App-enabled scent diffuser nets BBA Kevin Cruz entrepreneurship award

Beedie School of Business undergraduate Kevin Cruz has been named ENACTUS 2015 Student Entrepreneur Provincial Champion for British Columbia.

A new student venture that allows users to remotely control fragrances in their home has earned Beedie School of Business undergraduate Kevin Cruz the title of Enactus 2015 Student Entrepreneur Provincial Champion for British Columbia.

Cruz is the co-founder of ORA Scents, a mobile tech company that has produced the world’s first real time app-enabled scent diffuser. The product allows users to create and control scents according to their own preference, and is set for a beta launch in spring.

The Enactus Canada Student Entrepreneur Competition celebrates the commitment, determination and achievements of full time Canadian university or college students who are simultaneously operating their own businesses.

Cruz will now advance to the Enactus Western Canada Regional Exposition, to be held in Calgary on March 13, where he will compete against other Student Entrepreneur Provincial Champions for the regional title, and the chance to move on to the 2015 Enactus Canada National Exposition.

“It is a great honour to win this award, which serves as validation of the approach we have taken with our venture,” says Cruz. “The mentorship and advice that I have received through the Beedie School of Business has been extremely useful, and helped shape our business model to the point where we are nearing our product launch.”

A joint major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Marketing, Cruz has utilized a number of the entrepreneurship initiatives available at the Beedie School of Business to develop his venture. He has participated in the tech entrepreneurship@sfu program, SFU’s entrepreneurship incubator Venture Connection, and Enactus SFU’s Jumpstart initiative, an eight-week venture accelerator program.

Enactus, formerly known as Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), is a global organization that uses entrepreneurial action as a catalyst for progress. Enactus SFU aims to create self-sustaining social ventures that solve real problems and have measurable impact in the community.

To learn more about Enactus SFU, visit http://enactussfu.com. For information on ORA Scents, visit www.orascents.com

Watch Kevin speak about his success with ORA Scents on Global TV.