TELUS Pitch Live Event: Grand prize winner to be announced at contest finale hosted by Amber Mac
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 10, 2017) - On Monday, November 13, the TELUS Pitch annual small business contest will see one Canadian business owner win $100,000 cash at a Live Event hosted by entrepreneur, startup expert, and TV host, Amber Mac. The panel of judges, which includes Arlene Dickinson, CEO of District Ventures Capital and Dragon on CBC's Dragons' Den, will select the winner from a group of three finalists which were narrowed down from the thousands of entries received since the contest launched on September 7.
The event will also be shared on Facebook Live and hosted by Canadian technology expert, Marc Saltzman.
In addition to the $100,000 grand prize, the TELUS Pitch will also be giving away more than $50,000 in additional prizing. This includes $10,000 for the two runners-up; one Community Impact Award of $10,000 - plus an additional $10,000 to donate to a charity of the winner's choice; and one Most Promising Startup Award consisting of $5,000 of Samsung technology and $5,000 of mentoring and marketing services from startup marketing firm Eighty-Eight.
The judges and audience will hear from the following three finalists:
? Bin Liu, CEO and Co-Founder of iMerciv Inc. - With his background in civil engineering, building physical items comes naturally to Bin, who was inspired to found iMerciv by his father who has inoperable glaucoma and is currently living with vision loss. Now he and his co-founder work to empower people living with vision loss through smart wearables. Their first product, the BuzzClip, is a wearable mobility tool that helps people with vision loss avoid collisions.
? Josh Domingues, CEO of Flashfood Inc. - Josh grew up in Halifax where he studied Finance and Business Management at St. Mary's University before moving to Toronto to work as an investment advisor and management consultant. He and the team at Flashfood work to reduce food waste and feed more people by enabling grocery stores to sell high-quality, surplus food at a discount via the Flashfood app.
? Chris Prendergast, CEO and Founder of JamStack - Chris graduated from McMaster University with a degree in physics before starting his career as an engineer and teacher. Throughout his life Chris has been a passionate guitar player and JamStack was built from his desire to play and record quality sound from anywhere. JamStack is the world's first attachable guitar amplifier which doubles as a smartphone-enabled effects and recording device.
| Note to editors: Cameras and reporters are welcome to attend. | |
| Media are encouraged to request and coordinate interviews in advance. | |
| WHAT: | TELUS Pitch Live |
| Q&A with Arlene Dickinson and Amber Mac | |
| WHO: | Interviews and photo opportunities with: |
| ? TELUS Pitch winner | |
| ? Suzanne Trusdale, VP, Small Business Solutions at TELUS Business Solutions | |
| ? Arlene Dickinson, CEO of District Ventures Capital and Dragon on CBC's Dragons' Den | |
| ? Live Pitch Judges: Erin Bury, Bruce Poon Tip, Sunil Sharma, Mark Childs | |
| ? TELUS Pitch finalists | |
| WHEN: | Monday, November 13, 2017 |
| 5:00PM-6:30PM - Cocktails and networking | |
| 6:30PM-6:35PM - Emcee, Amber Mac, introduces Arlene Dickinson | |
| 6:35PM-6:55PM - Q&A with Arlene Dickinson and Amber Mac | |
| 6:55PM-7:10PM - Judges explain pitch criteria | |
| 7:10PM-7:40PM - Live pitches and judge feedback | |
| 7:40PM-7:55PM - Judge deliberation | |
| 7:55PM-8:10PM - Winner announced | |
| 8:10PM-9:00PM - Wrap-up and networking | |
| WHERE: | TELUS Harbour |
| 25 York Street, 3rd Floor | |
| Toronto, ON, M5J 2V5 | |
Follow the conversation on Twitter using #TELUSPitch.
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