Embark Business Academy Demo Day Showcases Student Talent and Real Business Impact

TORONTO, August 26, 2026 — Embark is celebrating the success of the inaugural Embark Business Academy (Em-BA), a new paid career accelerator delivered in partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University’s DMZ. The program is designed to help students and recent graduates bridge the gap between post-secondary education and meaningful employment.

Following a highly competitive application process that attracted nearly 350 applicants from across Canada, participants took part in a free 14-week program focused on business fundamentals, AI fluency and career readiness.

Twenty-five participants were then selected to advance beyond traditional learning into the program’s experiential learning phase and receive a $3,000 honorarium. Students were grouped in teams of five and, working alongside a partner organization, researched business challenges, developed strategies and leveraged AI-driven insights to deliver practical solutions.

The program culminated at the first-ever Em-BA Demo Day, where the five finalist teams presented their recommendations to a panel of judges and competed for a share of a $20,000 prize pool.

“We created Em-BA to give students the opportunity to demonstrate what they’re capable of when they’re given access to meaningful opportunities,” said Andrew Lo, President and CEO, Embark. “By working directly with organizations on real business challenges, participants developed practical skills, built professional confidence and delivered solutions that created value for the companies they supported.”

By the end of the program, participants left with more than new skills. They gained tangible project experience, exposure to industry challenges and demonstrated examples of their work that can help support future career opportunities.

Creating Value for Students and Canadian Organizations

The winning team, Access2Pay, received the top $20,000 prize for developing a comprehensive go-to-market expansion strategy for Access2Pay’s revenue operations platform. The team conducted primary research and stakeholder interviews to evaluate opportunities across new customer segments and growth markets.

Other finalist teams included:

• Team Embark analyzed user onboarding and conversion funnels to develop digital acquisition strategies aimed at helping more Canadian families open and maximize Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs).
• Team Arki created a scalable outbound sales strategy to support growth for Arki’s architectural project software platform.
• Team SCOOTY assessed the rider experience and identified opportunities to enhance product features, strengthen market positioning and explore future AI and machine learning integrations for SCOOTY’s RideGuide transit companion.
• Team Food Mamba developed a market expansion plan focused on supply dynamics, customer acquisition channels and partnership opportunities to support the company’s entry into Vancouver.

Andrew Lo, Jo-Anne Wong with Student Team Embark (left to right): Daniel Itegie, Abinaya Nandan, Salma Khalid, Artthi Ramesh, and Ashkan Raeissian.

“Seeing Em-BA come to life and watching these students put their skills to work on real business challenges was incredibly rewarding,” said Andrew Lo. “Thanks to DMZ and TMU for the opportunity to support a program that delivers value for both emerging talent and Canadian organizations, while reinforcing Embark’s commitment to helping students build confidence, skills and pathways to future success.”

The inaugural program was made possible through the support of the Embark Foundation, whose $500,000 major grant enabled DMZ to offer the program at no cost to participants while creating paid opportunities for students to gain meaningful, hands-on experience.

Embark + Team DMZ: Andrew Lo and Jo-Anne Wong with Team DMZ (left to right) Heer Shah, Eva Al Switi, Shane Flynn, and Amin Greige

About DMZ

Toronto Metropolitan University’s DMZ is a tech incubator and startup ecosystem that fuels entrepreneurship in Canada and beyond. Through its award-winning programs, DMZ empowers founders to scale high-impact ventures, helps students develop entrepreneurial mindsets and equips professionals to thrive in today’s fast-moving economy. By offering tailored support, world-class resources and expansive networks, DMZ nurtures bold ideas, drives business growth and creates global economic impact.

To date, DMZ has supported 2680+ startups in raising $3.25 billion in capital and has created over 25,400 jobs. Headquartered in Toronto, DMZ operates a global network of hubs spanning 15+ countries, enabling entrepreneurs to access diverse markets, collaborate internationally and drive global innovation.

About the Embark Foundation Major Grant Program

The Embark Foundation Major Grant Program provides funding for innovative programs, initiatives or services that support student success before, during and beyond their post-secondary years. Through this grant program, Embark wishes to partner with post-secondary educational institutions in their efforts to advance access, agency and innovation that will empower students to take hold of their future.

Embark Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation and owner of Embark Student Corp., a proud Canadian resource for education savings and planning.

About Embark Student Corp.

Embark Student Corp. is Canada’s education savings and planning company. With over $6 billion in assets under management, the company is committed to empowering families along their post-secondary journeys by giving them the resources and tools they need to better plan and save for all that comes with an education. The company, registered as a Scholarship Plan Dealer across Canada, manages almost 600,000 RESPs for Canadians nationwide and helped approximately 53,600 students through post-secondary studies last year.