草莓污视频导航

Nov. 15, 2019

Class of 2019: From Siberia to Silicon Valley with songwriting in between

Biotechnology grad Daria Venkova is on accelerator circuit for Alberta biotech company
Daria Venkova (stage name Daria Purley) on stage singing.
Master in Biotechnology student Daria Venkova is a singer songwriter and CEO of a start-up. Photo supplied by Daria Venkova

It all started with 60 calves in Claresholm. When she was an undergraduate studying zoology at the 草莓污视频导航, Daria Venkova鈥檚 family wanted to learn more about farming so they got some cattle and kept them on their property in Claresholm. Venkova spent a summer driving down from Calgary to tend to the animals, watching them grow and learning everything she could about them.

鈥淚t's funny how that works,鈥 says Venkova, BSc鈥18, the CEO of
(CPS), a startup that鈥檚 commercializing a convenient method that uses biomarkers to detect infections in cattle and other animals. 鈥淚 would never have thought that having those cows would turn into me working with cows, potentially, for my entire life.鈥

  • Above:听Master in Biotechnology student Daria Venkova is a singer-songwriter and CEO of a startup. Photo courtesy Daria Venkova

While doing her Master鈥檚 in Biomedical Technology at the , she participated in the hackathon. One of the judges was Dr. Jeroen De Buck, PhD, professor of bacteriology at 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and founder of CPS.听He liked that she knew about cattle, business and biotech and had 鈥渁n extraordinary talent for pitching.鈥

In January, she started working with De Buck to commercialize the company鈥檚 hockey puck-sized technology that, paired with a smartphone app, lets farmers detect common livestock diseases. 听听

Venkova is presented with a cheque for taking first place in 150 Startups鈥 pitch competition at the fourth annual Innovation Rodeo.

Venkova won first place in 150 Startups鈥 pitch competition at the fourth annual Innovation Rodeo.

Photo supplied by Daria Venkova

In July, Venkova came first at the pitch competition. She won $12,500 and a five-week scholarship to in Silicon Valley, where she and other entrepreneurs learned how to perfect their pitch to venture capitalists.

The amount of talent here is fascinating,鈥 she says. 鈥淭here are people from all over the world working to bring their startup ideas to life. I am the only one with an AgTech device for livestock but there鈥檚 a guy from Senegal with a watering device for crops.鈥 听

When she鈥檚 not working on accelerating the startup, she鈥檚 writing and
songs. Venkova was born in Russia and her family moved from Siberia to Calgary when she was 10.听鈥淚 started taking vocal lessons shortly after we came to Canada, around Grade 6,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t helped me learn the language and it was fun.鈥

She recorded her first song at 15 and she still manages to find time for songwriting. So far, she hasn鈥檛 written any songs about livestock, but years of performing music in cafes and bars around Calgary have definitely helped her ability to pitch CPS.

鈥淵ou never really think singing will in any way help with a biotech startup. But it helped in absolutely every way because, I think, the way we present our ideas to others is so important,鈥 she says. 鈥淎nd just having that ability to be on stage and feel confident to speak to others takes away a lot of those barriers and helps get the message across that much better.鈥

As she continues to sing the praises of CPS, the company is passing regulatory hurdles and is almost ready to sell its technology directly to dairy farmers to help monitor the health of their herds.

鈥淎lberta's such a great place to do this because there are so many dairy farms,鈥 says Venkova. 鈥淚t's a matter of going full force on everything and if all goes as planned, by mid-2020 we should be able to reach the market. I have no doubt that we will be successful.鈥

Venkova,originally from Siberia, started taking vocal lessons to help learn English.

Venkova says performing and songwriting have helped her to develop her business pitching skills.

Photo supplied by Daria Venkova.