It was a successful showing for start-ups working out of the University of Toronto Mississauga’s ICUBE accelerator at the annual Adams Sustainability Innovation Prize competition.
ALT TEX, whose co-founders include alumna Avneet Ghotra, captured first place and the $10,000 prize that accompanies it. The start-up converts food waste into a biodegradable, bio-plastic fibre that can be used in textile manufacturing.
As well, HOPE Pet Foods – another ICUBE start-up – took home $7,500 after finishing in second place. The company offers meat-free pet food products.
Finishing third, and taking home $5,000, was Polaris.AI – a start-up that’s developing an artificial intelligence-powered public transit planning engine and mobile app. It was founded by three Rotman School of Management MBA candidates.
Three $1,000 prizes were also awarded to a trio of runner-up teams – Fyyne, IOBO and Yayra-Si Youth Foundation.
The annual competition offers $25,500 in prizes to recognize, reward and accelerate U of T’s most innovative sustainability ideas. Selected individuals or teams compete by showcasing their idea via a brief pitch to a panel of judges.
The three winning teams receive $10,000, $7,500 and $5,000, respectively, to develop their ideas further.
In addition to the pitch competition, the event also saw the awarding of three $5,000 student grants to students with innovative ideas to advance sustainability initiatives on campus as well as three $5,000 faculty grants to professors and instructors to support the development of sustainability-based course content and projects into their courses.
