Vendors energized as startGBC hosts pop-up market event.
A display of local innovation was on full display at the recent pop-up market hosted by startGBC.
Held Aug. 6 at the St, James campus (200 King St. E.), the event hosted 20 local vendors – including student-run ventures and alumni-led businesses – giving them the opportunity to expand their client base and gain new feedback about their products.
“We are an incubator that supports any startups coming out of George Brown College or alumni. We do workshops, offer one-on-one mentoring, connect entrepreneurs with industry mentors, and even run a pitch competition with a $14,000 prize pot,” said Courtney Barr, events & project coordinator with startGBC. “The goal with this entire pop-up market is for the entrepreneurs to be successful, make sales, meet people, network, and see what their customers are saying about their products so they can improve or get new ideas.”
startGBC is a physical and virtual hub at George Brown College (GBC). With a goal of building entrepreneurship on campus and beyond, students and the community can be connected with supports to help them become more successful entrepreneurs.
Kicking off the day at 10 a.m. and running until 3 p.m., young entrepreneurs eager to connect with the community, spent the day getting more awareness to their businesses.
Some startGBC mentees took time to express their excitement about the outcome of the pop-up market and how startGBC has played a major role in their entrepreneurial journey, tracing their exposure and entrepreneurial knowledge to some of the programs offered by startGBC.
Ibrahim Ali is the co-founder of Healing Culture, a clean home fragrance business that sells non-toxic candles and diffusers.
“I’m a newcomer, and I’ve been here for three years. I don’t have the network, and Neil and startGBC helped me to find the network, helped me to reach out to different [places], where to find funding, and stuff like that,” said Ali. “I had all the resources to start the business, but startGBC helped me how to present it to people, how to market it to people. You know, they actually cemented my concept. And whenever I had doubts, whenever I had imposter syndrome, starGBC always supported me and pushed me forward.”
After the success of the recent pop-up market, there are indications that this is something they plan on bringing back. This serves as a strategic move to increase exposure and foot traffic for startGBC vendors during pop-up market events.
“Our goal is to host the pop-up twice a year, once in summer at the Waterfront Campus during Sounds in the City, and again in November during Global Entrepreneurship Week, which also ties into the Christmas shopping season,” Barr explained.
For more information, visit georgebrown.ca/startgbc.
