SARNIA, NOVEMBER 26, 2025 – Project Pitch It is once again turning big ideas into even bigger opportunities as Lambton College and Community Futures Lambton celebrated the competition’s top business models.
After a seven-week series of skill-building workshops, mentorship opportunities, and entrepreneurial support, eight Lambton College students and alumni finalists pitched a panel of judges on their business concepts at a live event at Lambton College. Ten thousand dollars in scholarship or business expense prizes were up for grabs, courtesy of Community Futures Lambton.
The first-place prize of $4,500 was awarded to Vidhi Valera, a Lambton College Alumna from the Advanced Project Management & Strategic Leadership program and founder of Viva Bakes, an egg-free bakery. Sahilbhai Bhatt and Shubham Raju Sakhare, also alumni from the Advanced Project Management & Strategic Leadership program, were the duo who captured the $2,500 second place prize for HawkHive Logistics, an innovative approach to more efficient delivery services. Rounding out the top three was Abdallah Al-Bribekh, a current student in the Hairstyling program, whose mobile barber shop concept earned him $1,500 in prize money. The remaining five finalists each received $300.
“All twenty-three participants in this year’s Project Pitch It showed tremendous dedication, innovation, and drive,” said Anja Christensen, Faculty – The Social Exchange, Lambton College. “We saw business ideas from sectors ranging from food innovation to pre-commercial clean energy and bio-simulation technologies to app development. I can’t wait to see where these participants go from here and the impact they have in our community.”
The second annual business model canvas and pitch competition was organized by the Lambton College Social Exchange, which aims to create meaningful learning experiences for students, in partnership with Community Futures Lambton. In addition to providing the prize money, Community Futures Lambton facilitated a series of workshops for participants. Additional support was provided by TechAlliance, who empowers world-class ventures and fuels growth in Canada’s innovation economy by supporting founders and ventures at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey, and several local entrepreneurs who served as mentors and hosted workshops and coaching sessions to help students refine their business model canvas.
Sarah Reaume, CEO of Community Futures Lambton, applauded the partnership outcomes. “This collaboration with Lambton College reflects our shared commitment to nurturing local talent and to strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Lambton County. The caliber of the finalists’ presentations – and indeed all of the contestants – was outstanding and we are excited to see these business concepts realized in our community.”
A third annual Project Pitch it is in the works for 2026.