By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Royalty Data Rewards Club CEO and founder Donna Tremble is excited about being a semi-finalist in Pow Wow Pitch 2023’s Technology Semi-Final Online Watch Party on Sept. 15. Pow Wow Pitch is inviting people to register for the Watch Parties, which run from Sept. 4-15, at www.powwowpitch.org/register/ and to vote for their favourite entrepreneur for the People’s Choice Prize at www.powwowpitch.org/vote/. The Pow Wow Pitch Finalists are scheduled to pitch on Oct. 19 for their chance to win the $25,000 grand prize, with the Indigenous Entrepreneur Awards digital awards gala scheduled on Nov. 9.

“My business is one of nine Technology semi-finalists — there were over 2,000 applicants in total for all of the categories,” says Tremble, a Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek citizen from Thunder Bay. “It’s exciting! I just recorded my pitch with the judges last Friday (Aug. 18). I submitted a one-minute video pitch on the Pow Wow Pitch website at the end of June and then at the end of July, I received an e-mail letting me know that I made it to the semi-finals.”

Tremble says the semi-finalists were assigned mentors, noting that her mentors were Ron Shaluk from RBC, and Russell Thomas from Mastercard. With their guidance, Tremble honed her pitch and studied the dynamics of large loyalty programs.

“I’m launching my business soon and I thought Pow Wow Pitch would be a great way to help me get more traction with my business, but also on the personal level, I thought it would be a great way to practice my public speaking skills,” Tremble says. “It’s going well. I think I presented a much better pitch at the semi-finals than with the pitch I submitted in June. I received some great feedback from the judges and great questions, too.”

Tremble says privacy concerns motivated her to start up her business, which is designed as a solution for small businesses in Canada. She currently has three locally-owned businesses in Thunder Bay that have agreed to pilot her technology.

“I’m selling a subscription-based service to small businesses in Canada to help them use gamification to enhance the in-store experience of their customers and lead to an increase in sales,” Tremble says. “There are over one million small businesses in Canada and we’re facilitating the gamification aspect using digital points to provide an incentive for customers to join the club and purchase products. Later on we will buy points back from the club members in exchange for cash or gift cards.”

Tremble says she is also doing market research on other ways she can provide incentives to club members for collecting points.

“I’m also selling the opportunity to purchase proprietary personal data from consumers that large businesses … and online advertisers do not have access to,” Tremble says. “Our club members will have the choice to opt into personal data sales and they will receive 100 per cent of the proceeds.”

Tremble says her goal is to have a positive impact on online privacy and mental health by changing how data is collected and traded.

“I’ve received a very positive response from the businesses I have spoken to,” Tremble says. “The business owners do see value in having a royalty program and being able to offer points to people who make purchases.”

Tremble says the organizers at Pow Wow Pitch thought her business was a “very cool idea.”

“They like the idea of people having control over their data because that’s not something that we’ve truly had since this all started,” Tremble says.