Sujit Velmurugan’s year at MacEwan really paid off – in more ways than one. The former Bachelor of Commerce student participated in MacEwan Ventures to learn how to build, pitch and launch his marketing process automator, Workflow, earning a hefty cash prize in the process.

“I've done a lot of marketing for many businesses, and by working with them I learned common marketing processes used across these businesses,” says Velmurugan. “Because of that, I was like, ‘How can we reduce the amount of time it takes for someone to actually release a good-quality ad?’”

The question led him to conceive Workflow, an AI-powered web app for users without a lot of marketing experience. The app lays out the entire ad creation process, from idea to market. It takes into account everything from keywords, segmentation, budgets and potential success rates in given markets to make the process as easy as possible.

Velmurugan’s first pitch for Workflow was to MacEwan’s Entrepreneur in Residence Tristan Ham, followed by a pitch at Inventures where he took home second place. Then, Velmurugan was sponsored by the School of Business to pitch his idea at Innovation Rodeo, this time taking home the top prize – and $20,000. 

Half of his winnings came in the form of a scholarship to further his education, and he already has big plans for the rest.

“I just hired a developer to grow and expand Workflow,” he says.

After a banner year as a student at MacEwan, Velmurugan has moved on, but he has great advice for current business students when it comes to taking their own innovative and entrepreneurial ideas seriously. Getting started with MacEwan Ventures – free for students in any program with an idea and a passion to make it happen – is worth the time invested.

“Always give it a shot,” he says. “Even if you don’t succeed right away, you’ll learn something that will help you succeed later on.”