Made in York Region 2020: Navigating the New Reality

In December 2020, ventureLAB and the Regional Municipality of York presented the third annual Made in York Region: Navigating the New Reality conference. The conference brought together hundreds of like-minded tech professionals to connect with York Region’s vast innovation ecosystem. Our diverse and dynamic group of panelists provided a deep dive into hardware and healthcare technology, as well as inclusivity & diversity policies. The Pitch Competition brought together an impressive group of tech startups to reimagine business continuity for main street businesses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for Made in York Region 2021!

Panel Discussion – How Investing in Canada’s Hardware Will Drive Economic Recovery

How Investing in Canada’s Hardware Will Drive Economic Recovery explored how hardware and semiconductors will play a crucial role in Canada’s economic recovery and sustainability. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted Canada’s major gaps and challenges, but with challenges always comes opportunity, particularly in our domestic supply chain. Hardware is often overlooked, but is critical in the development and commercialization of high-tech innovations.

Panel Discussion – Canada’s Lifeline: The Intersection of Health and Hardware

Canada’s Lifeline: The Intersection of Health and Hardware explored how healthcare technologies and solutions will play a crucial role in Canada’s economic recovery and sustainability. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted Canada’s major gaps and challenges, particularly in the way we can use technology in our healthcare sector. We have witnessed the removal of regulatory barriers, changes to reimbursement and public investment in funding healthcare technologies which have enabled companies to quickly pivot to addressing needs in the healthcare sector.

Panel Discussion – Rebuilding a More Equitable Country: Lessons From Lockdown

Rebuilding a More Equitable Country: Lessons from Lockdown explored how to make the technology sector more equitable, the importance of unlearning our unconscious bias, and the role that allies will play in elevating underrepresented individuals in technology. If Canada wants to reach its potential, these underrepresented groups need to be at the core of driving change.

Pitch Competition

ventureLAB and Digital Main Street selected the top eight companies across York Region with innovative products and solutions that will help us rebuild through and beyond the current crisis. We watched them battle it out in front of a live audience and top-notch public and private sector judges. Evaluated on their innovation, economic impact, and community collaboration, each company had an opportunity to present their solution and answer questions from the judges. We gave the winning companies $50,000 to pilot or scale their innovative solutions. Our judges, hailing from Accenture, Shopify Retail, Bell Canada, and more, looked for novel solutions that increased market opportunity for main street businesses, elevated customer confidence, and managed costs associated with COVID-19 protocol compliance.

Our Winners

1. FIRST PLACE: EAIGLE EAIGLE offers an AI solution for Crowd Monitoring & Occupancy Data Analytics for public places with high foot traffic. With the rise of COVID-19, EAIGLE introduced a new AI solution that automates the total COVID-19 screening process for employees at points of entry. The solution monitors large crowds non-invasively without any interruption in traffic flow specific for companies with large numbers of employees/visitors.
2. SECOND PLACE: HOTSPOTS Hotspots provides the first 100% Canadian designed and manufactured outdoor heated furniture to extend the patio season. Hotspots chairs provide incubating warmth, with three temperature settings, comfortable contours, and multiple safety features, while providing a green energy solution that adds months to the outdoor patio season.
3. THIRD PLACE: INFIELD SOLUTIONS inField Shoppe iQ Connected CUBBIES enable retail and food services to thrive in a COVID environment and beyond. The Connected CUBBIES solution is a patent-pending smart locker solution that provides a curbside pickup and delivery management system driven by a mobile app. It combines the advantages of physical shopping with the convenience and safety of online commerce.