ESTEVAN - The Southeast Techhub's first-ever pitch competition for Estevan showcased plenty of ingenuity and creativity, but it was two Grade 12 students from the Carnduff Education Complex who took home the top prize.
The event was held Friday night at the Southeast College's Estevan campus. Dozens of people turned out to listen to the tech-based innovations presented by the hopefuls.
The pitch competition had a similar format to the TV shows Dragon's Den and Shark Tank. Each of the entrepreneurs was given 15 minutes to explain their idea and what they would do with the $22,500 cash prize if they were selected as the winner that night. Then the five judges peppered the hopefuls with questions.
Logan Stewart and Wyatt Thompson were selected as the winners for their portable irrigation system. Both come from an agriculture background, and they believe their idea would benefit farmers and ranchers, and would help with food security.
"Our irrigation system will be able to move from field to field easily, whereas our competitors cannot be transported," the bio for the project stated.
Both said they were stunned to be selected.
"Ever since we started, everyone has been quite impressed with it," said Thompson. "I didn't think it would go this far."
They were impressed with the other ideas that were presented, and Stewart added he wouldn't have wanted to be one of the judges.
The other presenters were:
Steven Hansen, a worker in the oil and gas industry who owns the StreamTech business management platform. It was built to digitize and optimize safety, compliance, equipment management and employees in the energy sector. StreamTech would expand to help energy companies digitize their day-to-day operations.
*Rod Cullen is an employee of the Westmoreland Mining LLC who started Predator Inspections earlier this year. Using drones, he wants to help local businesses and industries modernize their legacy infrastructure, using censors to capture invisible energy that companies can take advantage of. He also uses censors to accurately create digital twins for organization communication and business efficiency.
*Keith Hesketh promoted his plans for an aquaponic, organic greenhouse farm project that would be located in southeast Estevan. He noted that it would start by selling lettuce and having a fish farm, but other products could eventually be available. He also has a vision to open similar facilities in other communities.
The judges for the event were Suzanne McNabb with SaskPower, Mike Wolsfeld with Startup TNT, Andria Brady with Community Futures Sunrise, Kevin Chung with Innovation Saskatchewan and Timothy Spielman with Southeast College.
Gordon More from the Southeast Techhub said SaskPower provided $20,000 of the winning prize, while SaskTel contributed the other $2,250. Thompson and Stewart also won a free three-dimensional licence for computer-aided design, which allows them to continue to work on their models and expand them. More will be their mentor, giving them advice on how to grow their business and innovate.
They will have full access to the Techhub and its resources, an office in the building and a business licence there.
More praised the other entrants in the pitch competition.
"I don't know how the judges could have ever decided who was going to win. They were all very innovative and very original. The other thing I liked about it was every pitch was different," said More.
The event was streamed on YouTube, so people elsewhere in Saskatchewan could watch what is happening. More said some venture capitalists were expected to be in the online audience.
"I have a strong feeling that some of these presenters will are going to get a phone call tomorrow or the next day," More predicted.
He expects this will be an annual event, and it will be bigger and better each time.
The next edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
