Future You: Transforming research instincts into a successful business
Join our webinar, February 11, 2025 at 2 p.m. (EST)
Meet researchers who turned their curiosity and ambition into a thriving new company — and find out how you can do it too!
Has your research inspired a new product or service? Looking for guidance on how to launch your business idea? Learn how Canada is the ideal place to innovate and start your entrepreneurial journey. Get inspired by hearing how researchers-turned-entrepreneurs carved a path to become successful business owners. Find out about their ups and downs, learn from their vast experience, get tips on how to start your company and leave feeling inspired to take your ideas to the next level!
By the end of this online event, you will:
Get tips on how to move from researcher to entrepreneur
Learn about challenges and opportunities for launching a business
Access expert advice and gain confidence to start your entrepreneurial journey
Discover how to find a mentor, and what they can do for you.
Q&A: Bring your questions! This is your opportunity to speak directly to passionate entrepreneurs and get answers that will help you take the next step towards launching your own business.
Join us for this first of two conversations and watch for the next one coming spring 2025!
Featured speakers
Moderator
Jon French, Director of University of Toronto Entrepreneurship
Jon French is responsible for supporting and championing all entrepreneurship initiatives across the University of Toronto’s three campuses. As leader of the University of Toronto Entrepreneurship (UTE) team, he liaises with accelerator programs and key stakeholders in industry, government and the innovation ecosystem and oversees funding programs for U of T entrepreneurs. Under his leadership, U of T was recognized in a world benchmark study by UBI Global as one of the Top 5 University Business Incubators in the world in 2021.
Panelists
Brock Schuman, drug creator
Brock Schuman is CEO of Azor Biotek in Victoria, B.C., which leverages AI and high throughput robotics to design microRNA-targeting small molecules. MicroRNA are an underexploited therapeutic avenue applicable to nearly any disease indication. Azor is presently involved in projects designing bespoke therapeutics for cancer, stroke, opioid addiction, endometriosis and Parkinson’s disease. After he received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Victoria, he went on to postdoc at the University of Toronto and the United Health Network (now called Unity Health Toronto). It was around this time that he recognized the underexploited potential of drugs designed to target microRNA, leading him to launch his company.
Harsh Rathod, critical infrastructure protector
Harsh Rathod Co-founder and CEO of Niricson, in Victoria, B.C., leads one of the province’s fastest-growing startups, serving clients like BC Hydro, Ontario Power Generation, and major airports in over six countries to ensure the safety of bridges, dams and other critical infrastructure. The idea of using drones to safety-test and monitor infrastructure came to him while he was doing his PhD in civil engineering at the University of Victoria, and eventually became the heart of his company.
Kritika Tyagi, biomaterials innovator
Kritika Tyagi, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and Co-Founder of erthos®, in Toronto, Ont., merges her expertise in ecology and plant biology with manufacturing technology to innovate biomaterials. Her company launched ZYA™, which uses AI to generate new, scalable formulations for biomaterials to meet client needs while reducing project costs and development time by several months.
Ravi Kempaiah, electrification champion
Ravi Kempaiah is CEO at Zen Energy in Dartmouth, N.S., which is innovating and commercializing long-lasting batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Finding inspiration from the transformative battery research being done at Dalhousie University, he started Zen as an e-bike company. Driven by his passion for e-mobility and his recognition that battery technology is the core of all forms of electrification, the company quickly evolved to develop batteries for other light electric vehicles.
Don’t miss this opportunity!