News

2024 Coast Capital Venture Prize winner drives sustainable transportation forward

Apr 15, 2024

A micromobility hardtech startup is the top winner of SFU’s 13th annual Coast Capital Venture Prize competition. Fingerprint Technologies will use the $10,000 cash award and in-kind business development services towards bringing its novel e-bike to market in 2025. Co-founders Anthony and Hannah King launched Fingerprint Technologies in 2021, with a current product focus on the most widely-used and fastest-growing form of micromobility—the electric bicycle. Fingerprint’s reinvention of the e-bike will reduce car trips and attract new […]

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From regenerative brain treatment to renewable packaging: Mitacs i2I Skills Training finale showcases the impact of science innovators

May 2, 2023

Dr. Nitzan Letko Khait has taken home top honours at the 2023 Mitacs Invention to Innovation (i2I) Skills Training Final Pitch Competition and received a $5,000 prize from SFU Innovates for her compelling plan for controlled delivery of specialized cells and proteins to promote regeneration of the injured brain in stroke patients.   Dr. Yeling (Yale) Zhu, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, was named the second-prize winner, receiving a $2,500 prize from […]

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SFU Beedie represented among The Globe and Mail’s 2023 Changemakers

Mar 3, 2023

SFU Beedie congratulates two of its own, Pat Chaisang and Leejoo Hwang, for being named to The Globe and Mail’s 2023 Changemakers list. The annual list recognizes 50 emerging Canadian business leaders who are making a positive impact on their industries and communities. The list, which covers a wide range of industries and sectors from tech to healthcare to finance, showcases individuals who are innovative, socially conscious, and committed to driving positive change in their […]

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SFU Beedie alumnus turned cookie entrepreneur saw sweet opportunity in pandemic

Aug 9, 2022

When Jessica Nguyen graduated from SFU Beedie in 2020, she had a marketing job lined up at a tech start-up and was ready to join the workforce. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Like many others, Nguyen lost her job offer—companies were no longer hiring. As it turns out, the pandemic may have been the best thing to happen to Nguyen and her brother, Andy. The two of them are now co-founders of a wildly […]

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SFU Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship and Coast Capital Venture Connection alumnus Kaito Cunningham raises $23m to fund crypto start-up

Jun 22, 2022

Decentralized autonomous organizations, otherwise known as DAOs, are a type of blockchain-based organization without leadership or management that allows for decision-making purely by shareholder voting—think of it like a digital co-operative. But just how does a company that decentralizes a majority of their operations handle payroll, accounting and other basic back office tasks? 23-year-old former SFU Beedie student and SFU Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship alumnus Kaito Cunningham has co-founded a cryptocurrency start-up, Utopia Labs, […]

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SFU remains Canada’s top university for innovation, rises to number one worldwide for entrepreneurial spirit in global ranking

Jun 17, 2022

Simon Fraser University has ranked once more as Canada’s number one university for innovation and has moved up to number one in the world for entrepreneurial spirit, according to the World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI) 2022 rankings. The WURI rankings measure how universities contribute to society and highlight creative and innovative approaches to university research and education by evaluating university programs for innovativeness, implementability and impact. “I am so proud of the creativity and […]

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Changing the Face of Sustainable Energy: Alumni Startup Moment Energy Closes $3.5 Million Seed Round

Nov 19, 2021

Moment Energy, a sustainable startup transforming second-life electric vehicle batteries and a client of SFU’s Coast Capital Savings Venture Connection incubator program, recently closed a $3.5 million seed funding round led by Version One Ventures. Co-founded by four graduates from SFU’s Mechatronic Systems Engineering Program, Moment Energy creates sustainable energy storage systems by repurposing retired electric vehicle batteries. The startup’s solution has been installed in off-grid areas to reduce diesel consumption and enables a transition to renewable energy.  To date […]

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Entrepreneurial Mindset Overcomes at SFU’s Largest Student Entrepreneurship Showcase

Apr 28, 2020

Opportunity Fest, the largest event hosted by SFU’s Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship, overcame adversity this year by switching to remote format in order to go ahead in the face of COVID-19-related restrictions. The organizers drew on their entrepreneurial mindset and resourcefulness to overhaul their plans and connect over 200 students and industry experts via online platforms, to showcase SFU’s emerging entrepreneurs. The annual event brings students from all faculties together with industry, academic and alumni […]

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Young innovators showcase ventures at OppFest

Mar 29, 2019

The next generation of young entrepreneurs gathered at SFU Surrey on Thursday, March 28, 2019, for the ninth annual Opportunity Fest (OppFest) event. Competitors from many SFU faculties, as well as high-school entrepreneurs, showcased their innovative ventures and vied for prizes in a range of categories at the largest OppFest event yet, sponsored by Westminster Savings and presented by SFU’s Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship. The overall grand prize winner for the venture that best exemplifies […]

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