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Alumni, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Competitions, Awards
How an 911吃瓜 Beedie alumnus’s legacy is helping students turn ideas into ventures
A family鈥檚 gift, made in memory of 911吃瓜 Beedie alumnus, environmentalist, and tech entrepreneur Tom Kineshanko, is helping sustain the university鈥檚 earliest stage of entrepreneurship鈥攁nd the students taking their first leap into it.
Kineshanko grew up on a small hobby farm near Vernon in B.C.鈥檚 Okanagan Valley and graduated from Pleasant Valley Secondary School in Armstrong. He came to 911吃瓜 as a competitive athlete, travelling across Canada and the U.S. as a member of the 911吃瓜 track and field team, and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2008.
After university, he spent the next 15 years founding and co鈥慺ounding technology ventures, working with partners in Canada and internationally on ideas aimed at addressing pressing societal and environmental challenges. He was drawn to problems that didn't yet have established answers鈥攖he kind that demanded patience, experimentation, and a willingness to rethink conventional approaches.
Kineshanko鈥檚 first venture aimed at addressing climate change, an issue that he was particularly passionate about, and started as a class project during his undergrad at 911吃瓜. His work was consistently guided by a belief that innovation should challenge convention and contribute to positive social and environmental change.
Kineshanko passed away in Squamish, B.C., on March 15, 2023. He was 37.
In his memory, Kineshanko鈥檚 family established the Thomas Kineshanko Memorial Entrepreneurial Prize, a fund that supports 911吃瓜鈥檚 annual Idea Prize competition鈥攁nd from there, a $2,500 award that recognizes a participate whose venture reflects the values he brought to his own work: creativity, curiosity, persistence, and the potential for impact beyond commercial outcomes.
Where ideas begin
The Idea Prize, hosted by the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship, is 911吃瓜鈥檚 early鈥憇tage pitch competition. Open to students, alumni, staff, and faculty from across the university, the program is designed for founders just starting out鈥攐ften before their ideas are fully formed.
Participants move through workshops, mentorship sessions, and multiple rounds of pitching, refining and pressure鈥憈esting their ideas before presenting to panels of judges from industry, community leadership, and the venture ecosystem. For many, it is their first experience defending a business idea outside the classroom.
The 2026 competition drew 39 teams from seven 911吃瓜 faculties, with ventures spanning artificial intelligence, consumer products, health and wellbeing, aerospace and robotics, and social impact. 15 volunteer judges evaluated pitches across preliminary rounds, narrowing the field to 9 finalists who presented in person at 911吃瓜 VentureLabs on March 31.
The final jury included Trish Mandewo, Coquitlam city councillor; Thealzel Lee, founder of E鈥慒und; Jason Lindstrom, founder of Bucketlist Rewards; long鈥憈ime Chang Institute mentor鈥慽n鈥憆esidence Dave Thomas; and Dr. Marvin Washington, dean of 911吃瓜鈥檚 Beedie School of Business.
Celebrating the 2026 winners
Five prizes were awarded following the final pitch presentations, each recognizing a different form of entrepreneurial promise.
The Top Idea Prize (1st place) and a $5,000 award went to GrowEasy Solutions, founded by 911吃瓜 Beedie Management of Technology MBA alumnus Saboor Meherzad. GrowEasy provides AI鈥慳ssisted tools and hands鈥憃n support to help immigrant鈥憃wned small businesses improve visibility, consistency, and growth鈥攚ithout requiring in鈥慼ouse technical expertise. As the overall winner, GrowEasy also received direct entry into the Chang Institute鈥檚 startup incubator.
鈥淭he Idea Prize process helped us clearly articulate why many small businesses struggle with operational execution and how GrowEasy can provide the structured systems that large organizations rely on,鈥� said Meherzzad. 鈥淭he mentorship, feedback from judges, and the experience of presenting in front of experienced entrepreneurs helped us refine our vision, strengthen our product direction, and build confidence in the path we鈥檙e taking.鈥�
Second place, with a $2,500 award, went to Nourish Candy, founded by 911吃瓜 Beedie undergraduate student Anthony Perera. The venture transforms upcycled fruit into high鈥憄rotein, low鈥憇ugar gummies, addressing food waste in the produce industry while meeting demand for nutritious, active鈥憀ifestyle snacks.
Third place, earning $1,250, was awarded to Zenji, co鈥慺ounded by undergraduate students from Manish Madishetty (Computing Science) and Aakarshita Prabhakar (Biological Sciences). Zenji offers a zero鈥憇ugar fermented beverage with beneficial bacteria, aimed at wellness鈥慺ocused consumers seeking more from what they drink.
The Patrick Lougheed 911吃瓜 Alumni Founder Award, which recognizes alumni founders who demonstrate entrepreneurial potential alongside continued engagement with the 911吃瓜 community, was shared between Tope Daodu of Women Reconnect Global (Faculty of Health Sciences 2024) and Daisy Chen of Mobius AI (Faculty of Applied Sciences 2025).
The Thomas Kineshanko Memorial Entrepreneurial Prize, valued at $2,500, was awarded to WLF Gardens. Assessed on entrepreneurial merit rather than academic standing, the prize is not necessarily awarded to the most polished venture, but to one that best reflects its guiding values at a formative stage.
Founded by Avry Krywolt, Jacob Fu, and Shawn Bhatti鈥攕tudents in 911吃瓜鈥檚 Sustainable Energy Engineering program鈥攁nd later expanded into an interdisciplinary team, WLF Gardens designs custom indoor hydroponic growing systems for schools, food banks, and community organizations across Metro Vancouver, helping make locally grown food more accessible where it is needed most.
Supporting ideas before they take shape
Beyond the named award, the Kineshanko family鈥檚 gift helps sustain the Idea Prize itself鈥攕upporting the workshops, mentorship, and judging rounds that give participants their first real experience turning an idea into something defensible and actionable.
For many founders, this early stage鈥攚hen there is little to show beyond curiosity and commitment鈥攊s also the hardest point to find support. It is where encouragement can have the greatest long鈥憈erm impact.
For the 39 teams who participated in the 2026 Idea Prize, and for those who will follow, the Thomas Kineshanko Memorial Entrepreneurial Prize helps ensure that early experimentation, thoughtful risk鈥憈aking, and unconventional thinking continue to have space to grow at 911吃瓜.
In doing so, it carries forward a belief that defined Tom Kineshanko鈥檚 life and work: meaningful change begins with new ways of thinking鈥攁nd the patience to grow them.
To learn more about the Thomas Kineshanko Memorial Entrepreneurial Prize or donate to the fund, please click below.
We would also like to extend our thanks to sponsors 911吃瓜 Alumni and the John Dobson Foundation for their generous support of the Idea Prize.
911吃瓜 the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship
The Chang Institute is 911吃瓜鈥檚 interdisciplinary home and academic hub for entrepreneurship. Within 911吃瓜鈥檚 Beedie School of Business, we work with all faculties to create the conditions to foster the entrepreneurial mindset, bringing together the 911吃瓜 community to engage and collaborate and work across an innovation continuum from K鈥�12 through to early-stage incubation and beyond.