Ola Ahmed is an international student who is getting her master’s in medical biotechnology at the University of Windsor and has created a new business that recycles food.

Her business, Kindness Café, has received mentorship from RBC EPIC Founders Program, an annual program that helps students build their own business. With their help, Ahmed was able to get her business going.

“I had this idea of recycling food but it was just an idea, I didn’t know how to execute or implement it,” says Ahmed. “So, I came here because they told me that I could come with my idea and EPICentre would provide me with mentors and that they would help me do that.”

After the 12-week program is over, Ahmed hopes she has a viable and successful business to go forward with.

“I want to collect as much statistical information as I can to validate if the business is going to be successful by the end of this program,” Ahmed says. “I want to make sure this is realistic enough because when it came to food and recycling, there is a lot of ins and outs, and I want to make sure that I’m doing the right thing or making the right decision.”

This is the seventh in a series of articles introducing this summer’s participants leading up to a showcase of their prototypes in August at the EPICentre. Learn more on the centre’s website.

—Dana Roe