What’s next? Northern Angel Summit entrepreneurs reflect after contest elimination

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Eliminated Northern Angel Summit competitors have reflected on their performance in the business investment competition’s quarter-final. 

The Northern Angel Summit – a contest hosted by Northern Innovation Network – is a 10-week program that trains new innovators to pitch their ideas effectively, secure funding and grow their businesses.

A total of 24 businesses were heard at the summit’s quarter-final pitches on June 11th, where founders had three minutes to give their business presentation and two minutes of questions.

Twelve businesses advanced to the semi-finals and another 12 were eliminated. 

Some eliminated businesses are from northeast B.C., including Timothy Seabrook of Peace River Lease Option, Sheldon Norby of Northern Greenery and Jordan Soggie of Homeway Benefits.

They spoke to Energeticity.ca about their elimination, performance and what is next for their companies. 

Seabrook describes his business, Peace River Lease Option, as a real estate organization aimed at helping people afford houses. 

“We look for people that are about two to three years away from being able to get a mortgage on a house and once they qualify for a program, I partner with investors to buy a house that they want to own, and then they can rent it until they buy it from us,” Seabrook explained.

The entrepreneur said he found the experience in the Northern Angel competition valuable for practice and networking. 

“You still meet lots of good people and I was doing it mostly to practice,” said Seabrook.

“It was a good experience and I made some good connections.”

Seabrook believes he did not advance because his business was real estate-based, and the competition was more interested in tech businesses. 

“It wasn’t really anything wrong with the pitch itself, it was just not quite the type of businesses they were looking to get involved with,” said Seabrook. 

Meanwhile, Norby’s business aims to grow and transport vegetables to the northern B.C. region to help people struggling with shopping expenses. 

“I want to help cut costs for groceries in northern British Columbia because they’re really expensive and by the time we get them, they’re pretty much rotten,” said Norby. 

“I want to eliminate that by giving fresh, organically-grown vegetables to the northern part of British Columbia.”

Norby feels he could have done better in the competition, but organizational issues with his business team led to a lack of preparation.

He said the next step in developing his business would be to purchase a property in Fort Nelson to grow and transport produce.

“I need to purchase this property and get myself going, because without it, I just won’t be able to do what I need to do anyway,” Norby said.

Norby is confident in his business’s future success, but says he needs to dedicate more time to helping his growing family at the moment. 

“I just need to focus on my everyday life right now,” said Norby.

“My main focus right now is just making sure my wife is comfortable and my kids are well taken care of.”

Soggie, who is separately executive director of the Fort St. John Association for Community Living (FSJACL), also entered his business Homeway Benefits into the competition, which has the goal of helping working Canadians become homeowners. 

Energeticcity.ca reached out to Soggie for more information but did not receive a response by publication time. 

The summit’s semi-finals will be held in September and six finalists will get the chance at an investment of up to $100,000 in their business.

Moose Media, the parent of Energeticcity.ca, is a sponsor of the Northern Angel Summit competition.