UPEI business start-up winners announced at 2025 MacLauchlan Panther Pitch competition
On Monday, April 7, nine student teams pitched their business concepts to a live audience for a share of $68,000 in prize money in the 2025 MacLauchlan Panther Pitch competition at the UPEI Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship.
The nine finalist teams were GreenGuard Solutions, Purely PEI, Co-Net, NoteSwap, Float & Putt PEI, LimbRise, TechLend, TAKSI, and UPSTART.
The competition for entrepreneurial undergraduate and graduate students is part of the Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program. Seventy-one students representing 29 companies participated in the program this year, from the faculties of business, sustainable design engineering, science, and arts.
Teams chosen to pitch in the final event earned significant public exposure for their start-up ideas and competed for a portion of the prize money, which is to be used to support their start-up venture. Wade MacLauchlan, President Emeritus and son of Harry W. MacLauchlan, attended the event and presented the prize money and awards.
GreenGuard Solutions, founded by business student Liam Ellis, is providing a new method of mosquito and black fly management for golf courses and municipalities, using drone technology to identify standing water and applying Bti to hotbeds of biting insect growth. 
Pitch funding: $15,500
Most Innovative Venture Written Award (tied for 2nd place): $1,000
Founded by business students Daniel Longarela Gonzalez, Grant Schell, and Kamari Scott, Float & Putt PEI is proposing the installation of a new miniature golf course in North River, PEI, as part of the Milky Way tourism destination through partnerships with local businesses and top-quality course design.
Pitch funding: $10,000
NoteSwap, founded by Ilyas Aderbaz (computer science) and Kamil Belbachir (business), is an AI-powered extracurricular management system (EMS) designed specifically to centralize, track, and leverage student extracurricular activities such as volunteering, leadership, club involvement, and peer tutoring. It provides real-time, actionable insights to schools, helping them effectively support and enhance student development beyond academic grades.
Pitch funding: $10,000
Purely PEI, founded by Erika Marcelo (biology) and Diya Bubna (business), is a pet wellness company using locally sourced ingredients like lobster byproducts and blueberries to create dog treats that are not only nutritious but also allergy-friendly and sustainable with original formulation.
Pitch funding: $8,000
Most Effective Slide Deck Pitching Award: $2,000
TechLend is a technology service company dedicated to bridging the gap in access to affordable and reliable devices. By partnering with seniors’ homes, academic institutions, and community organizations, the company offers its products to students, working professionals, and newcomers, ensuring that individuals have the right tools—whether for temporary projects, academic success, or career growth. It was founded by Daniel Odoom (computer science), Eric Oroku (computer science), and Tomiwa Adebowale (engineering).
Best Market Research Written Award (1st place): $2,500
Scalability Excellence Written Award (1st place): $2,500
Dynamic Pitch Delivery Pitching Award: $2,000
LimbRise, which was founded by Richard Hetherington (engineering), Noor Abdelhamid (engineering), and Daniel Lewis (business), is developing a patent-pending mobility aid designed as a superior alternative to crutches and wheelchairs. Targeting individuals with leg injuries, the mobility aid enhances mobility, independence, and safety.
Most Innovative Venture Written Award (1st place): $2,500
Best Market Research Written Award (2nd place): $1,000
Positive Impact Written Award (2nd place): $1,000
Founded by business students Johnson Dowa and Vlad Szoke, Co-Net is an affordable, coach-focused performance-tracking hardware and software solution for collegiate and semi-professional football (soccer) teams in North America.
Q&A Specialist Pitching Award: $2,000
Scalability Excellence Written Award: $1,000
The following companies were not finalists in the pitch competition but won other prizes:
Eatzy Choice was founded by business students Satilesh Beersing and Shaun Taylor. This startup company is dedicated to optimizing grocery spending through smart meal planning and real-time price comparisons using a subscription model to simplify meal planning by providing personalized recipe recommendations and automatically generating grocery lists based on local grocery store deals.
Positive Impact Written Award (1st place): $2,500
Best Financial Plan Written Award (2nd place): $1,000
Convergence Consulting, which was founded by business student Myles Grant and engineering students Jimmy Hulton and Brian MacDonald, provides expert consulting to manufacturing clients on how they can implement and incorporate machine learning into their processes.
Best Financial Plan Written Award: $2,500
Alpha Engineering is developing byproducts such as biochar, activated carbon, and carbon electrodes for multiple industries, most notably agriculture, air, water and oil filtration, and lithium batteries and superchargers. The company was founded by Japhet Maciphisa (engineering), Avneet Kaur (engineering), Ruth Cano Torres (applied communication, leadership, and culture), and Treasure Midzi (business).
Most Innovative Venture Written Award (tied for 2nd place): $1,000
The Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program is dedicated to the development of students who have an entrepreneurial outlook and will create and lead new ventures on PEI. Harry W. MacLauchlan (1926–2002) combined his entrepreneurial initiative, work ethic, business judgment, and people skills, with a deep commitment to his family, community, and province. The MacLauchlan family endowed this award to help advance and encourage entrepreneurial students at UPEI to build innovative ventures that will grow and benefit Prince Edward Island communities.
Photo: Wade MacLauchlan, President Emeritus and son of Harry W. MacLauchlan, congratulates UPEI business student Liam Ellis, founder of GreenGuard Solutions, on his success in the 2025 MacLauchlan Panther Pitch competition at the UPEI Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship on April 7.
