Celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week at George Brown College
startGBC was truly honoured to serve as a delivery partner for Global Entrepreneurship Week 2024, a week that showcased the incredible entrepreneurial spirit within our George Brown College (GBC) community. Throughout 31 events, with 455 George Brown College students and alumni engaged, we experienced unparalleled energy, enthusiasm, and collaboration from students, mentors, alumni, and industry experts.
GBC’s Leadership in GEW Canada: Notably, George Brown College was recognized as the #1 delivery partner for GEW in Canada delivering 51% of all events hosted. This is a testament to the strength of our programming and the community we’ve built around entrepreneurship.
Incredible Contributions from Alumni and Industry Experts: We owe much of this success to our powerhouse of mentor-advisors, many of whom are George Brown alumni. Their expertise and dedication shone through in key events such as the Lunch Lab Series, #WhyNotMe panel’s that focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, and a Mocktail Networking Session. Their contributions not only inspired attendees but also underscored the value of alumni engagement in fostering entrepreneurial growth.
startGBC Global Entrepreneurship Week Highlights
- Learning Lab: Power of Persuasion - A standout session led by Ben Wise (Captivate) and Darren Chiu (Google), who captivated the audience with their insights on effective persuasion. The interactive format kept attendees engaged and left them with actionable strategies.
- Pitch It Competition - This year’s Pitch It GBC! competition was another major highlight. From 100+ applications, we selected 16 finalists - 8 in the operational founders' category and 8 in ideation. After intense rounds of pitching, we awarded winners with a total prize pool of $7,500 per stream. This initiative directly supports the growth and innovation of our most promising entrepreneurs.
- Scale Up Financial Simulation - Our Scale Up Financial Simulation was a resounding success and George Brown College became the first college in Canada to run a Scale Up weekend, until now, only previously delivered in universities. Despite being capped at 25 participants, we had a waiting list of another 25 eager to join. Those who participated gave rave reviews, as you’ll see in the video shortly. Even our master trainers, Michael and Stuart, were impressed by the engagement and enthusiasm of this cohort and expressed interest in running the simulation again.
startGBC looks forward to building on this achievement and to continue motivating and inspiring the next wave of budding entrepreneurs, as the gateway to entrepreneurship at George Brown College.
