In this column, I interview the co-founders of start-ups to have recently come out of the University of Waterloo. Through the Velocity program, multiple successful hardware and software companies have arisen. At the 12th Velocity Fund Finals (VFF) held last Thursday, the team from Vitameter walked away with one of the prizes in the $25K category, as well as an additional $10,000 to help cover production costs. Vitameter’s product is a hand-held gadget that measures vitamin levels in the body through the use of a single drop of blood. Many people who have vitamin deficiencies require supplements, but do not know the appropriate dosage. The device would help people regulate the dosage of vitamin supplements they choose to consume. I met with co-founder James MacLean (4B Nanotechnology Engineering) to discuss their recent success, as well as learn more about their product and company.
It’s an exciting time for Velocity Science. Having started out as just a collection of people who shared a passion for entrepreneurship and science, it has grown to include over ten different start-ups, with some companies even graduating and moving on to the Foundry. At the VFF event last week, three companies from Velocity Science walked away with prizes: Vitameter and Suncayr in the $25K category, and Kue in the $5K category.
Velocity Science came about at a good time for the co-founders of Vitameter. “Without a program like that, we couldn’t have been where we are today”, says James. Vitameter, as with a number of UWaterloo start-ups, began as an idea for James’ and co-founder Nirushan Udayakumar’s Fourth Year Design Project. After interacting with the Velocity community and realizing that the market for vitamin testing was huge, the team decided to commercialize their product.
As of now, their device (dubbed ‘The Vitameter’) can detect vitamin D levels. In principal, however, they can expand to detect any number of small molecules in the body: “We call it the ‘Vitameter’, but it’s really a potential to offer blood testing to people and to measure the levels of their micro-nutrients. What we envision is more of a general check-up device.” A single drop of blood is required to carry out the detection. By using this device, people can regulate the level of important molecules in their body without having to visit a doctor. This, in turn, frees up resources at hospitals and clinics.
With regards to entrepreneurship, James is keen to stress the importance of collaboration: “For anyone starting a start-up, it’s important to note that you can’t do it alone. As our tech developed, we needed to expand and look for other talent, so we got help from science students and also added members from ECE, CS and business.” Through Velocity and Conrad’s Enterprise Co-op program, they gained mentors and advisors, as well as supportive peers.
James also advocates the BET (Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology) program: “Learning things before you need them is always the best. I highly recommend people take the BET electives. It’s a way to get a good business exposure to complement an otherwise technically oriented degree.”
The team hopes to make the Vitameter available by late 2016, with plans for demos and beta-testing earlier in the year. Stay tuned for more updates!
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