Venture Connection congratulates the 2009 SFU Student Entrepreneur of the Year!

SFU Venture Connection congratulates Benjamin Brown-Bentley, 2009 SFU Student Entrepreneur of the Year and Ammar Sultan, 2009 SFU Best New Student Entrepreneur!

Benjamin Brown-Bentley, an SFU Engineering student who runs a popular Vancouver events production company, has been named Simon Fraser University’s 2009 Student Entrepreneur of the Year.
 Brown-Bentley started up Adrenaline Productions only 10 months ago, specializing in all-age and late-night dance events. Adrenaline is currently the only company in the Lower Mainland to offer teen dance events at nightclubs. Working with local municipalities, nightclubs and police, Adrenaline licenses age 19+ establishments to remove all alcohol and provide a secure environment for teens. 

Ammar Sultan of International Student Connections (ISC) was named the 2009 Best New Student Entrepreneur of the Year (a category for businesses founded less than 6 months ago). ISC is an international student support service agency providing a broad range of support to students coming to Canada to further their education, such as information and advice on school programs, placement in accommodation, travel arrangements and social networking events.

The SFU Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition is an annual competition presented in partnership by SFU Venture Connection and SIFE Simon Fraser, with the objective to recognize the achievement of student entrepreneurs in creating business ventures. The competition is open to all current SFU student entrepreneurs under the age of 30. Cash prizes for the winners of the two categories, of $1000 and $500, were sponsored by SFU Business and SIFE Simon Fraser, respectively.

This year’s competition took place November 14, 2009 at SFU Harbour Centre, with jurists Mike Tan (TeamPages), Milun Tesovic (MetroLeap), Brad Palmer (Jostle), Stewart Marshall (CMA), Colleen Collins (SFU Associate Dean of Business), Phil Holland (SFU Entrepreneur-in-Residence) and Jim Derbyshire (SFU Mentor-in-Residence).

The other competition finalists were, for Student Entrepreneur of the Year, Nigel Tunnacliffe (GE-Free Solutions) and Glen Chua (Moonlite Productions), and for Best New Student of the Year, Manuel Pineault (Webinar Stock).

Last year’s SEY winner Milun Tesovic, co-founder of MetroLeap Media carried forward to win both the Regional and National ACE Student Entrepreneur Competition and competes next week at the ACE Global Student Entrepreneur Competition. The SEY competition has exposed Metroleap Media to new audiences nationally and internationally; its flagship website MetroLyrics.com is currently one of the most visited music lyrics websites in the world.

Launched in the Fall of 2008, Venture Connection offers training and support programs for SFU's entrepreneurs, linking student, faculty and local entrepreneurs with experienced advisors, funding opportunities, and other business connections. For more information on Venture Connection, visit www.sfu.ca/vc

Contact: Janice OBriain, 778-782-8728, jobriain@sfu.ca