Photo Credit: Annie Spratt (via Unsplash)
The Mel Woodward Cup is a memorial competition that carries on the values and ambition of Dr. Mel Woodward, who founded the Woodward Group of Companies. Dr. Woodward began his journey as the leader of his startup company with only $300, invested in him by his wife. Donations made by Mel Woodward’s family to the MUN Faculty of Business amounting to $1.13 million dollars fund this competition. This year, the competition announced the unveiling of a physical Cup to be presented to the winner of the competition.
The Mel Woodward Cup is a competition for students who are looking to put together or who already have a startup company. The motivation behind this competition is to provide financial aid to the top two most promising and innovative startups that are led by MUN students. The winning student team receives $25,000 in funding, while the runners-up receive $15,000. Applications for the cup begin yearly in December and finalist competitions occur in March.
This year’s winners of the Cup were Audyse Technology who are entrepreneurs of motorcycle active noise canceling technology. Their innovative technology is designed to protect your hearing while adjusting your audio or music to convenient levels depending on your current surroundings. Their system is capable of distinguishing between city and highway conditions as well as noise reduction requirements while your vehicle is stopped. Audyse Technology’s Summit system is easy to use and provides essential protection against hearing loss. Audyse Technology was founded by Robin Murphy, Joel Hatcher and Keeley Flynn. If you want to learn more about the Summit system, you can visit their website.
The 2021 runner-up company for the Mel Woodward Cup was Bx Medical Solutions, which was founded by Alex Mills and Malcolm Snow. Bx Medical Solutions aims to help bariatric surgery patients to track their progress post-surgery and contact their healthcare professionals through their online platform. Bariatric surgery is a weight loss procedure that has proven to be the most effective method of surgery-assisted weight loss. The technology provided by Bx Medical Solutions will seek to improve the recovery and progress of bariatric surgery patients by helping them to keep track of their mental and physical wellbeing. It will also allow clinical care teams to monitor their patients’ progress and provide instant feedback on any potential problems. Visit Bx Medical Solutions’ yaffle profile to learn more.
I had the pleasure of interviewing the entrepreneurs behind the 2021 winning company and the runners-up. See the complete interviews below with Robin Murphy (Audyse Technology) and Alex Mills and Malcolm Snow (Bx Medical Solutions) for their perspective on this year’s competition and their advice for students who would like to compete next year.
Audyse Technology – 2021 Mel Woodward Cup Winner
Interview with Robin Murphy:
Hayley:
What was your first reaction to hearing that your startup company won the Mel Woodward Cup?
Robin:
It was really surreal; it was almost hard to believe when they announced our name.
H:
What did you think about the competition being held online this year? Do you think the online aspect had a positive/negative impact on the dynamics of the competition, or no impact at all?
R:
“I think it’s amazing that the MCE was able to organize such a big competition in this time, going from having in-person presentations to virtual is a major change. I think completing the competition online actually allowed competitors to have more freedom with the presentations, and it was great to see everyone’s different ideas for products and presentation styles.”
H:
What do you think about the unveiling of a physical cup?
R:
I think it is really cool, Florian from the MCE actually came to my house to deliver it, so it was really amazing being able to see a cup with our names engraved on it.
H:
How has winning the Mel Woodward Cup affected your plans for the future of your company?
R:
It really helped us propel our development, with the funding, it has given us the opportunity to get resources and talent that would have been really hard without the funding. And not to mention the connections we made through the MCE and MWC will really help us propel to the next level.
H:
How has winning the cup affected your life as a MUN student (if it has)?
R:
Honestly, it really hasn’t
H:
What inspired you to start your own business?
R:
My mom has a disease called Ushers Syndrome, meaning she has progressive hearing and vision loss, so, from a really young age I learned that protecting your hearing is important and once you lose your hearing it’s gone. So, when I started riding motorcycles I learned about low-frequency hearing loss and how there was no solution to prevent it effectively. So, that’s why I started Audyse, then as we keep researching and talking to potential customers, we started realizing that this solution could be used in much more than motorcyclists.
H:
What motivated you to apply to the competition?
R:
It would be easy to say the money, which, really does help a start-up. But I think the biggest thing is the experience and the exposure. It’s amazing to be able to stand up and present something you are passionate about to a group of people you’ve never met before in your life.
H:
What advice do you have for students who are thinking of applying for the Mel Woodward Cup competition next year?
R:
The biggest thing is to really know your product, your solution, what you are trying to complete and achieve. If you really understand what you’re doing people listening to you can feel that and see your passion. Obviously, have a working product or MVP is nice, but really, it’s the idea and the effort and passion you have to make this a real company.
Bx Medical Solutions – 2021 Mel Woodward Cup Runner-Up
Interview with Alex Mills and Malcolm Snow:
Hayley:
What was your first reaction to hearing that your startup company won runner up for the Mel Woodward Cup?
Alex and Malcolm:
We were absolutely thrilled (and speechless!). Initially we started talking about how all of the miscellaneous meetings over the last several months were all leading up to this moment, but to actually be experiencing it was different. It was both of our first time pitching our idea to experienced entrepreneurs, so we were anxiously waiting to see how the judges would react to our idea.
H:
What did you think about the competition being held online this year? Do you think the online aspect had a positive/negative impact on the dynamics of the competition, or no impact at all?
Alex and Malcolm:
First off, we want to emphasize just how difficult it is to host an event like the Mel Woodward Cup online. The MCE team did a fantastic job at facilitating this process, and in the end created an incredibly successful and engaging event given the current circumstances. Creating a “pitch” was somewhat easier to do, whereas we were required to create a 4-minute video versus pitching to a live audience. However, filming and creating an engaging video in of itself is a challenging task. One downside to any online event is going to be the missed connections that are made organically in-person. However, I think the online system that was used had the option to meet new people, but we were unfortunately unable to use this service as we were participating.
H:
What do you think about the unveiling of a physical cup?
Alex and Malcolm:
It’s an excellent addition to an excellent competition! Having a physical symbol that can be attached to the event certainly adds another dimension of engagement between participants and the competition.
H:
How has being winners of the Mel Woodward Cup competition affected your plans for the future of your company?
Alex and Malcolm:
It has had a serious impact on our future plans! With the financial and in-kind prizes that we won; we can now act on some of the plans we made earlier this year. Our ongoing goal for 2021 is to develop our MVP platform and then conduct a pilot project. We will leverage funding received from the Mel Woodward Cup to work towards this.
H:
How has being winners in the competition affected your life as a MUN student (if it has)?
Alex:
Life as a MUN student has gotten a whole lot busier! The last couple of months of my work term flew by as evenings were consumed working towards the Mel Woodward Cup and Bx Medical Solutions in general. I expect this to continue as the summer semester approaches as we make a push towards application development.
H:
What inspired you to start your own business?
Alex and Malcolm:
This is an excellent question with several answers. First off, both Malcolm and Alex saw the opportunity that existed within our target market, and we believed that we could help fill that need. We also think it’s a really good time for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to start creating their own businesses, as there are several excellent support programs that offer help to new companies. Notably, the team at MCE, Bounce Health Innovation, and the Genesis Centre. Starting our own business is also an incredible opportunity to learn new skills in entirely new fields. For example, Malcolm’s background is primarily in clinical research, and Alex’s background is in software development. However, through customer interviews and initial product development (e.g., creating User Interface designs & a website), Malcolm and Alex are learning new skills from each other. In addition to these, both of us are learning typical business skills such as pitching an idea, fundraising money, and creating budgets.
H:
What motivated you to apply to the competition?
Alex and Malcolm:
Several aspects of the competition motivated us to apply. Ultimately, to create the product we are developing, it is going to take an incredible team to execute the product, which is going to cost money. At the end of the day, $15,000 is really going to help us expand our team to continue creating our product. In addition to the financial aspects of competition, we were able to expand our network and showcase our company publicly for the first time.
H:
What advice do you have for students who are thinking of applying for the Mel Woodward Cup competition next year?
Alex and Malcolm:
If you are passionate about an idea that you are working on, or even just have the initial concept of an idea, we urge you to seek the help of the MCE team, and go through the process of validating that idea. The Mel Woodward Cup competition is an excellent opportunity to showcase your idea, potentially gain funding, and meet new people. It’s also a great way to meet fellow students who are in the process of creating their own companies.