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MAKO Student Innovation Award

The MAKO Student Innovation Award is available to participants in Toronto Metropolitan's Zone Learning ecosystem who are working towards bringing a new commercial product to market. Annual MAKO Student Innovation Award recipients receive $10,500 to assist them in transforming their ideas and prototypes into market-ready products and successful businesses.

MAKO Design + Invent (external link)  is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services (external link)  tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. They have full-stack in-house industrial design services (external link) , mechanical engineering (external link) , electronics design and engineering (external link) , patent referral, prototyping services (external link) , and new product manufacturing (external link) . To assist their startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, Mako helps with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Founder Kevin Mako also hosts The Product Startup Podcast (external link) , the product development industry’s leading podcast.

VALUE OF THE AWARD

$10,500
 

KEY DATES & DEADLINES

Deadline to apply is Friday, March 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST

Live pitch event is March 27, 2024 at Sandbox, from 3-5pm
 

ELIGIBLE STUDENT GROUPS

  • Undergraduate 
  • Graduate 
  • Continuing Education 
  • Full-time
  • Part-time
     

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

  • Student must currently be participating in Toronto Metropolitan University's Zone Learning network and in good academic standing
  • If the submission is made by a team, at least one team member must meet the eligibility conditions
  • Student must have a physical mock-up/prototype and business plan by the adjudication date
  • Evidence of cross-zone collaboration is encouraged, but not mandatory
     

WEIGHTED CRITERIA

25% - Innovation in Product Design and Concept

25% - Marketability and Commercialization

25% - Business Model

25% - Social Impact
 

SELECTION AND ADMINISTRATION

  • Applicants will be shortlisted to a group of finalists. All finalists will be notified and invited to make a presentation in front of a selection committee. The selection committee will attend the adjudication event, watch all presentations, and make the final selection of recipient based on the weighted criteria.

How to apply

On the application, please be sure to include:

  • Full name and student number
  • Name of business/project
  • Current Zone
  • Photo or Video of your physical product prototype
  • 1 page to briefly describe: product concept, business model (e.g. your plan to generate revenue, target customer, possible supply chain, how you will market the product, etc.) and the social impact of your new product

Dates & Deadlines

Deadline to apply is Friday, March 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST

Live pitch event is March 27, 2024 at Sandbox, from 3-5pm

Pitch Competition Recap

What a journey it’s been! Let’s give a round of applause to our five finalists who pitched their startup ideas at the MAKO Student Innovation Pitch Competition; Ricardo Rambal Fattori (external link)  of Robbie Insurtech, Parnian Majd (external link)  Majd of Fibra Inc., Abdel Ali (external link)  of Kiwi Charge, Angelina Almanza (external link)  of CAT6, and Joseph Ojo (external link)  of Reindeere Robotics. Thank you for sharing your ideas and visions with us, and for shaping the future - one pitch at a time.

A special thanks to our judges Ryan Magee, Andrea Romero (external link) , and Cole MacDonald (external link)  for their insights and dedication, Torrey Sirdevan (external link)  from Lab2Market for being our enthusiastic MC, and to Wade Harmidy (external link)  from Mako Design + Invent (external link)  for the opening remarks.

Congratulations to Parnian Majd, Founder and CEO of Fibra for coming in first place and receiving $10,500! We can’t wait to see where you take your innovation! Parnian Majd has committed herself to transforming women’s reproductive health with smart underwear. Thanks to the MAKO award, they've secured $10.5K in funding and expert support, accelerating their journey from prototypes to market-ready products.