Launched by the Centre's Director, Lydia Bukkfalvi, the evening was emceed by Lant Rakoto, co-ordinator of the Défi Entrepreneuriat Diversité and coach to the participating teams.

The business projects presented were:

Mécanisme horloger: Variable sinusoid mechanism for luxury clockworks
Psychofiches: Module-based records system to support psychosocial intervention work
Mademoiselle Mai: Organic beauty products made with locally sourced ingredients
Dysludique: Site for sharing fun and educational games
Santose: Sugar manufacturing process based on erythritol
Antocyane: Bioproduct for processing wastewater using flocculation
MedVi: Application for efficient collection of data on medication side effects

The jury comprised representatives from the prize sponsors: Jean Choquette, Director, Strategic Planning and Government Relations and jury chair, Polytechnique Montréal; Alain Bélanger, Senior Partner, Novacap; Thomas Martinuzzo, Manager, Business Development and Startups, Univalor; Charles Daoust, lawyer, BDSL s.e.n.c.r.l.; and Hélène Grangé, Senior Research Advisor, Bureau Recherche Développement Valorisation, Université de Montréal.

After deliberating, the jury awarded the following prizes:

1st prize and audience choice award: Antocyane, Nicolas Berthod (UdeM)
2nd prize: Mécanisme horloger, Nicolas Mouret (Poly)
3rd prize: Psychofiches, Marc-Olivier Schüle (UdeM) and Geneviève Chénard (UdeM)

The evening ended with festivities and networking over much-enjoyed wine and cheese.

About the Défi Entrepreneuriat Diversité

This initiative, funded by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Diversité et de l'Inclusion du Québec (MIDI), aims to provide personalized supervision services to students born outside of Canada who wish to develop a business idea. The first two editions were very successful, and a Défi will be included in the Centre's programming for fall 2015. Stay tuned for the recruitment period!

Photo credit: Centre d'entrepreneuriat Poly-UdeM