NEXT Canada F21 Annual Report - Report - Page 15
VENTURE SPOTLIGHT
A FRIENDLIER COMPANY
RUTH
Ruth makes sustainable periods easy with disposable
and 93% plant-based pads. After launching their pads on
Kickstarter, they’re moving towards an e-commerce D2C,
subscription-based distribution. Ruth pads are made from
kenaf fibre, a renewable plant, with a carbon footprint 5.3x
less than cotton used in organic cotton menstrual pads.
NEWS & UPDATES
Ruth was the winner
of the 2021 Scotiabank
Outstanding Contribution to
Society Award
A Friendlier Company is building a tech-driven reverse logistics
system to eliminate single-use packaging waste. They provide
reusable packaging to food service businesses, then track,
collect, and sanitize the packaging to be reused. Through their
QR-code tracking system, they can engage consumers, track
their packaging, and report sustainability impact data back to
their clients.
NEWS & UPDATES
»
•
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CBC NEWS: Edmonton entrepreneurs hope their ecofriendly products can help end period shaming
»
TAPROOT EDMONTON: Ruth wraps up Next 36, prepares
to launch products
FOUNDERS
Nicole Sanchez, Anka Chan
CITY NEWS: SkipTheDishes is getting friendlier with the
environment thanks to this Guelph-based company
FRIENDLIER: Friendlier receives $100k in funding from
Sustainable Development Technology Canada
“
FOUNDERS
Kayli Dale, Jacquie Hutchings
The Next 36 Program
was truly life-changing
and greatly increased my
confidence as a leader and
entrepreneur.
Kaylie Dale
Founder, A Friendlier Company
WAIVETHEWAIT INC.
WaiveTheWait is a digital consultancy that creates
optimized wait room experiences using user-centered
methodologies and cutting edge AI predictive
technology.
ACRYLIC ROBOTICS
Acrylic is a pre-seed art-tech startup and robotics company
designing a new way to digitize the consumer art industry
and manufacture fine art at scale. We’re driven by our goal
of making art accessible for all and empowering artists to
keep creating, and we’re currently developing the technical
infrastructure required to collect, analyze and transform
painting data and create painted reproductions through
robotic automation. We offer artists a comprehensive sales
management, manufacturing and fulfillment service that
allows them to focus on creating new designs.
NEWS & UPDATES
»
KINGSTONIST: Waive the Wait aims to cut down on
time spent in healthcare waiting rooms
»
GLOBAL NEWS: Queen’s University entrepreneurs develop
tool to aid vaccine rollout
NEWS & UPDATES
FOUNDERS
Anne Liu, Shreyansh Anand, Tabassum Pasha, Yifei Yin, Daniel Oh
CEO Shreyansh Anand, won the
RBC People’s Choice Awards on
NEXT Canada’s Venture Day
FOUNDER
»
Awarded the Audience Choice Prize at #POP2021, The
Pivot on Purpose Summit
»
MCGILL: Combining fine art, food and high-tech
Chloë Ryan
14 | ANNUAL REPORT
NEXT CANADA | 15