Posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2025
On March 25, aspiring entrepreneurs from Algonquin College participated in an exclusive mentorship session with members of the Capital Angel Network (CAN), Ottawa’s largest network of early-stage investors. The session was part of a larger event that marked CAN’s official return to campus, as they hosted their members’ meeting at Algonquin College for the first time in many years. Held in Nawapon and the DARE District Incubator, the gathering brought together seasoned investors and members of the College community in a space designed to spark conversation, collaboration and opportunity.
The mentorship session itself was intimate in nature, with approximately ten participants—including student founders, faculty, employees and administrators—invited to share their early-stage ventures and innovation projects. The session was led by two distinguished CAN members: David A. Hayes, a seasoned global technology investor and board member of the Capital Angel Network, and Marc-Antoine Ruel, the owner of fghbuild, specializing in infrastructure observability and engineering productivity consulting.
David and Marc-Antoine offered practical insights and fostered an open dialogue that made the session a dynamic and empowering experience for all involved. They emphasized the importance of networking and timing—underscoring how critical it is to connect with the right partners and enter the market at just the right moment.
At the heart of the discussion was the role of investors in shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Participants explored what it means to be investor-ready, the complexities of giving up equity, when and how to pursue patents and how intentional investment decisions can support long-term growth—not just short-term traction.
This mentorship session—and the broader return of the Capital Angel Network to campus—reflects a shared commitment to creating meaningful spaces for innovation, learning and entrepreneurial growth. A sincere thank you to CAN for inspiring our student entrepreneurs and reigniting a powerful connection with Algonquin College. Together, we’re building a stronger, more connected future for entrepreneurship in the National Capital Region.
Posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2025
On June 27, Innovation & Entrepreneurship held the third edition of the ACTIVATE Pitch Championships, where the top teams from the Winter 2025 Entrepreneurship Co-op (eCo-op) cohort pitched their tech and tech-enabled ventures to a panel of judges from both industry and the College community. This term, the presenters set out to tackle problems ranging from student quality of life to property management to telecommunications.
The winning team received a non-dilutive grant startup grant, provided by FedDev Ontario through a partnership between Algonquin College and Invest Ottawa. This funding will help the winner officially launch their business and, hopefully, set them up for lifelong success on their terms.
The winner of ACTIVATE for Summer 2025 was L&lord, an all-in-one platform designed to help small landlords and property managers centralize and automate their business processes. Imarni Odongo, a student in the Bachelor of Technology, Business Systems Development, will have the opportunity to work with Invest Ottawa to bring her venture to market.
“Although we saw students competing today, ACTIVATE is about way more than a pitch competition,” said Stephen Gagné, Entrepreneurship Officer at Algonquin College. “It’s about giving students a chance to build something amazing on their terms. It’s about celebrating the ups and downs of the entrepreneur’s journey. And, more than anything, it’s about giving our Learners a place to test the skills their programs teach them in a real-world context.”
The ACTIVATE Pitch Championships were the culmination of weeks of hard work from AC Learners who not only grew as future professionals in their field but also as entrepreneurs. Ultimately, ACTIVATE serves as living proof of the value of learner-driven experiential learning and the many ways Algonquin College helps set Learners up for lifelong success.
Posted on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022
Many employers who include co-op as a part of their recruitment strategy are doing so to fill employment gaps, access motivated candidates, and create a talent pool for succession planning.
Meet Michaela Gooding, a Technical Writer student who completed her co-op work term at the CRA and was hired full-time after graduating. After completing her undergrad and hearing many positive experiences from recent AC graduates, Michaela decided to apply to Algonquin College in the Technical Writer Co-op program. Michaela’s decision to pursue a college degree after her undergrad resonates with many students:
“After graduating from university in the Spring of 2020, I felt unprepared to enter the job market; having a great amount of theory-based knowledge yet I did not feel prepared to apply it in a practical way to a job.” Many co-op students like Michaela come to Algonquin College to complete their technical training and benefit from the variety of experiential learning opportunities. “I felt hesitant entering a full-time office-based environment, and found the Co-op training and preparation course offered by the college, to be incredibly insightful.”
Michaela’s key responsibilities while working as a co-op student at the CRA included:
- Technical writing for translation of IT Design Documentation to business language
- Translating into plain language for a broader audience for presentations
- Preparing and presenting for a wide audience of stakeholders, and more.
“Michaela was able to carry out with ease and confidence to a wide audience.”
– Manji Pigilam, Acting Project Coordinator, Michaela’s Supervisor at the CRA.
Halfway through her co-op work term, she was offered a permanent position and joined the team full-time after she graduated. This co-op success story is an excellent example of cooperative education working as a recruitment pipeline for Algonquin College employer partners.
Algonquin College nominated Michela for the EWO Co-op Student of the Year Award for her co-op engagement.
Connect with us to get started on hiring an Algonquin College Co-op Student:
https://www.algonquincollege.com/coop-career-centre/hire-a-coop-student/
Posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2022
When we last spoke with eCo-op student Chris Hing in the summer, he was hard at work on his software prototype and was awaiting patent approval. We wanted to inspire other students who perhaps share a similar entrepreneurial side and show how eCo-op can help launch your business idea into the real world.
Chris has been quite busy in these last few months, since graduating from Algonquin College in December, he has been focusing all of his time on VODL, the business idea he worked on during his eCo-op term. For Chris this meant; upgrading the extension, preparing it for publication on the chrome store, reaching out to his eCo-op contacts for support and advice, drafting his proposal for his patent application, designing the logo, and launching the website. On February 14th, he filed for his provisional patent application. Chris is now promoting VODL and can speak to the specifics of the concept he has created.
What is VODL? VODL is a programmatic solution to help online content creators secure their videos from copyright infringement through content synchronization. Essentially, VODL protects YouTube and YouTube Creators from infringing on copyright law.
How does this work? The VODL extension sets a series of trigger points along the timeline of VODL YouTube videos. These trigger points define what and when copyright content is displayed to the viewer. When the VODL YouTube video reaches its first trigger point, copyright content opens and plays in a synchronized window. Other trigger points can be added to define automatic, play events, pause events, seek events, and more.
Chris is excited for the future of VODL: “My goal is to license my patent-pending software to various social media platforms like YouTube.”
Chris has worked hard and fully incorporated the tools at his disposal during his time at Algonquin College, making his journey an experiential learning success story. We wish Chris the best of luck with the next phase of VODL.
Visit the VODL website and watch the Youtube video for more on information:
https://www.vodl.ink/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnNlN0nqZhk
Chris Hing: info@vodl.ink
For more information on eCo-op visit our website:
https://www.algonquincollege.com/coop/ecoop/
Posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2022
Nancy is an Office Administration-Executive co-op student currently working as a Co-op Career Leader. Like many Algonquin College co-op students, Nancy brings her newly gained knowledge from her program and experience and skills from a previous career to her co-op work term.
Nancy taught French as a second language to elementary school children, helping them overcome the challenges and barriers that come with learning a new language through play and activities. She also worked for over ten years as an office administrator. “My career started in Botswana as a receptionist, and through my strong determination, excellent communication skills, and commitment to my job, I delivered excellent customer service and was promoted to administrative assistant.” Nancy decided to take her career to the next level and enroll in the Office Administration Executive program at Algonquin College. Her combined experience and interpersonal skills make Nancy a great co-op contact for students.
Nancy’s contribution to the co-op team is key to helping students find success in co-op. As a successful co-op student herself, she provides students with feedback on their resumes, cover letters and conducts mock interviews to help students prepare.
We asked Nancy to offer her key recommendations for a successful co-op job search. Here are her five tips:
- Whether you have work experience or not, be sure to use examples of the skills you are learning and how you are applying them in class or your schoolwork. Use it to your advantage by applying the technical and transferrable skills you are currently learning.
- Remain committed throughout the process. Stay informed on key dates and job application rounds, and check HireAC regularly for job postings. Make sure you are conducting a self-directed job search as well.
- Do your research! Research the organizations you are interested in by reading the mission statements and studying the website.
- Read the job posting attentively. Tailor your resume and cover letter to the requirements and offer examples.
- Reflect on your strengths and make them stand out in your resume and cover letter.
If you are a student looking for help securing a co-op job for your upcoming work term, book an appointment with Nancy by logging into HireAC and selecting the “Book an Appointment” option.
Or reach out: coopandcareer@algonquincollege.com