BIZ BUZZ Social media for volunteers, GPS medical device for family members among local business startups
Gigit
Think of it as a social media platform for the gig economy.
That’s the idea behind Gigit, a Hamilton-based startup meant to help connect students and young people with work and volunteer opportunities in their community.
President Christopher McIntosh said he came up with the concept behind Gigit while flying home from his honeymoon a few years ago.
“The hope is to help students build digital resumes,” he said, noting volunteer opportunities in Grades 9 and 10 can help lead young people to their first fulltime job through experiences, ratings and reviews.
Gigit launched to the public at the end of August but they had been working with Volunteer Hamilton — a non-profit organization that shut its doors at the end of December due to a lack of funding — for a year before that.
Then in the last couple of weeks, the app was released in the App Store, which McIntosh said he hopes will bring more students onboard.
Users can search for quick jobs like mowing lawns and volunteer opportunities available at times that work for them and within areas they can get to by bike if they don’t drive.
The platform can also be used by school administrators and non-profits to track student volunteer hours.
L’Atelier au Deuxième
Sami Mapudomo remembers fondly the time some years back when she and her daughter, Benita Whyte, visited a Moroccan café while travelling and noticed all of the items that made up the space were also for sale.
The plates, tablecloths and chairs all could be purchased, celebrating the idea that the objects were of no lesser value just because they had been used, she said.
Since then, the two have been gathering pieces like ceramics and art with the hope of one day opening a similar space.
That day happened for them in March, when they launched L’Atelier au Deuxième — a cozy studio, gallery and shop space above Rust City Brewery on King William Street.
“It’s the kind of place that I would like to walk into,” said Mapudomo.
In addition to selling furnishings and items collected by the two women, there is also jewelry, fragrances and CDs for sale by local artists.
The second-floor studio includes a kitchen, so the idea is to also make it a gathering space where people can come to share meals, discuss books and listen to presentations.
Mapudomo, who paints in a studio in the same building, said she would love to offer art lessons and curate exhibitions in the space.
“It’s an oasis of beauty and calm and a place where you can make art and see art and where we will have music, poetry readings and cook and have meals,” she said.
Pulse Medical
Todd Griffiths didn’t want anyone to experience the same trauma he did after losing his grandfather.
While the Hamilton man was in the navy, his grandfather — who had been living alone — suffered a stroke.
He was conscious and knew what was going on but was unable to move or get to the phone, the now 33-year-old recalled. His family found him a couple of days later and rushed him to hospital where he later died.
“It was just a tragic ending for him,” he said.
After being medically discharged from the navy in 2016, Griffiths knew he wanted to help improve the lives of seniors like his grandfather, so he channelled that energy into starting his own business.
Griffiths launched Pulse Medical, which provides GPS medical devices to customers across the country that allow family members to track their loved ones’ movements and speak to them without using a phone.
At the same time, Griffiths also wanted to extend a hand to veterans like himself, struggling to transition into civilian life after being discharged. He has connected with the Canadian Armed Forces’ Joint Personnel Support Unit to find veterans interested in working alongside him to help seniors who live alone.
He said his goal is to pay one veteran’s salary for every 200 customers he signs up. He encourages other businesses to do the same.
“We’re not all broken inside,” he added.
Since launching two years ago, Griffiths has been building his company and is now able to cover his salary. Within a few months, he said he will be ready to hire a new vet and he hopes to soon secure an investor as Pulse Medical continues to grow.
“My goal is not to be a multimillionaire or anything,” he said. “I just want to hire as many guys as possible.”
Storelax
Those looking to store their golf clubs or bicycles for the winter or their skis and snowshoes for their summer can now have them taken off their hands right at their doorstep.
A new storage startup allows people to store as much or as little as they need by paying per item instead of for space.
The idea for Storelax came about when two of the five founders — all originally from Dundas — were residence dons in Waterloo and saw the need for a place where students could store their stuff during the summer or co-op terms.
But the company, which has been in development since the summer and launched in February, has evolved into offering storage for anyone — from seniors who are downsizing to students moving back home after university.
“Sometimes people just have too much stuff in their house and want to de-clutter their lives,” said co-founder Ian Dransutavicius.
How it works is customers pack up their own items and schedule a pickup, at which point a Storelax truck will come and bring the box from their front steps to a monitored storage facility.
Customers are able to log on to the company’s inventory logging system where they can track what items they have and request anything they need back.