News

Agri-Scene Cuisine took home first prize at the Agricultural StartUp weekend held in the MacRae library this past weekend. Over 90 people participated in the event- the first major event held in the agricultural sandbox, Cultiv8.

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing and market validation. The weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

There was solid representation from Dalhousie with students from both campuses in attendance, as well as students from Acadia, St. Mary's, Holland College and NSCC.  There were also members of the community who attended and worked on teams to learn the art of Start Up.

The winning team was led by Dal-AC International Food Business student Jeremy Stroud and their winning concept was an agri-tourism venture that will see chefs host high-end dining experiences on-farm. Jeremy and his team have earned a prize valued at $6500 that includes a small amount of cash as well as in-kind support from lawyers, accountants and consultants to help develop their business concept.

Check out the Cultiv8 website and Facebook pages in the coming days for more results.