Company Name: Advanced Hi-Tech Centre Ltd.
Founder: Masoud Akhshik

EPICentre: Tell us a little more about yourself
M: Hi my name is Masoud Akhshik and I’m a PhD student at the University of Toronto. I with two other friends started a company called Advanced Hi–Tech Centre Ltd. and this company will create kits for detection of viruses and microbes in water.

EPICentre: How did you hear about the RBC EPIC Founders Program? 
M: What happened was that I was looking for some help from the University of Toronto and they introduced me to the Impact Centre. They said, if you’re living in Windsor and you’re based in Windsor, it doesn’t make sense to travel for this service especially since they have a sister organization called EPICentre in Windsor. So that’s how I got into the EPICentre and then, later on, I realized that there’s this program that actually pays you to work on your business idea so that’s why I applied. It’s a very good opportunity for me to be around people and to be at the right place at the right time. 

EPICentre: What skills do you hope to gain while you’re here?
M: What I’m hoping to get is a proven business model at the end of this program including a minimum viable product which I can showcase, that would be really nice if I can get them both. So, what I needed more was actually the business side of the story, not the actual technological side. So that’s one of the resources I’m seeking with the mentors, I hope I can improve my business skills as well.

EPICentre: Where do you hope to see yourself at the end of the program?
M: I really hope I can have at least one minimum viable product and at least one proven business model canvas to showcase and start my journey more seriously. I heard that there is another program after this that I can join in, the Incubation Program, that would be a very good option for me.

Click here to watch Masoud’s video