Demo Day Winter 2026
Why is this semester’s Demo Day an All-Star Pitch Competition?
It brings together top ventures from across COIE programs, creating a high-quality, competitive platform for Centennial students, staff, and community entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas, gain real-world feedback, and connect with industry.
The COIE Demo Day Winter 2026: All-Star Pitch Competition (March 31) delivered a flagship venture showcase with a two-round format: Startup Showcase and 3-Minute Pitch Final. It engaged over 85 attendees and 17 startups, with 5 finalists advancing. Judging included 11 judges in Round 1, 4 judges in Round 2 and 1 VC analyst observer. This event builds innovation skills aligned with Canada’s in-demand job market, strengthening career readiness and industry connections.
Strategic Priorities Alignment (Aligned with Centennial College Strategy)
“Demo Day is a powerful reflection of the creativity and commitment of our student entrepreneurs. Watching them build their ideas, engage with customers, refine and pivot their concepts, and grow in confidence makes showcasing their work at Demo Day especially meaningful.”
— Dr. Kailimi Li, Entrepreneurship Programs Lead
Meet our participants
- Startups focused on B2B tech and some food startups. Ventures addressed real-world challenges in healthcare, sustainability, AI, education, and consumer products.
- Participants from the most COIE programs, including Global Goals Jam Canada Winter 2025 and 2026, the Student Ambassador team, VR Lab, and DesTech, along with competitors from the Centennial College Black Student Association.
🏆 Best 3-Minute Pitch (Round 2 Judges’ Choice):
The Pickle Bank (Alumna: Andréa Maurice), A Global Goals Jam Canada Winter 2025 winner. Transforming surplus produce into zero-waste products.
🏆 Best Booth Award (Round 1 Judges’ Choice):
Adjuah’s Arts (Current Student: Astrid Cleare) is a creative art business with works on glass, fabric, and paper.
🏆 People’s Choice Awards: Shredded Punch (Rickey Allen), a natural juice startup and The Pickle Bank.
🏆Community engagement awards:
Muklan Mindease (Current Student: Katherine Quan), A screen-free sleep concept to reduce stress and improve routines; and Sentryify Inc.(COIE Community member: Claire Bussu), A cybersecurity startup focused on digital safety education.
Top 5 finalists:
- elerGreen (COIE Community member): Hui Huang Hoe
- The Pickle Bank (Alumna): Andréa Maurice
- INTEGRITI (Current Student): Mellisa Hannah
- TGP (TMU student: Arjun Thiruchchelvarajah, CC alumnus, Chaarm Suhanthan, UW Master student: Apisan Kaneshan)
- SkyFlow (Current student): Rushit Patel
Judges’ Profiles
Judges included 2 incubator team leads, 1 other college professor, 1 telecom innovation member, 4 founders, 3 COIE members, 2 Centennial Innovates leaders and 1 VC observer. Their diverse perspectives linked classroom learning to real-world practice, helping students refine ideas, strengthen pitches, and learn across disciplines.
- Jonathan Hack, Dean, Centennial Innovates, Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Centennial College
- Dr. Purnima Tyagi, Director, WIMTACH, Data Analytics and Digital Health Technologies, Centennial College
- Jesurun Ramesh, Ontario Centre of Innovation, Program Lead
- Adanna Amechi, Rogers Communications, Business Strategy Analyst
- Jerome Mugambi, OpenUp, Founder
- Naz Noorani, SOS Evolution Studio, Founder, Strategic Guide; and Calm Se Kaam, Co-founder & Advisor
- Christianna Chow, Conestoga College, Professor; Octopodi Technology, CEO & Co-founder
- Delaram Amani, DMZ, Programs Execution Lead
- Anferny Chen, DotsLive, CEO
- Zelani Bhuiyan, RideAlike, Co-founder & Head of Product
- Sunidhi Naik, Innovation Projects Coordinator, COIE (Demo Day W26 Experience Design Lead)
- Debbie Deer, Immersive Lab Coordinator, COIE (Demo Day W26 Community Engagement Lead)
- Pat Robinson, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, COIE (Demo Day W26 Judging Lead)
Learning Outcomes & Ecosystem Impact
- Strong experiential learning impact: Student founders strengthened their pitching, storytelling, and validation skills.
- Community Impact: Student ventures gained more visibility.
- Industry & Pipeline Impact: COIE connects students to real-world opportunities.
As a flagship event, COIE Demo Day Winter 2026 is a repeatable platform for venture creation, student development, and industry connections. Looking ahead, COIE will expand venture support, build workforce skills, and deepen partnerships, strengthening Centennial Innovates.