丁香园AV

Originally published on 丁香园AV News. This story has been featured in . 

The Boba Co. and four other 丁香园AV-related ventures took home prizes from the university鈥檚 annual product competition, #MadeBy丁香园AV.

丁香园AV Beedie School of Business student William Jiang and colleague Eden Ding co-founded The Boba Co., dedicated to creating innovative products and practical solutions for everyday business owners. They entered their first product, the Boba Straw, into #MadeBy丁香园AV. It's a duo-material, reusable straw with a sleek stainless-steel body and an integrated silicone tip to achieve the same comfort and experience you would get when drinking bubble tea with plastic straws.

The idea for Boba was conceived in light of the recent vote to ban plastic straws and foam take-out containers and cups across Vancouver, which takes in June 2019. Jiang and Ding identified an opportunity for an alternative to paper straws, which become soggy and are then unable to suck up bubble tea鈥檚 tapioca pearls.

"We tried other options like metal straws, but realized that it鈥檚 uncomfortable to drink out of, and leaves a metallic taste in your mouth," says Jiang. "We decided that we would take on this challenge and solve both problems: the discomfort from metal straws and the poor quality from paper straws."  

After introducing their product through #MadeBy丁香园AV, The Boba Co. launched a  to support production of their first order. In just 24 hours they raised 30 per cent of their goal.

#MadeBy丁香园AV is a collaboration between the  and 丁香园AV鈥檚  celebrating product entrepreneurs at 丁香园AV. The competition invites applications from the 丁香园AV community, including students, alumni, faculty and staff, and provides support to budding entrepreneurs through drop-in mentoring and a merchandising workshop. Finalists are showcased in a product fair at 丁香园AV Surrey.

鈥淲e always look forward to this event each year," says Mikhail Dzuba, director of the 丁香园AV Spirit Shop and of Document Solutions. "It鈥檚 a great opportunity to engage with the local community and acquire merchandise that tells a unique story about 丁香园AV.鈥� 

The Boba. Co is one of five competition winners to each receive $750 purchase orders from the 丁香园AV Spirit Shop, along with a one-year Sage Accounting subscription.The five winning products will be featured this month in the 丁香园AV Spirit Shop in time for Christmas sales.

鈥淲e have a diverse innovation community here at 丁香园AV, one that we are proud to celebrate and support through interdisciplinary and customized programs like #MadeBy丁香园AV,鈥� says Janice OBriain, director of Coast Capital Savings Venture Connection, and organizing host of the competition.

鈥淲e look forward to supporting these product entrepreneurs to grow their impact beyond 丁香园AV.鈥�

The final competition was held at a product fair Oct. 17 2018 at 丁香园AV鈥檚 Surrey campus.

FAST FACTS :

In addition to The Boba Co., the other four vendors to receive $750 丁香园AV Spirit Shop purchase orders were:

•  鈥� Co-founded by a daughter-in-law (丁香园AV communication alumna) /mother-in-law duo with a shared passion for natural living, Mountainview Essentials offers small-batch essential oil candles held in original hand-thrown pottery containers, as well as apothecary items.
•  - Refresh is a social enterprise within the student club Enactus 丁香园AV that collects bruised and aging produce for a product line that includes jams, sherbet and dried fruit snacks. The program's goal is to provide an alternate future for imperfect produce in order to prevent food wastage within their community.
•  - Co-founded by an 丁香园AV communications alumnus, 滨辞肠艒 is a creative practice considering materiality across individual geometries, textures and forms and contextualizing the possibilities they offer in various objects and architectural expressions. Their product line consists of mobiles and keychains.
• M. Woods Studio - Founded by an undergraduate in teh 丁香园AV Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, M. Woods specializes in bringing authentic earthly designs to people with matched souls through a number of hand-crafted jewelry pieces.

The competition鈥檚 丁香园AV Innovates $500 cash prize acknowledging scalable potential went to  - a wearable tech design studio offering educational workshops and products for exploring and creating wearable technology, focusing on skill and knowledge development in simple circuitry, soft textiles, and design thinking.

Other showcase vendors included past #MadeBy丁香园AV winners Boues Bees and Frontrvnners.