Press release

19 Jul. 2021 Toronto, CA

Seven unstoppable Ontario entrepreneurs take top EY award

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Ontario winners are keeping up with new demands for personalization, security and sustainability

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Victoria McQueen
Victoria McQueen

EY Canada Team Lead, Public Relations

Leading the development and distribution of external communications across Canada. Can be found by the lake in the summer and on the slopes in the winter.

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EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Ontario winners are keeping up with new demands for personalization, security and sustainability

Global leaders, national players and local changemakers: seven businesses have taken the top regional title in the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Ontario program.

“These entrepreneurs are leading companies that are continuously evolving with agility and innovation to meet their customers’ changing needs while keeping up with new demands for efficiency, security and sustainability,” says Stephanie Lamont, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ontario Program Co-Director. “We’re excited to see how they’ll build on this momentum — there’s no limit to what they can achieve.”

Ontario regional winners will move forward to compete against peers from the Pacific, Prairies, Québec and Atlantic regions at the national awards celebration in November 2021, where 10 national winners will be named, including Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 Award winner. The overall Canadian winner will go on to compete with national winners from across the globe for the title of EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year in June 2022. The seven Ontario winners vying for the title are:

  • Geoffrey T. Martin of CCL Industries Inc. (TSX: CCL.B), a global specialty packaging pioneer, providing innovative solutions across diverse industries, including home and personal care, food and beverage, healthcare, automotive, consumer and more.
  • Josh Domingues of Flashfood, an app allowing shoppers to browse food items approaching their best before date, buy them at a discount and pick them up in store — taking action to eliminate food waste while helping people feed their families affordably. 
  • Ariel Mashiyev of iLobby Corp., an enterprise visitor management system that enables organizations to have greater control of their facilities, employees and visitors while meeting all evolving privacy, compliance, safety and security requirements.
  • Michael Serbinis of League, a company on a mission to create deeply personalized consumer experiences that drive engagement and make it easier to access, navigate and pay for healthcare.
  • Bert Mucci of Mucci Farms, a vertically integrated company from seed to retail, placing an emphasis on efficiency by making investments in state-of-the-art automation and robotics to provide consumers with the highest level of food safety and maximum shelf life for all products.
  • Kim Davidson of SideFX, an Oscar-winning company providing artists with procedural 3D animation and visual effects tools designed to create the highest-quality cinematic results.

“From an app minimizing food waste to an enterprise management system boosting security and a home energy company helping Canadians reduce energy consumption — this year’s winners represent the full breadth and depth of Ontario innovation,” says Craig Roskos, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ontario Program Co-Director. “These entrepreneurs are trailblazers, finding answers to our toughest challenges, and charting new paths forward.”

In addition to the seven regional winners, the Ontario region is also recognizing two Special Citations.

Community Builder: Sipology by Steeped Tea

More than just a prestige tea brand, Tonia Jahshan created Sipology out of a passion to demonstrate that tea can help change the lives of others. Through her consultant program, the company creates job and income opportunities for others — empowering a talented and diverse community of ‘Sipologists’ by providing them with the right resources and training to ensure their success. Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, Tonia has maintained a company where health and wellness go hand in hand with happiness and success.

Societal Impact: Maple Corporation
Dr. Brett Belchetz founded Maple to provide fast, reliable and accessible healthcare to all Canadians. With doctors and other healthcare specialists located across Canada, Maple is able to provide services to users easily and without physical limitations, including those in remote locations and indigenous communities that are traditionally underserved. Maple’s broad reach allows for tailored care to people and communities that would otherwise not be able access healthcare services.

More information

Follow @EYCanada, #EOYCanada and #EOYOntario on Twitter for the latest program updates. Visit www.ey.com/ca/eoy for more program details.

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year®

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. Winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/eoy

The 2021 Ontario independent judging panel consists of Alan Quarry, Chairman of Quarry Integrated Communications; Anne Sado, President of George Brown College; Bob Magee, Chairman of Woodbridge; Kim Mason, Senior Vice President & Head, Private Banking, RBC Wealth Management of Royal Bank of Canada; Mark Gordon, Senior Partner of ONCAP Management Partners LP; and Teresa Lee, Managing Director of OMERS Growth Equity.

This year's national sponsor is TSX Inc. The Ontario regional sponsor is Ontario Global 100.

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