Two tech firms have shared in the first "Bright Tech Idea" pitch challenge.
Each gets $5000 to help grow their companies.
There were five firms in all that presented their idea to a panel of four judges at the first "Tech Mobility Day."
It's the finale of Tech Week, a series of events hosted by WEtech Alliance and the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation.
One of the winners is Joyride of Toronto, a bicycle sharing platform. Founder Vince Cefani says they have a specific use for the funds.
"To protect user's data in Ontario, across Canada, across North America and across Europe because each jurisdiction has it's own privacy legislation and we want to make sure that our users are being protected in their respective cities"
Windsor based Optimotive was the other winners, they're developing autonomous vehicle technology to handle harsh weather.
CEO Scott Fairley says it's the one challenge the technology has yet to solve.
Optimotive Technologies CEO Scott Fairley, Institute for Border Logistics and Security, November 2, 2018 (by AM800's Peter Langille)
"No autonomous company has proven capable of handling these types of environments whether it be heavy snow, rain with reflective road lines. There's always different types of environments that the autonomous vehicle of the current cannot handle. We think we've found the solution that could solve all their issues for them and allow for the safe autonomy in harsh weather conditions"
Fairley says he may be one of the only people in the are looking forward to snow.
"It's one of the weird things, while we've been building this we haven't been able to test in the snow and the snow's coming and we're ecstatic, we're excited and with this money we have here today it's going to allow us to test in the snow and harsh weather conditions and time will tell. It's coming quickly so we're excited"
Fairley says they'll use the funds to do the legal work necessary to protect their intellectual property.
He says they've been pretty much in stealth mode, but are hoping to speak soon with larger auto companies.