Chinazom Uwaoma
MASTER OF BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY (MBET) STUDENT
Driving social impact through entrepreneurship
ENGINEERING
Chinazom Uwaoma
MASTER OF BUINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY (MBET) STUDENT
Driving social impact through entrepreneurship
By the time Chinazom Uwaoma moved to Canada, he had already lived in three different countries on three different continents.
With an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering from the University of Nigeria, a master’s in mobile communications from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland and over a decade of job experience that included a stint in New Zealand, he had built a solid career in IT and telecommunications.
But Chinazom’s dream was always to start his own business.
That lifelong aspiration led him to the part-time Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) at the University of Waterloo — and its world-renowned entrepreneurial ecosystem.
That’s where, within just a year of starting his studies, he founded not one, but two promising startups aimed at driving social impact in Canada and around the world.
Innovation driven by personal experience
One of the biggest challenges that Chinazom encountered when he moved to Waterloo to start the MBET was a tight housing market. As it turned out, that struggle became ideal inspiration for his first successful venture.
“I couldn't afford to buy a home at the time, so a group of us came together to see if we could combine our equity,” he says. “During that process, I realized there are trust issues, legal challenges and other obstacles — so, at the end of the day, we didn't move forward.”
Seeing others in his community struggle with the same problem, Chinazom was eager to explore solutions. It just so happened that an MBET classmate, Ernest Onuorah, had been through a similar experience trying — and ultimately failing — to co-purchase a home.
Drawing on their shared experiences, the two worked together to launch Merge2Own, an online platform that reduces barriers for first-time homebuyers by supporting successful co-ownership.
“We interviewed around 50 people to understand the problem,” Chinazom says. “Three of the main challenges that came up were: mitigating trust issues, sorting out the complex legal framework and ensuring protection if one of the co-owners defaults on a payment. 80% of people we interviewed would take up co-ownership as a way to buy a home if these three issues could be resolved. So we built our solution around addressing them.”
While Merge2Own currently serves the Waterloo Region market, Chinazom and his team hope to expand the platform to support homebuyers across Canada, North America and, eventually, the world.
Thinking beyond the MBA
While originally on the lookout for an MBA program, the MBET caught Chinazom’s eye because of its focus on entrepreneurship — something he says makes the program unique.
Mentorship from experienced faculty, dynamic course material, a collaborative environment with other entrepreneurs and the opportunity to tap into Waterloo’s world-class startup ecosystem have all been key drivers of his success so far.
It’s an experience he relishes, especially being able to complete the program requirements on a more relaxed timeline.
With two young kids at home and a full-time job as a program manager at a local tech company, studying part-time in the MBET has given Chinazom the breathing room to juggle competing responsibilities while getting his startups off the ground. But, more than that, it’s created space for self-discovery.
“The part-time program gives you enough time to discover the things that you don’t know and then to learn along the way,” he says. “And it also gives you time to be part of the various ecosystems that University of Waterloo provides.”
Tapping into Waterloo’s startup incubators
When launching Merge2Own, Chinazom and his co-founder got support from multiple startup programs on campus, including a $1,500 award from the social impact incubator GreenHouse, a $15,000 grant from the Up Start funding program through Velocity and the Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo), and support from Velocity’s Cornerstone program, which helps students test and validate their business ideas.
As part of the community at GreenHouse, in particular, Chinazom found more than just support for Merge2Own. He also found the resources and encouragement to pursue another venture, an online recruitment platform called ESOTE.
The goal of the platform is to help startups fill a critical gap — hiring the affordable, skilled talent they need to launch and grow their business. It’s a challenge Chinazom faced while building Merge2Own and something he hopes to help other companies tackle.
Through ESOTE, which means “next” in Igbo, startups around the world can easily recruit junior and intermediate co-op students from Canadian postsecondary institutions who are looking for work experience. The platform uses AI technology to match qualified talent to the right opportunities, encouraging mutually beneficial collaboration that helps both startups and students thrive.
Where there’s a gap, there’s a way
While his ventures address two distinct challenges, he says the common thread is the ability to “notice and fill gaps in things around me.”
“One of the concepts I learned in Dr. Christopher Holt’s course on entrepreneurial strategy was called ‘entrepreneurial pattern recognition.’ I didn’t know that’s what I was doing until after that class. It was a huge eye-opener. When I notice gaps, it clicks.”
Not surprisingly, Chinazom has a third venture in the works, though that’s on pause while he focuses on growing Merge2Own and ESOTE. For now, he says he’ll “keep documenting the ideas. You can't do everything at once, right?”
Innovation driven by personal experience
One of the biggest challenges that Chinazom encountered when he moved to Waterloo to start the MBET was a tight housing market. As it turned out, that struggle became ideal inspiration for his first successful venture.
“I couldn't afford to buy a home at the time, so a group of us came together to see if we could combine our equity,” he says. “During that process, I realized there are trust issues, legal challenges and other obstacles — so, at the end of the day, we didn't move forward.”
Seeing others in his community struggle with the same problem, Chinazom was eager to explore solutions. It just so happened that an MBET classmate, Ernest Onuorah, had been through a similar experience trying — and ultimately failing — to co-purchase a home.
Drawing on their shared experiences, the two worked together to launch Merge2Own, an online platform that reduces barriers for first-time homebuyers by supporting successful co-ownership.
“We interviewed around 50 people to understand the problem,” Chinazom says. “Three of the main challenges that came up were: mitigating trust issues, sorting out the complex legal framework and ensuring protection if one of the co-owners defaults on a payment. 80% of people we interviewed would take up co-ownership as a way to buy a home if these three issues could be resolved. So we built our solution around addressing them.”
While Merge2Own currently serves the Waterloo Region market, Chinazom and his team hope to expand the platform to support homebuyers across Canada, North America and, eventually, the world.
Thinking beyond the MBA
While originally on the lookout for an MBA program, the MBET caught Chinazom’s eye because of its focus on entrepreneurship — something he says makes the program unique.
Mentorship from experienced faculty, dynamic course material, a collaborative environment with other entrepreneurs and the opportunity to tap into Waterloo’s world-class startup ecosystem have all been key drivers of his success so far.
It’s an experience he relishes, especially being able to complete the program requirements on a more relaxed timeline.
With two young kids at home and a full-time job as a program manager at a local tech company, studying part-time in the MBET has given Chinazom the breathing room to juggle competing responsibilities while getting his startups off the ground. But, more than that, it’s created space for self-discovery.
“The part-time program gives you enough time to discover the things that you don’t know and then to learn along the way,” he says. “And it also gives you time to be part of the various ecosystems that University of Waterloo provides.”
Tapping into Waterloo’s startup incubators
When launching Merge2Own, Chinazom and his co-founder got support from multiple startup programs on campus, including a $1,500 award from the social impact incubator GreenHouse, a $15,000 grant from the Up Start funding program through Velocity and the Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo), and support from Velocity’s Cornerstone program, which helps students test and validate their business ideas.
As part of the community at GreenHouse, in particular, Chinazom found more than just support for Merge2Own. He also found the resources and encouragement to pursue another venture, an online recruitment platform called ESOTE.
The goal of the platform is to help startups fill a critical gap — hiring the affordable, skilled talent they need to launch and grow their business. It’s a challenge Chinazom faced while building Merge2Own and something he hopes to help other companies tackle.
Through ESOTE, which means “next” in Igbo, startups around the world can easily recruit junior and intermediate co-op students from Canadian postsecondary institutions who are looking for work experience. The platform uses AI technology to match qualified talent to the right opportunities, encouraging mutually beneficial collaboration that helps both startups and students thrive.
Where there’s a gap, there’s a way
While his ventures address two distinct challenges, he says the common thread is the ability to “notice and fill gaps in things around me.”
“One of the concepts I learned in Dr. Christopher Holt’s course on entrepreneurial strategy was called ‘entrepreneurial pattern recognition.’ I didn’t know that’s what I was doing until after that class. It was a huge eye-opener. When I notice gaps, it clicks.”
Not surprisingly, Chinazom has a third venture in the works, though that’s on pause while he focuses on growing Merge2Own and ESOTE. For now, he says he’ll “keep documenting the ideas. You can't do everything at once, right?”