Students Michael Thomas, Jaron Van Dijken and Brian Worfolk pitch their high-tech company in the Beaver’s Den.

Edmonton—They arrived in style, pulling up to the university in a stretch SUV limo. The “Beavers,” as they were to be known for the day, might not have sounded as intimidating as dragons, but their grand entrance didn’t do much to quell the nerves of the students waiting for them—and their cheque books.

This past Saturday saw the Faculty of Engineering’s inaugural Beaver’s Den, where seven brave engineering students made their pitches to a panel of potential investors.

Like the popular CBC show Dragons’ Den the Beaver’s Den saw students pitch to a panel of investors ready to drop money, mentorship, and the opportunity for future meetings on some great ideas.

The event was the culmination of an entrepreneur-in-residence program started in September by engineering alumnus Michael Sikorsky (Computer ’96)—himself a prolific investor in start-ups and fresh ideas—four investors came out to hear the pitches: Brian Prokop, an investor in dozens of companies from traditional oil and gas to IT to food and drink; Dave Howard, an angel investor who is also heavily involved in the Canadian Legacy Project that aims to improve the lives of our disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans; Dr. Leslie Roberts, an entrepreneur and the president and founder of the GoForth Institute; and David Richard, a 32-year veteran of the oil and gas industry.

While their combined experience was intimidating to some of the presenters, Sikorsky set the tone of the day in his opening remarks: “It’s like Dragons’ Den, but nicer.”

Sikorsky’s desire to organize the Beaver’s Den stemmed from his own experience as an engineering graduate. He saw the opportunities available to him: continue with academia through grad school or land a junior-level position with a big company. But the question of how do you create a start-up still loomed.

He was lucky. Soon after graduating and realizing the the 9–5 lifestyle wasn’t for him, Sikorsky left his job and began consulting, working independently as as software designer, and establishing various startups. Realizing he had a lot to share with the next generation of engineers, he returned to the Faculty of Engineering last fall as the Entrepreneur in Residence, and the idea for Beaver’s Den was born.

“It’s now possible to leave school and start a company with very little capital. You need the idea, talent, and drive. We’re here to give you guidance and the money to make this work,” he said to the audience.

The subjects of the presentations were varied. From a promising iPod and iPhone accessory aimed at skiers and snowboarders, to recent graduates who were just looking for mentorship and guidance to get help get their careers off the ground, the Beavers were given plenty projects to consider investing their time and money in. Perhaps the most ambitious presentation of the day was by ECE graduate student Michael Thomas.

Thomas, along with Jaron Van Dijken and Brian Worfolk, started lightPOWER to produce flexible, plastic solar cells they helped develop at the U of A. Thomas asked for an investment of $150,000 to get their prototypes developed, but was met with a wall of questions and counter offers. The Beavers saw potential in the idea, but were skeptical of the emerging market. After a few hours of back-and-forth talks between presentations, lightPOWER and the Beavers came to an agreement of a $100,000 investment.

“I think we did the right thing,” Thomas said. “Their investment is going to change the way we approach the market. And it’s also great to have four amazing mentors on board.”

Van Dijken echoed these sentiments.

“It will be nice to have them on board to bring accountability to some of our ideas, and to make them happen.”

Dean of Engineering David Lynch was impressed with the caliber of student presentations and the support given to the students.

“It was incredible to see the amazing diversity of ideas, from the very leading-edge technical to the simple but very important ideas,” he said. “There were extraordinarily well-presented ideas and that is supported by the fact that  we saw real deals great advice being shared with our students.”

At the end of the day, the Beavers invested around $200,000 and the promise of multiple mentorships in the students. For Sikorsky, seeing how well the students handled themselves and how willing the investors were to take a chance on these young engineers made the day worth it.

“It’s super hard getting up there and talking to these guys, asking them for money. They should all be proud for getting through this first one,” he said. “I did very little coaching with the students this year and look at this, we got some real deals done. I was worried that maybe no one would want to invest, but the students gave them reason to. It was great.”

Sikorsky hopes to make the Beaver’s Den an annual event, but expand it through more coaching for the pitchers and a larger panel of potential investors.

For the first students who faced the Beaver’s Den, four was probably enough. The feeling of elation among the student entrepreneurs when the Beavers climbed back into their limo was obvious. They had survived the den, and come out ahead on the other side.