Simon Fraser University's most promising early-stage entrepreneurs have spent the past two months battling in a series of pitches to be named this year's Top Venture. Spexi GeoSpatial, a startup that uses drone technology to make geospatial data more accessible, has emerged as the winner of SFU's eighth annual Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize competition, claiming the title and a $35,000 cash and in-kind prize package.
Spexi GeoSpatial's focus is to empower new industries by unlocking the power of drone technology to help deliver aerial intelligence at scale. Their cloud-based platform provides organizations with a streamlined end-to-end solution that automates drone flights, photogrammetric data processing, and geospatial data analysis.
"Winning the Venture Prize means we can hire additional software engineers to help us scale our cloud offerings faster, and reach our mission of making geospatial data more accessible sooner," says Peter Szymczak, the venture's co-founder. The team also won the competition's Top Science and Technology award.
"As we continue to gain traction in our initial markets, the additional resources will really allow us to build on our successes and reach our goals sooner."
Founders Bill Lakeland and Peter Szymczak met while completing the Management of Technology MBA program at SFU's Beedie School of Business. Lakeland's geospatial background and Szymczak's technical background made them a great pairing for this venture.
Today, Spexi GeoSpatial is a proud Coast Capital Savings Venture Connection client and is looking onwards to compete in the New Ventures BC 2019 competition.
Presented by Coast Capital Savings Venture Connection at SFU, the Venture Prize is SFU's largest entrepreneurship competition. This annual event awards substantial cash and in-kind prizes while celebrating ventures from all stages, from budding entrepreneurs with bright ideas to established founders with fully-operating businesses.
Competitors face two intensive rounds of pitches to a panel of industry judges and a public audience. Open to SFU staff, faculty, students and recent alumni, this year's applicants represented a diverse array of ventures - from IoT to services and pharmaceuticals, all vying for a piece of the $75,000 prize pot.
Notably, this year's competition saw more female-led companies competing as finalists, who represented a cross-section of faculties, reflecting the Coast Capital Savings Venture Connection's broad and inclusive approach to early ventures and innovation.
The competition recognizes winners in various categories including digital internet, science & technology, and small business, with additional prizes rewarding ventures at the idea stage, those founded by women and SFU alumni, and those focused on social impact. Given a strong pool of engaged SFU alumni teams, the alumni founder award went to two ventures, with each taking home a $1,500 cash prize.
The recently added Penguin Pivot prize awards a team that takes daring risks and pivots when their venture is deemed best suited for something new.
The finals, held last week at the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG), awarded $40,000+ in cash and more than $35,000 in in-kind' prizes. BLG is also the event host and a platinum sponsor, joined by SFU Innovates, the university's innovation strategy. SFU Innovates builds on SFU's dynamic culture and seeks to strengthen SFU's commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship.
Additional prize and event sponsors include PwC, Clio, the Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship as well as SFU's Industry Engagement, Alumni Association and the SFU Spirit Shop.
