​Are you interested in innovation, entrepreneurship, and start-ups at UWaterloo?

​Join current and alumni students who are pursuing their startup journey at the Velocity Student Start-up Panel!

​Get the chance to meet current, and recently graduated student founders who are pursuing their start-up journey.

​Ask questions, network, and see if entrepreneurship is the path for you by learning directly from other students who have gone through the process! Be the first to know how Velocity can help you reach your entrepreneurship goals.

​Your comfort and participation are important to us. If there is something we can do to make this event more accessible for you please reach out to velocity.events@uwaterloo.ca and let us know.

​Velocity is an official event host with Waterloo Tech Week 2026, a celebration of what’s been built here, and what’s still to come. We’re building something great together. September 12-17, 2026. waterlootechweek.ca

​Agenda:

​Check in and networking: 5:00-5:30 PM

​Panel and audience Q&A: 5:30-6:30 PM

​Networking: 6:30-7:00 PM

​Meet the Panel:

​Pasha Khoshkebari, founder of HOPE (Student)

​Hi! My name is Pasha and I'm a 2x founder. I build for impact and HOPE is my best attempt at improving the quality of education. Parents are extremely frustrated with the lack of 1-on-1 support their kids are getting at school, so I built HOPE, the AI tutor that enables every student to get the attention and eduction they need.

​Divhleen Ruprai, founder of IISence (Recent Grad)
Divhleen Ruprai is a Nanotechnology Engineering Alum ('26) from the University of Waterloo and Co-Founder of IISENSE, a wearable biosensor startup developing at-home monitoring for kidney disease. IISENSE grew out of her capstone research and was further developed through the Velocity Summer Accelerator Program over the summer. Her background bridges R&D (vaccine stabilization, sustainable water treatment) and business development (GxP project work, and digital health) with experience at organizations including AstraZeneca, UHN, Recurrent Energy, Elarex Inc., and Symbient Environmental Technologies. Divhleen is passionate about the intersection of R&D and business, and how that cross-disciplinary perspective shapes the way she innovates, builds, and leads.

​Eric Blondeel, associate director, advisory at Velocity, founded Kenota Health and Samos Insurance (Velocity Alumni Founder)
Eric has founded two Velocity companies, Kenota Health and Samos Insurance, both of which attended YCombinator. He has a PhD in chemical engineering from UWaterloo. Eric is passionate about helping early stage startups navigate the earliest challenges of getting a company off the ground.

​Moderator: Ashley Juraschka, founder of AllioHealth (Recent Grad)

​My name is Ashley Juraschka, and I’m the founder of AllioHealth, a biomechanically intelligent breast pump that mirrors infant feeding rhythms, combining compression and suction for a more effective and comfortable experience. I’ve been a part of Velocity throughout my student entrepreneurship journey. From taking part in the Velocity FemTech innovation challenge, Future cities challenge, Cooperathon, and the Summer Accelerator program.