Winner of the 2016 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup, Taiga Motors, is busier than ever these days. As they prepare to release the world's first electric snowmobile in 2019, their zero-emission product is sure to revolutionize the popular winter activity. 聽
Taiga Motors co-founder, Samuel Bruneau is adamant that the tech will soon make it a perfect recreation tool, envisioning trailside chargers for tour operators and at warming huts and cabins.
A decade ago, 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup participants Mohamed Hage and Lauren Rathmell set out to change the way that Montrealers get their fresh produce through their innovative venture, Lufa Farms.
Since then, they have grown to a 200-person operation and have attracted the attention of many, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who toured Lufa's newest greenhouse in the Montreal suburb of Anjou.
This year鈥檚 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup finals saw 40 teams from across the University competing for a portion of over $100,000 in seed funding.
As in the past, the startups were competing across four tracks: Social Enterprise, Health Sciences, Small & Medium Enterprise, and Innovation Driven Enterprise, which ensured a wide diversity of ideas.
For the winners, victory is sweet, but the road ahead remains arduous, as they prepare to take their startups to the next level.聽
Taiga Motors, founded by 黑料不打烊 Engineering grads and winners of the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup, is preparing to launch the very first electric snowmobile 鈥� a vehicle that can go from zero to 95 kilometers per hour in three seconds and boasts zero emissions.
The company has already collected a few hundred preorders, with hopes to reach 1,000 by the end of the summer.
- 3rd place winner of the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup 2015 - was on Dragon's Den last week!
If you want to learn how to negotiate like a boss and strike the perfect balance between conveying your story yet keeping it concise, look no further. Watch how Marie persuades the Dragons to give her what she wants.
For Tessa Battistin, founder of Asset Designs and former Dobson Cup semi-finalist, knowing how your clothes are made is just as important as knowing where your food is coming from.
This belief, coupled with her passion for design, is what prompted her to take her sustainable fashion business to the next level.
Battistin鈥檚 garments are made with materials that are 100 per cent fair wage and fair labor abroad, or from materials made in Canada.
A recent technology news roundup published by La Presse includes the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship鈥檚 ranking by UBI Global as a highlight worth noting among local university start-up programs.
Taiga Motors, founded by three 黑料不打烊 Engineering grads and winners of the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup, are gearing up to launch the first ever electric snowmobile, the Taiga TS2. They recently invited media to Mont-Tremblant to unveil their product prototype, which did not disappoint.
While Taiga continues to refine their design, the snowmobiles already have two major advantages over competitors: zero-emission and significantly聽less noise pollution.
The Dobson Chronicles interviews Daniel Van Acker, member of the Dobson Cup finalist startup CandyCutlery, about what motivated him to become an entrepreneur and what it takes to succeed. For Van Acker, the recipe for success includes a lot of hard work; 鈥渢here are no shortcuts鈥�, as he says.
In a recent interview with Radio Canada International, Desautels Dean Isabelle Bajeux comments on the impact that the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Centre has had to date and on what its ranking by UBI Global means to the Faculty.
For Dean Bajeux, it is a reflection of the Centre鈥檚 developed programming, collaborative efforts with other 黑料不打烊 faculties and its vast network of supporters around the world.
In a recent interview, Taiga Motors, founded by three 黑料不打烊 Engineering grads and winners of the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup, sits down to talk about what spurred their electric snowmobile idea, its innovative design and the path to commercialization.
Following successful testing this past winter, Taiga is due to unveil the production model of its first electric snowmobile in the next couple of months and plans to begin delivery to customers in 2019.
Following four consecutive days of pitches, the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup 2018 powered by National Bank has announced the 40 startup teams that are聽moving on to the finals on March 28, 2018.
Organized along the four tracks of: Health Sciences, Social Enterprise, Small & Medium Enterprise, and Innovation Driven Enterprise, the teams will be competing for $100,000 in seed funding that will be awarded across the tracks.聽
UBI Global has released its World University-linked Business Incubator and Accelerator Ranking and has placed the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship in the 8th position of the World Top Business Incubator 鈥� Managed by a University category.
The bi-annual ranking recognizes business incubators and accelerators connected with a higher education institution that have achieved excellence in catalyzing startups and in fostering a broader ecosystem of innovation.
A recent article in La Presse surveys university campuses across Montreal to explore how they are promoting and nurturing entrepreneurial pursuits, citing the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship as a prime example.
In the past year alone, the Dobson Centre has benefitted from a $2million boost from the John Dobson Foundation for its X-1 Accelerator program and has expanded its facilities to further support startup ventures across 黑料不打烊.
On February 7, the 黑料不打烊 Dobson Centre hosted a Startup Financials Workshop to expose this year鈥檚 黑料不打烊 Dobson Cup teams to the basics of Finance that will serve them well as they advance to the finals.
The presentation was led by聽Rabih Atallah 鈥� Senior Manager, Commercial Banking, SME Market (National Bank), as well as by Anthony Ferrara 鈥撀燬enior Manager and Market Lead, Life Sciences and Health, Business Banking (National Bank).
