The Vincent Hosang University of the West Indies Venture Competition (UWIVC) was introduced in November 2002 with the objective to encourage members of the University community to use their talents and skills to harness ideas and opportunities that can be grown into full-fledged operating businesses. Students from across all five faculties are encouraged to participate in an effort unleash their creative and innovative ideas. This is an essential part of developing valuable graduates and citizens.
Over the years, multiple teams have moved their business ideas to the next step of commercialization and it is also noteworthy that since its inception, several teams from the Venture Competition have gone on to represent UWI in the National Business Model Competition placing in the top four (4). Equally important is the impact that each year’s programme has had on the approximately 100 direct participants (facilitators, coaches, team members and mentors) and the wider community in building important bridges between the academic foundations and the practical demands of starting and operating a business.
Groups of students and budding entrepreneurs from various faculties at the University of the West Indies gathered at the Regional Headquarters, UWI Mona on Friday, January 25 to pitch their business ideas in the finals of the Vincent HoSang UWI Venture Competition.
The groups presented ideas spanning the areas of the environment, entertainment, travel and rural security with innovative concepts such as bio-degradable ‘plastic’ from Ja Bio Plastics; marine pharmacy products from e-Biome and a traffic prediction and transportation tracking platform from ReRoute.
At the end of the pitching sessions, the judges, Douglas Halsall, CEO, Advance Integrated Systems; Sherene Duncan Clarke, General Manager, Regus; Robin Levy, Group CEO, Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League and Lisandra Rickards, CEO, Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship selected the top three businesses. They are: JA Bio Plastics, Pree Labs and Carib Voxx which will receive cash prizes to the tune of $300,000, $200,000 and $125,000 respectively from private sector sponsors.
They will also receive an all-expenses paid five-day trip to New York, during which they will be exposed to relevant business and cultural experiences. In addition, the delegation will meet the HoSang Family and tour the family’s Caribbean Food Delight factories. The winning team will also get the opportunity to learn from several successful Jamaican business people living overseas, as well as spend time in a business incubator and receive training from the Mona Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Centre.
Samantha Williams, Managing Partner at JA Bio Plastics, said her team was humbled to have been named the winners of the competition but they were also beyond joyful at their win. She shared that the team will be moving on to compete in the National Business Model Competition and expressed her enthusiasm about travelling later this year to meet the HoSang family.
Second place winners, Pree Labs’ invention ‘Watch Dawg’, is a rural security system designed to combat praedial larceny by electronically securing farm lands. Pree Labs also walked away with the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s award for the ‘Most Commercially Ready’ business idea, which will see the team receiving capacity building training from the JSE.
In a letter, read by Tony HoSang on behalf of Sabrina HoSang-Jordan, representing the HoSang family, expressed regret at not being able to attend the finals and commended all teams on their efforts throughout the competition. She congratulated the winning team, who will be hosted by the HoSang family in New York over the coming summer.
In her greetings on behalf of the sponsors, Kim Mair, CEO, JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation - a major sponsor of the Vincent HoSang UWI Venture Competition for the past four years - noted that each year she is impressed by the level of innovation behind the business ideas.
“Every year I am inspired by the entries I see coming from the University of the West Indies because the ideas are absolutely fantastic. I don’t know how you guys come up with them!” she said. Mrs. Mair expressed anticipation in seeing the implementation of the ideas to operational businesses.
Commenting on the competition, Dr. David McBean, Executive Director, MSBM expressed the institution’s pride at the professional level of the competition and commended the students on their insight.
“I want to commend the young people who came out today and represented the university in such a remarkable way. You really did us proud. We at MSBM know that it is through entrepreneurship that Jamaica’s economy will really grow. So far, through this competition, we have had approximately ten companies that have been commercialized and we look forward to many more to come,” Dr. McBean said.
In addition to the Vincent HoSang Foundation and the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, sponsors of the venture competition include the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, Development Bank of Jamaica, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Regus, Jamaica Observer, JN Small Business Loans, Mona Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Centre and Jamaica Venture Capital.
University of the West Indies does it again, taking home not only First Place of the National Business Model Competition (NBMC), but Third Place as well.
Our very own newly minted VHEP Alumni have participated and made placements in the National competition. Five student teams from our programme went on to represent the University of the West Indies March 21-22, 2019 at the NBMC. The teams were, JA Bio Plastics, Preelabs , Carib Voxx , Align and ReRoute.
JA Bio Plastics and Pree Labs progressed to the Finals where they competed against four other student teams from University of Technology and Northern Caribbean University, where we walked away reigning champions and Third Place winners for the 2019 staging.
Congratulations again to all our students who participated and made us proud!