Eight student-led ventures were showcased Thursday as the ninth cohort of Lakehead University’s Ascend Accelerator program celebrated its graduation and prepared for the next stage of their entrepreneurial journeys.
The Ascend Accelerator program is a 10-week “boot camp” that provides emerging founders with funding, expert mentorship, weekly workshops, and milestone accountability to prepare them for business launch.
Funding comes from the John Dobson Foundation, whose stated goal is to support and facilitate the growth of entrepreneurial students.
“When I applied for that funding, I said we are here to support northwestern Ontario,” said Alyson Mackay, manager of Lakehead’s Ingenuity Business Incubator, which oversees the program.
Mackay said in the last nine years, she’s seen a vast variety of business ideas start to bloom within the Ingenuity Incubator.
“We’ve had everything from radioactive 3D filament to eyelash extensions to cleaning companies. It’s great,” she said. “I tell them to be very flexible. You’re going to get some doors closed, you’re going to get some no’s, and the idea you have on day 1 may not look the same after ten weeks. Things shape and mold and you have to be able to handle that as an entrepreneur.”
The 2026 class was the largest cohort in the program’s history. The following startups were among those showcased, along with their business pitches:
ReClaimed Wolf Counselling & Consulting helps individuals, caregivers and organizations navigate grief, burnout, trauma and major life transitions through a compassionate, narrative-informed approach either in-person or online. Led by KC Woilford, the practice focuses on helping clients build resilience, reclaim their strengths and move forward with confidence.
“There’s a huge gap for services in northwestern Ontario,” Woilford said. “I was raised in Thunder Bay and I have family throughout the region. NWO is pretty isolated, so you can’t just pull employees out of thin air. You need to take care of the employees you have. I’ve worked in the healthcare field for 20 years, so this is where I feel like I can really help.”
JobRovr, created by Haard Pathak, Prajith Ravisankar and Srijan Ravisankar, helps computer science students build coding skills and connect with recruiters on their path to securing internships. The platform combines AI-powered, “gamified” learning with industry networking opportunities to bridge the gap between education and employment.
“We are building something that will help students break into tech, especially their first internship,” Prajith Ravisankar said.
“We are connecting with partner startups, then we will let the students build a project relevant to the startups and market their skill set and the project itself,” Haard Pathak said. “Then they will be matched through our machine learning algorithm, and that’s how they can get their first internship.”
CanopyAI, founded by Janki Gabani, uses satellite imagery and machine learning to help organizations detect and monitor deforestation through an easy-to-use web platform. The startup aims to provide affordable, real-time forest monitoring for conservation groups, governments and Indigenous stewardship organizations, with its prototype currently being developed in Northwestern Ontario.
Wearify, developed by Priyansh Patel, Vijay Patel, Kush Makani, Sahil Nandha and Neel Patel, is an AI-powered virtual fashion platform that lets shoppers create a digital twin to virtually try on clothing and receive personalized styling recommendations. The platform also helps retailers integrate virtual try-on technology into their websites or showcase products through Wearify’s marketplace. Its goal is to make online shopping more personalized and accurate while reducing uncertainty around fit and style.
“These have all been such good ideas,” Mackay said. “All the students have done a really good job with self-determination. It’s nice to see how they’ve persevered.”
