BC Business
The 2021 edition of the NexStream Tech Competition has revealed its five winners, and four of them hail from B.C.
Ania Wysocka won the Community Service award for Rootd, a popular mobile app that helps people seeking relief from panic attacks and anxiety
The second annual contest, which was open to individuals, academic institutions and businesses with fewer than 100 employees, welcomed applications from around the world. A panel of judges named the winners in five categories from among seven finalists.
Presented by the City of Campbell River’s economic development department and the Campbell River Area Angel Group (CRAAG), the NexStream competition has made a total of $2 million in investment available to its winners.
This year’s champs include AazeintTx, represented by COO Gordon Anderson. The Calgary-based company, which is developing a disruptive technology for treating acute asthma, won the Health and Emergency Preparedness category.
Taking the Food Security prize: Vancouver-based Ava Technologies. Founded by Chase Ando and 30 Under 30 winner Valerie Song, the company has developed a smart indoor herb garden.
MintGreen, founded by Kurt Melnychuk, Colin Sullivan and Jenn Zee, topped the Sustainable Resource Innovation category. The blockchain technology outfit, headquartered in Burnaby, offers digital currency mining solutions with an emphasis on clean energy.
The Wildcard winner was Open Ocean Robotics, led by 2020 Women of the Year winner Julie Angus, whose Victoria-based business makes solar-powered autonomous boats for gathering ocean data.
Vancouver Islandbased Rootd took the Community Service award. Founder and 30 Under 30 winner Ania Wysocka is the creator of a popular mobile app for those seeking relief from panic attacks and anxiety.
“They stood out even within an impressive field of more than 60 initial entrants spanning a wide range of technological innovation,” CRAAG member David Baar said of the winners. “We were very pleased to see excellent progress by all the entrants during the competition—especially given the additional challenges of our pandemic circumstances.”
You can check out the NexStream Tech Competition’s online finale here.