Simon Fraser University student Kevin Cruz, creator of ORA Scents, is Enactus Canada’s BC 2015 Student Entrepreneur Provincial Champion.
Cruz, of Surrey, will showcase his business at the organization’s regional exposition in Calgary on March 13.
ORA Scents is a mobile device company touting what Cruz calls the world’s first app-enabled scent diffuser, allowing users to create and control scents in real time.
“In the home lighting and sound system sectors, people can control their environments,” says Cruz, a fourth-year student in SFU’s Beedie School of Business. “ORA uniquely offers this same ability using scent, the sense most closely tied to a person’s mood.
“I noticed that the emerging trend of smart technology has given rise to new home devices like app-enabled light bulbs, thermostats, and sound systems; devices that appeal to the senses of sight and sound. However no one in the market is doing what ORA Scents is doing with the sense of smell.”
Cruz, a graduate of Surrey’s Holy Cross High School, has received significant help along the way from SFU’s Venture Connection program, which provides support for student ventures from initial idea to business validation.
Cruz will compete against three other Western Canada student provincial champions for the regional title and the chance to move on to the 2015 Enactus Canada National Exposition in Toronto May 11-13. The national champion will receive a $10,000 cash prize and take home the John Dobson Cup. The John Dobson Foundation sponsors the competition.
Enactus SFU will also be sending a trio of student teams to the regional competition to participate in the following:
• Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge (coaches Hannah Lee, Laetitia Lim, presenters Sarah Kwan, Milly Tsui and designer Marilyn Yeo)
• TD Entrepreneurship Challenge (coach Irina Gushchina, presenters Ricky Au, Pheby Yeung and designer: Mary Ngo)
• Capital One Financial Education Challenge (coaches Vameesha Patel and Leslie Chow, presenters Jenny Chen, Laura Chu, and designer Rhythm Tang)