Nyoka Design Labs has added another $5,000 in prize money to its coffers.
On Wednesday (Oct. 21), the Courtenay-based company was named the winner of the startup category in the 2020 Canadian Export Challenge (CXC) final showdown pitch competition.
“Winning the national competition is an incredible feather in our hat,” said Paige Whitehead, Nyoka’s co-founder who invented a non-toxic, biodegradable glow stick.
“We are doing business differently and this comes with unique challenges — from creating new, sustainable alternatives to implementing a circular economy model,” her co-founder Yamila Franco said in a news release.
The company also received $150,000 in grant funding to hire a small team to participate in a UBC adjudicated program dubbed Lab2Launch. Nyoka has reached the second phase.
“We will also be speaking at one of the leading tech conferences in the world soon,” Whitehead said.