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noodle
What is noodle?
Noodle is Branksome's pre-eminent youth incubator and accelerator redefining entrepreneurship through innovation, purpose and impact. We empower young people to create ventures that make the world better.
Noodle was launched in 2019–20 with five companies and 13 students in Grades 7 to 12. By 2026–27, it had grown to 126 students and 67 companies, with growth ongoing. The Karen L. Jurjevich Innovation Centre & Studio Theatre is Noodle’s new headquarters, including a permanent pop-up location for product sales.
Noodle has become so highly sought-after that Noodle Jr. was introduced in 2023 for Grades 4 to 6, with 50 students participating in Grades 5 and 6 and Grade 4 students participating in an introduction to Noodle Jr. each spring.
PROGRAM FEATURES
Business development mentorship
Branksome Hall employees provide mentorship in areas such as ideation, product development, customer segmentation, partnership agreements, marketing, finance, branding and pitching.
Coaching and guidance from guest entrepreneurs
Community members join frequently as speakers, pitch judges and mentors. Sessions have included those on customer persona, branding and marketing, the art of the pitch and how to grow your business.
Experience true business growth
The student companies sell at school and community events, generating revenue that is reinvested into the companies. They also have the opportunity to pitch for a startup loan (for new companies) or funding from our Business Growth Fund, where they receive real money to invest in strategic growth.
Transferable Learning opportunities
Entrepreneurial learning develops grit and resilience, enabling students to push through challenges, fostering mental toughness and the risk-taking sensibility all leaders require.
Understanding what it takes to bring the spark of an idea through the entire real-life cycle that entrepreneurs follow—that’s the true value of this program. We empower students to design innovative, socially impactful ventures while developing real-world entrepreneurial skills.
Noodle's Goal
Noodle is a prime example of our Innovation priority in action. The program’s goal is to help balance the significant gender gap across current science, technology, engineering and entrepreneurial professions.
Whether your daughters are passionate about a career in business, the arts, STEM, not-for-profits, politics or anything they set their minds to, they’ll look back on Noodle as the training ground for turning ideas into tangible solutions and enterprises to make a difference in a world that’s always changing.
Funding Structure
Branksome Hall invests significantly in Noodle, and generous donors help fund the program’s growth
Seed funding and more to grow businesses
The Noodle program was kick-started thanks to initial prize and seed funding from alum donor Mary LESSLIE Hallward’74. More donors have since stepped forward, with several funding high-profile Entrepreneurs-in-Residence to mentor the students.
New companies can receive access to a start-up loan with the understanding that, if they return, they will be up and thriving, unlikely to need this start-up funding a second time.
Every April, companies have the opportunity to pitch in a Dragon’s Den-style competition to gain additional funding to grow their businesses. Last year, more than $13,000 was awarded.
Noodle Jr. to Noodle
Kick-starting innovation & entrepreneurial skills
Grades 5–6 students can join Noodle Jr. every fall as part of co-curricular programming. Over 16 weeks, students apply design thinking skills to identify a real-world problem, then fine-tune their solutions and launch their company. Students display prototypes and present their process to families and friends each spring at the Noodle Jr. Trade Show. Grade 4 students are invited to participate in the Introduction to Noodle Jr. program in the spring.
Noodle in the Middle and Senior School
Grades 7–12 students can join Noodle every fall, either as an individuals or as a group, and participants move through two main programs, with the Accelerator program having two phases:
Incubator - Build it: Students move from problem to idea, to solution, to first company, to first customers.
Accelerator
1. Prove it: Students with an existing company challenge their assumptions, validate the problem and solution, strengthen the business model and find evidence that there is a real market.
2. Grow it: More established student companies focus on traction, revenue, impact, innovation and leadership, and decide what their next stage of growth looks like.
Noodle Events
Noodle works closely with Branksome's Advancement and Community Engagement team to bring in talented entrepreneurs and speakers to share real-world experience and knowledge to support the students' journeys.
Companies may pitch their businesses to a panel of judges comprised of alums and parents to earn additional funding.
Companies showcase what they’ve been working on all year to family and friends.
Companies have the opportunity to sell at multiple pop-ups throughout the year at school, such as our monthly pop-ups in the AWC, as well as at special events, including the Welcome Back Party, Branksome on Bay, Junior School Bingo and more.
Want to Fuel Innovation and Don't Know How?
We welcome the opportunity to discuss mentorship, corporate partnership and philanthropic opportunities with you.