Over 300 Celebrate Youth Innovation and Unlock their Potential at this Year’s Opportunity Fest 2022

Opportunity Fest 2022 (OppFest) is Simon Fraser University’s largest showcase of entrepreneurial projects. Hosted by the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship at SFU’s Beedie School of Business and made possible by Prospera Credit Union, this year’s first hybrid celebration brought together over 300 students, industry professionals, junior innovators, volunteers, and spectators. The showcase grew to national in scope, with participants dialing in from Atlantic Canada and guest mentors tuning in from Ontario!

OppFest brings together ambitious young leaders from elementary and high school programs PowerPlay and YELL through to university students in courses from the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. OppFest aims to inspire the new era of innovators and problem solvers through entrepreneurial experience and community, with successful entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial educators, industry innovators, and esteemed alumni volunteering their time to mentor students from grades 4 to final year undergraduate level! At the conclusion of the event, 41 student teams walked away with cash prizes meant to help fund their entrepreneurial solutions.

Learn more about Opportunity Fest 2022

Prospera Credit Union’s High Impact Innovator Grand Prize Winner

This year, Prospera Credit Union sponsored the High Impact award-winning team. To qualify for the High Impact award, student presentations must have clear potential for societal or environmental impact.

Niki Jelstad, Director of Marketing and Community Engagement at Prospera Credit Union stated that “Prospera was thrilled to once again be the title sponsor of OppFest for the fourth consecutive year. Personally, as a first-time mentor this year, it was inspiring to watch the students embrace the entrepreneurial spirit and pitch such innovative ideas and creative businesses. We’re incredibly proud to partner with both SFU’s Beedie School of Business and the Charles Change Institute for Entrepreneurship on this incredible event.”  

This year’s winning team is: FRS (Furniture Rental Services), Rinon Murashima & Valentine Chen

RFS is a venture for all students living in SFU residences who have concerns about financials, mental health, and sustainability. FRS furniture rental service allows students to rent sustainable furniture and home electronics that SFU Residence does not provide. Students can save money and time, and also have better mental health by contributing to saving the environment. The venture focuses on the sustainable issue of fast furniture. Most fast furniture is made with poor-quality materials, so they do not last long, and they often contain toxic chemicals, so they are not recyclable. FRS aims to solve this challenge by utilizing sustainable furniture and creating a circular system that is environmentally friendly.

Rinon Murashima, one-half of the FRS team, participated in OppFest through both the course BUS453 and BUS477. FRS (Furniture Rental Service) was Rinon and Valentine’s project from their BUS453 class. Rinon has prior experience at OppFest, having participated last year through BUS238, where her team Zipport won first place in Digital Solutions category. When asked about her experiences, Rinon said “I enjoyed OppFest 2021, so I was very excited to participate in OppFest 2022. My favourite things about the event are meeting other innovators and entrepreneurs who have wonderful ideas, as well as receiving valuable feedback from judges. One of my goals is starting my own business, so winning the OppFest grand prize – – the High Impact Award, definitely helped me gain more confidence and encourages me to become an entrepreneur in the future.”

Category Winners

1st Place Winners – Musicing

Adria Planas Rafel, Wong Edmond, Kamila Zastera, Samar Kapoor

2nd Place Winners – Cloud Swap

Lily Kahlon, Marshall Cai, Ashir Waseem, Cole Yarmoshuk, Anish Banik Arko

3rd Place Winners – String Labs

Eddie Cheng, Tanzir Alam, Collin Ng, Salmaan Visram, Alex Zastre, Rinon Murashima

Entrepreneur’s Choice Winners – Musicing

1st Place Winners – The Soapful Company

Peter Lee, Vaishali Gandhi, Cindy Quach, Ali Tohidi, Ani Beaubien

2nd Place Winners – House Buddies

Chloe de Beaupre, Laura Gomez Porcal, Stanislav Miller, Ansh Batla, Kirsten Wong, Daniel Baraghoush

3rd Place Winners – Mouse Trap

Marcus Szabo, David Go, Syed Ahmed Vajahath, Cynthia Guimaraes, Aretha Sia

Entrepreneur’s Choice Winners – The Soapful Company & Mouse Trap

1st Place Winners – FRS (Furniture Rental Services)

Rinon Murashima, Valentine Chen

2nd Place Winners – Hands of Gaea

Ryan Scott, Christine Vu, Calamus Yu, Jacopo Ceccarelli, Florence Cao

3rd Place Winners – GreenFoodSaver

Ranelle Radoc, Tony Kooliyath, Vicky Lau, Dakyung Go, Sophia Chen

Entrepreneur’s Choice Winners – Seamless Waste Solutions

Sophia Nguyen, Wilson Wan, Thomas Knoph, Bryan Cortes, Angad

1st Place Winners – Tracking Star Weights

Parsa Eslami, Sarah Osifo, Veronica Curry, Valentine Chen, Jaspreet Singh

2nd Place Winners – Formyk

Harshil Bhimani, Ryan Heo, Muhammad Abid, Frank Mansor, Freely Chui, Yash Vijay Bhavnani, Amy Morris, Rajan Aujla, Shreyas Kakulavarapu

3rd Place Winners – Student Athlete Appreciation

Francisco Sandoval, Arsh Bola, Steven Sharma, Thomas Jouve, William Shen

Entrepreneur’s Choice Winners – Soccer AI

Lluis Colet, Erik Evans, Shallyn Tenge, Damià Rodríguez Vilanova, Kiana Lee

1st Place Winners – 3D Heart Reader

Sajjad Esfahani, Angela So

2nd Place Winners – MAD Technology

Vivian Wong, Pranjal Biswas, Jack Tran, Livingston Pan, Ali Mirsalimi, Matthew Ariho, Daman Randhawa, Myungjin Jang, Nicole David

3rd Place Winners – Buddle

(Students did not wish to share names)

Entrepreneur’s Choice Winners – Health & Go

Caleb Hoey, Sorren Alex Jao, Jagan Lidder, Zaineb Khan, Triton Nguyen

1st Place Winners – Instruct.me

Coco Purbah, Tommy Goana, Paul Ursu, Homa Amani

2nd Place Winners – Metaversity

Eddie Cheng, Bryan Joseph, Cindy Wang, Kyle Chan, Delraj Sian

3rd Place Winners – ExpressIt

Azhy Hama Gharib, Kamryn Webb-Ferguson, Manveer Deol, Ryo Andreas, Gurleen Rupal

Entrepreneur’s Choice Winners – Instruct.me

Top Winner – CURA Health

Nargess Shokouhian, Danae Jan, Nic Bernard, Jayden Devji, Matthew Densky, Duncan Murch

Entrepreneur’s Choice – Textpad

Mehak Chhina, Melinda Ding, Chaehyun Park, Samantha Dean

Room A – Top Winner

Emmalee’s Scrumptious Scrunchies and Cookies

Room A – Entrepreneur’s Choice

Horseshoe Dreamcatchers

Room B – Top Winner

Blake’s Clip Keychains

Room B – Entrepreneur’s Choice

JK Keychains & Hayley’s Pickle Plushy 

Room C – Top Winner

Puffekins Bracelets & Diary of a Grizzly Bear

Room C – Entrepreneur’s Choice

Anti-Stress Balls

Room D – Top Winner

Marek’s Magnets

Room D – Entrepreneur’s Choice

Gem Jars of Joy

Room E – Top Winner

Lucy’s Keychains

Room E – Entrepreneur’s Choice

Seneh’s Scrubs & Anna’s Wonderful Wooden Nail Art

Prospera Credit Union

Built on over 75 years as a BC credit union, Prospera Credit Union is a community-based, purpose-driven financial institution that puts the needs of its members first. With 26 branches, Prospera is proud to serve communities from Vancouver through the Fraser Valley, and to the Okanagan. At Prospera, local banking means more expert knowledge and advice, fast and flexible solutions, a focus on people and our local communities and delivering a more personalized experience. To learn more about Prospera Credit Union, visit prospera.ca.

SFU’s Beedie School of Business

This year, Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business marks its 40th anniversary. Born of SFU’s radical roots, SFU Beedie has been “redefining radical” throughout its 40-year history by boldly stepping up, challenging convention, and changing course to lead in new directions. This ethos has made SFU Beedie a school of firsts: the first in Canada to offer an Executive MBA; the first in Canada to offer a Management of Technology MBA; the first and only university in North America to offer an Indigenous Business Leadership Executive MBA; and the distinction of being in the 1% of business schools with double accreditation.

Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship

The Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship is the interdisciplinary home and academic hub for entrepreneurship and innovation at Simon Fraser University. Located within the Beedie School of Business, the Chang Institute partners with all SFU Faculties. Here, a diverse network of people and ideas converge to create an environment that fosters entrepreneurial thinking and action. The Institute brings together SFU students, faculty, researchers and community leaders and welcomes entrepreneurs and innovators everywhere to engage and collaborate at the local and global levels.