Laurier Startup Expanding Business as it Prepares to Represent Canada at Enactus World Cup

As October approaches, Wilfrid Laurier University’s team of young entrepreneurs gets ready to represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup.

Enactus is a global organization created  to encourage business-minded students who wish to have a positive impact on the world. 

The Enactus World Cup features student-led ventures from 34 countries competing against each other, judged by business leaders and influencers. The cup is based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Laurier’s Waterloo campus Enactus team won the Canada-wide competition against 61 other post-secondary institutions in May. The first business venture that won was EarthSuds, a single-use and  zero-waste replacement for shower products.  The second was Last20, which repurposes plastic waste.

This is the second year Laurier’s team will be representing Canada, following a second-place finish last year behind Egypt’s national champions.

EarthSuds was founded by Laurier students in 2017 and has been expanding quickly over the past several years despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[COVID has] really slowed their progress, but it’s forced them to do things differently, and that’s caused them to learn more,” Laura Allen, assistant professor in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics and faculty advisor for Laurier Waterloo’s Enactus team said.

“They had to build an entire supply chain with a manufacturer in the US. That’s an incredible learning experience.”

The company has plans to sell their product over Amazon with the help of another Laurier startup, AMZ Prep.

Students can support EarthSuds by visiting their shop online or by rooting for them as they head into the finals.

“Laurier is all about spirit and the more you send that energy forward the better they will do,” Allen suggested to students who are interested in cheering them on.

Despite the national and international achievements of Enactus Laurier, it remains a club open to every student that wants to pursue a venture they think will have a positive impact.

“We welcome students across the entire campus in every faculty, and the more diverse the team is the better the ideas are,” Allen said.

“The most important thing a student can do is just to get involved as much as they can, […] find out what they care about and then do something about it. Know that you can,” she said.

“I think the team, in the last couple years, has demonstrated very clearly that anyone can make change.”