the winner at this year’s Liftoff! Pitch Competition, held at the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking on March 27.

Liftoff! is the culmination of Launchpad, a six-month co-curricular program designed to help participants become changemakers in their respective fields. Launchpad is the Hunter Hub’s flagship entrepreneurship program, open to the entire UCalgary community. 

Initially developed in partnership with the Schulich School of Engineering in 2019, Launchpad gives participants the unique opportunity to hone their entrepreneurial thinking skills in a safe, supportive environment and apply these skills to their startup. Through mentorship, workshops, and seminars, participants are given the tools they need to communicate their ideas effectively and take their startup to the next level. 

This year saw its most diverse group of participants yet, consisting of students, UCalgary staff, researchers, PhDs, and others. “This year we saw 12 of the 14 faculties represented. Further, this year, a record number of alumni participated,” says Alessa Amato, venture program specialist at the Hunter Hub and leader of Launchpad. 

Amato reflected on the most rewarding aspect to seeing the culmination of the program: “My favourite part about leading the Launchpad program is seeing the outcomes of the rigorous work of the participants. It runs for six months, so it’s amazing to see them take an idea and turn it into a fully developed pitch at the end of those six months,” she says. 

Of the 63 participating teams, eight were chosen to compete in Liftoff!, including: BidHawk, DNADetect, Velma.AI, NerveGuide Pro, NeuraSense, Greenblox, Colokick, and While She Is True. 

First-place winners present an impactful medical idea 

During the pitch competition, the chosen eight teams presented to an esteemed panel of judges, including Megan Geyer, Director of Marketing and Communications at Innovate Calgary, Jenn MacDonald, Partner at Collectively Tangled, and Kartavi Shah, Innovation Ecosystem Partner. Pitches were limited to five minutes, followed by four minutes of judge Q&A. After a long deliberation, one team took the first-place prize.

Colokick, presented by Nivethan Panchendrabose and Kapilan Panchendrabose, is an ergonomic medical positioning device designed to support patients during colonoscopies. Their device reduces muscular strain on medics and lowers hospital procedure times; something much needed in the medical industry today. 

“For us, winning first-place means expanding our skillset beyond our technical knowledge. We’re excited to take what we’ve learned through the Launchpad program and expand into future programs and pitching events,” Nivethan Panchendrabose said. 

In addition to their first-place honour, Colokick also took home the $2,500 prize.

Runner-up was NeuraSense (who were part of Schulich's entrepreneurial engineering capstone), presented by Shekinah (Yna) Arpon, Fionna Dela Cruz, Christine Dowling, Lily Gentile, and Tania Rizwan. NeuraSense aims to revolutionize stroke detection for children on life support with their multi-modal, continuous, bedside monitoring system. Their product provides real-time insights on risk of stroke, enabling health care providers to make informed critical care decisions.

DNADetect also left a lasting impression, winning the People’s Choice Award. Spearheaded by Amber Quo, Meagan Davies, Muhammad Faeez Ansari, and Sana Wahab, DNADetect is a novel biosensor technology focused on providing early diagnostic options for individuals with suspected Alzheimer’s disease, enhancing outcomes and prognosis. Through its easy-to-use and clinically accessible application, it aims to reduce the current burden on the healthcare system.

Next Up: Inventures 2025

Liftoff! may be over, but the journey for these participants certainly isn’t. The top three teams from Launchpad will be pitching at Inventures, held May 21-23 in Calgary, Alta.

Stay tuned for more information about how you can support UCalgary at Inventures.