Derek Jouppi🇨🇦
Special Projects at University of Waterloo
About Derek Jouppi
Special Projects at University of Waterloo
Derek Jouppi, P. Eng, is the former COO & co-founder of Suncayr (2014-2020, the inventors of SPOTMYUV). A nanotechnology engineer by trade, his entrepreneurial journey started in the lab; filing patents, to clinical trials, and developing manufacturing processes. Eventually he turned commercial, specializing in retail sales & e-commerce before Suncayr was acquired by Dig It in late-2020. Some major accomplishments include a granted US patent, selling into 7000+ retail stores including Walmart, CVS, Boots, and 40+ major retail chains, as well as winning over 50+ pitch and technology awards.
Derek’s been featured in just-about every major news outlet in the world, including CBC, NBC, Fox, BBC, Forbes Under-30, as well as having received almost every major pitch award (a Dyson award, a J&J Innovation award, the 43 North Prize, a HotDesQ grant, and more). Once he was recruited to be a high-fashion jewelry model. He has a gold medal in dragon boat racing nationally in Australia. He’s been paid to speak about science entrepreneurship at the Commonwealth Games, and has headlined conferences alongside Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), Steve Wozniak (Apple), and Biz Stone (Twitter).
At EF, Derek works on Special Projects – meaning that he’s working inside and outside of the EF ecosystem to bring in the right resources at the right time for all of our founders. This means that it enables our founders to focus on what matters most in the earliest days of starting their own businesses. He has “made every mistake”, and promises to help founders avoid the key errors he made along his journey.
Expertise
Sessions with Derek Jouppi
- Mentorship Session (30 min): General mentorship
What mentees say
“Derek is brilliant; he understands how business works and how a good learning process works. He taught me how to get new ideas and what problems to focus on; he pushes me to have 25 conversations a week to understand the business problem very well! Thank you very much!”