Ivey came onto the Canadian entrepreneurship scene with full force this year.
Of the 36 alumni selected from universities all over the country for this year’s Venture for Canada (VFC) fellowship, an impressive 10 represent Western University, nine of whom are HBA '15 graduates from Ivey, making it the school with the highest number of fellows participating in VFC 2015.
VFC is a fellowship for top young university graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset. The selected fellows receive five weeks of training alongside some of the top entrepreneurial experts in Canada and, upon completing their training, spend two years working at innovative startups across the country. VFC provides its fellows the unique opportunity to build a powerful network and launch their careers as entrepreneurs.
Victoria Limary, HBA ’15, fell in love with entrepreneurship working for two startups during the summer of 2013.
“Venture for Canada was appealing to me because the program offers you connections to the fastest growing startups in Canada,” said Limary. “And Venture for Canada itself is a startup, which means there is a lot of change and learning. But that's why it's so exciting to be a part of the first cohort.”
For fellow VFC participant Brady Burke, HBA ’15, a trip to Ghana through the Ivey LEADER Project in 2014 sparked his passion for entrepreneurship and social impact.
“The values I learned through that experience align perfectly with the goals of Venture for Canada,” said Burke. “It was the perfect opportunity to engrain myself in Canada’s exciting startup scene for the coming years.”
Combining his passion for entrepreneurship and social impact, Burke currently works at Textbooks for Change, a company started by Ivey graduate Chris Janssen, which provides affordable and accessible educational materials to students both locally and abroad.
Also working for a business started by an Ivey graduate, Limary works with the Business Development team in San Francisco for Universe, an event ticketing platform founded by Craig Follett, HBA ’08.
In preparation for working with these startups, fellows participated in a five-week boot camp where they lived in a residence with the other participants, attended classes and learned from experts in the startup community.
“It was absolutely incredible to work with people who were so passionate, driven, and excited to learn,” Limary commented. “My fellowship class has become an invaluable network, and more importantly, we've become a family.”
For Burke, the feeling is mutual. “The Venture for Canada team is one of the most diverse, interesting, and supportive groups of people that I’ve ever been in a room with. I learn something new from all of them every time we meet-up.”
Venture for Canada 2015 fellows representing Ivey Business School and Western University:
- Brady Burke, HBA ’15 – Completed dual degree at Ivey and the Media, Information, & Technoculture program at Western University
- Shivani Chotalia, HBA ’15 – Completed dual degree at Ivey and Western University for Green Process Engineering
- Jordyn Fitzgerald, HBA ’15
- Vikram Kalia, HBA ’15 – Completed dual degree with Ivey and a BSc in cell biology/genetics
- Jonathan Li, HBA ’15
- Victoria Limary, HBA ’15
- Russell Silver, HBA ’15
- Mili Trapara, HBA ’15
- Jonathan Vollett, HBA ’15
- Michael Xu, Western University ’14– Double major in Business Management and Organizational Studies, and Finance; and a minor in Creative Writing
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