The University of Winnipeg Foundation launches “Dragon’s Den” style opportunity for investors to fund cutting edge research  Blog

The first by a charitable foundation in Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg Foundation (UWF) launched the Venture Fund Group initiative on Sept. 24. This brought University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg) graduate students and faculty members who are working on cutting-edge research projects together with a select group of local investors for a chance to receive funding for their projects. 

After hearing the researcher’s pitches, each investor can pledge up to $5000 of their own capital towards the group’s pool of funds, which the UWF matches dollar for dollar.  

“The idea behind this new initiative we’ve called the Venture Fund Group, was designed to connect a younger generation of donors with researchers working to solve key scientific and social challenges,” says Javier Schwersensky, UWF President and CEO. “The strength of this group comes from both the generosity of its members, and the freedom they have as investors to choose where they believe their funding will have the greatest positive impact.” 

The five investors, each with a connection to UWinnipeg or the Collegiate, are: Liz Choi, CEO of the Education of Canada Group; Jaclyn Christie, Vice President of Marketing at Payworks; Vinay Iyer, a Senior Enterprise Account Executive in Amazon Web Services Financial Services; Rohith Mascarenhas, Director, Regional Underwriting Operations for the Central Region at Wawanesa Insurance; and Liz Simmie, Co-founder of Honeytree Investment Management. 

“I went into the meeting thinking it was going to be like Dragon’s Den, which it certainly was, but it was also an enjoyable afternoon of graduate level lectures on a broad range of highly interesting topics,” said Simmie. “What I enjoyed the most is learning about four completely different areas of graduate and faculty research going on at UWinnipeg, straight from the experts. Being a part of this initiative will help bridge the activities of the school’s key stakeholders—students and faculty—with those willing to invest in their wonderful research and education.” 

The graduate students and faculty members who pitched their ideas included: Chathuri Mudalige, a graduate student in the Master in Environmental and Social Change program who is studying alternative methods for testing chemical toxicity in the Canadian arctic; Sara Pelland, a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program who is  studying the effect Indigenous police forces have on improving relations with Indigenous communities;  Sanoji Wijenayake, a Faculty member from the Biology Department who is researching the health benefits of early life maternal diets in infants and the link it shares with later-life health outcomes for offspring; and Chigbo Anyaduba, a Faculty member from the Department of English whose work involves analyzing the discourse surrounding African migration to Western countries and the attitudes held within these diasporas towards their new home and former country.   

“Seeing the passion coming from the researchers behind each of these projects being matched by the enthusiasm of our investors during our first meeting was an incredible experience,” says Schwersensky. “Pairing our Venture Fund Group investors with the inspired projects from our talented academics is a match that is sure to inspire the greater academic community here at UWinnipeg.” 

The Venture Fund Group will meet again on Friday, November 8, to discuss the research projects and decide on funding that will play a key role in helping researchers cover their costs.