The investors have voted. The results are in. Kelowna-based Minga takes home the win.
After almost an hour of deliberation, the winner was announced and Jason Richards, founder of Minga took home the $155,000.00 prize. Minga is a school app designed to improve communication and build safe, amazing, and connected communities.
“In education, there is a positive correlation between communication and engagement,” said Richards. “From the standardized stuff to higher grade point average, attendance rates, graduation rates, mental health scoring, a sense of community, teacher retention, all of these correlate to improved engagement.”
Determining the winner in the final meeting wasn’t easy, according to lead investor Drew Shaw. “This year’s investor group has been highly engaged and hyper collaborative but it was still not an easy task to pick a winner,” said Shaw. “The caliber of all 6 of these companies was high and I have no doubt that this $155K investment is just the beginning.”
“The big win is the companies and community coming together and to develop the Angel network here.” Jason, Minga. But the process for Minga isn’t over yet—the angel investors will now negotiate with Richards on the details of the deal and where they go from here.The People’s Choice Award was also drawn during the finale’s events. Jason Bernhardt founder of Levity took home that prize. Levity is a social networking app designed with matchmaking in mind.
“It’s a novel way to meet people,” said Bernhardt. “When you’re using dating apps, you’re in it alone and choosing for yourself. The community helps each other find better matches than if they were just looking for themselves.”
In 2019, the inaugural Summit raised a total of $130K fund and was also the catalyst for more than $4M in committed investments for multiple participating companies. This year, 35 investors participated in the OKGN Angel Summit, creating a $155K investment fund.
“The OKGN Angel Summit was designed to bridge the gap between companies looking for growth capital and investors looking for investable companies”, says Thuy Tran, Programs Manager at Accelerate Okanagan.“This year’s 35 investors faced a really difficult challenge in choosing a winner as all 6 finalists were really strong candidates worthy of the $155K investment.”
Win or lose, the founders that participated in the Summit had an incredible opportunity to build personal connections with investors, industry experts, and mentors.
Want to learn more about the OKGN Angel Summit?
The Final 6 | Minga’s Jason Richards >>
The Final 6 | LivNao’s Daniel Leung >>
The Final 6 | VinStream’s Tasha Da Silva >>
The Final 6 | WalletCard’s Naveen Nand >>
