The Dawoodi Bohras of Toronto recently launched “110Labs”, a Business Incubator program as part of the global Al-Tijaarat al-Raabehah, an organization focused on building profitable and sustainable businesses across the world.
This business incubator program is created to help new startups succeed. The collaborative program provides local community members the tools they need to solve some of the problems commonly associated with running a startup.
In May, the 110Labs Business Incubator program hosted a virtual demo day that attracted over 400 participants via YouTube.
The participants who enrolled in this program started their journeys in early November 2019. Over the next 18 months, these entrepreneurs worked closely with mentors to further develop their business idea. The 110Labs program curriculum consisted of six comprehensive units that, when followed over the course of three weeks, exposes entrepreneurs to the many stages (and challenges) of turning a business idea into a tangible business offering.
Originally scheduled as a live event for April 2020 but delayed due to COVID19, the Demo Day provided a stage for friendly competition between four local participants – Aliasgher Dalal, Mustafa Ujjainwala, Ramla Bandukwala, and Murtaza Tinwala. These participants showcased their business innovations and were given access to a platform to facilitate future networking and growth. The 110Labs Demo Day concluded with the announcement of the winner – Ramla Bandukwala – who was recognized for founding the Ontario Montessori School.
This event also included several exciting and informative sessions, including an address by Honorable Minister Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister responsible for Small Business export promotion and international trade, and a member of parliament for Markham-Thornhill. This was followed by a speech by the president of Anjuman-e-Burhani, the Dawoodi Bohra community of Toronto, Mr. Zoeb Galiakotwala, who shared words of encouragement for the participants.
Commenting on the event, Honourable Minister Mary Ng said, “[The Dawoodi Bohra community] has adapted and innovated in ways to bring together today’s entrepreneurs and featured entrepreneurs who are providing their presentations. The 110Labs program continues to support aspiring business owners by hosting an experiential learning program that challenges participants to bring their ideas to life. This program is so much of your work that exemplifies the power of creating inclusive spaces for community members to collaborate and work together.”
Participants pitched their ideas to the engaged virtual audience. An esteemed panel of judges scored a winner based on a carefully reviewed criterion. In closing, Demo Day served as the ultimate culmination of the incubator and accelerator programs. The successful virtual event provided attendees with an opportunity to shine by bringing together companies, investors, mentors, and community members.
The participants were:
Ramla Bandukwala – Founder – Ontario Montessori School.
Ontario Montessori School offers a comprehensive program to provide a strong academic foundation with enrichment activities to help parents spend quality time with their precious children and with the goal of raising happy and kind global citizens.
Aliasgher Dalal – Founder – ThingSAGE Ltd.
Pre-installed, pre-provisioned solutions that offers Greenhouse owners with the ability to leverage insights and data to make smart decisions. Smart (IoT – Internet of Things) sensors provide the constant stream of data such as soil composition and moisture, temperature, light, humidity, air flow etc. and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) converts this data into actionable insights and recommendations. This new farming paradigm has shown 30% to 70% reduction in water consumption, up to 10% reduction in emissions, and 25% or more increase in profits across several commercial deployments owning to higher yields and lowered overheads. This is where ThingSage comes in: Our vision is to make this technology accessible to farmers operating at any scale by leveraging simple plug and play sensors that can be self-installed and provisioned in a modular design to keep the entry barrier low. On top of this, an intuitive user interface empowered by sophisticated AI promises to drive profitability from day 1, requiring minimal effort.
Mustafa Ujjainwala – Founder – Eizzy Cleaning Services
A modern and reliable way to source facility cleaning, carpet cleaning and floor tile cleaning.
Murtaza Tinwala – Founder – Cartoon Me!
A quick and innovative way to create personalized cartoons.