7 Waterloo Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2017
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Interested in pursuing a career in the tech space?You probably already know that Waterloo, Ontario (aka Canada’s very own Silicon Valley) is the ideal place to land a job. Whether it’s working for a startup, a leading tech company, or even launching one of your own, Waterloo is the place where Canadian tech innovations are born (after all, it's the birthplace of tech giants like BlackBerry and where Google currently has their HQ stationed).
If you're a recent grad or a tech-savvy millennial with some entry-level experience looking to build your career in tech, Waterloo is the ultimate place to start your job search. So to give you some motivation for your career #goals, we’ve rounded up 7 tech entrepreneurs to watch in 2017, straight from Canada’s tech hub.
From the founders of cool startups (ranging from wearable technology to indoor navigation maps and fitness apps), these Waterloo-based entrepreneurs keep making us proud with their awesome tech innovations. We can't wait to see what's next for these entrepreneurs in 2017!
Stephen Lake
Recently named one of “Forbes 30 Under 30” in 2017, tech entrepreneur Stephen Lakeis the co-founder of Thalmic Labs, a Kitchener-Waterloo startup that focuses on wearable tech (like their cutting edge Myo Armband, which lets you control your phone, computer, and other devices using touch-free motion control).
Hongwei Liu
Hongwei Liu is the co-founder of MappedIn, an indoor digital navigation platform used in retail spaces. He co-founded the company as a side gig back in 2011 as a solution to help users navigate where stores are (cause the struggle of walking around aimlessly to find a store is too real). But since then, the startup has grown rapidly and is now used by Toronto-based retail giant Cadillac Fairview for their shopping centres like the Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens.
Mallorie Brodie
Mallorie Brodie is the co-founder and CEO of GoBridgit, a Waterloo-based mobile app which delivers user-friendly mobile construction software (making home renos and construction projects that much easier for contractors!). If that’s not awesome enough, she was nominated for 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year by The Canadian Startup Awards and also recently landed a spot in Google’s Demo Day Women’s Edition!
Amad Abdullah
Amad Abdullah is the founder of Oneset, an innovative fitness app designed to help users find their perfect workout program from curated fitness videos (think Vine but for your fitness routine). It even allows users to track their progress at the same time. You might also have seen Amad pitch his startup idea on Dragon's Den!
Shiva Bhardwaj
Shiva Bhardwaj is the founder of Pitstop, an app that can be installed directly into your vehicle to keep track of your car's diagnostics port and let you know exactly when you car needs to be serviced. He founded the platform with the goal of creating an app that predicts vehicle failures before they happen (which means never having your car break down again because you missed that oil change).
William Zhou
William Zhou is the co-founder and CEO of Chalk.com, an educational platform geared towards K-12 teachers and schools to help organize things like lesson planning, student attendance, and grades all in one place, making it easier for teachers to connect with their students. William founded his first business in high school and he's come a long way since then (he was named one of “Forbes 30 Under 30” in 2015!).
Michael Litt
Waterloo U grad Michael Litt is the co-founder and CEO of Vidyard, a video-based marketing platform geared towards helping businesses create and manage engaging content. Michael Litt was nominated for 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year and was also named one of the "30 Under 30" by Marketing Magazine.
We don't know about you, but these young tech startup founders are seriously inspiring us to get out there and make our entrepreneurial dreams happen ASAP!
