Paulina Masson, owner of ContestMob Inc. and full-time student at Carleton University, has been named a 2011 Student Entrepreneur Ontario Champion by charitable organization, Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE).
Since 2010, Ms. Masson has owned and operated ContestMob, a community for people who enter online contests on a daily basis. The Google-based application provides a large sweepstakes database, extensive details about each contest and features a contest entries organizer. The business model uses virtual currency and digital goods, which monetize low-income users, as well as also encourages user-generated content and activity on the site.
"I am delighted that the effort I have put into ContestMob is being recognized. This gives me new confidence to continue to grow my business," she says.
While the business is not yet profitable and continues to operate in private beta mode, her company has already created a lot of buzz, including 28,000 page views on their blog site since its launch in October 2010, more than 2,000 Twitter followers and several hundred Facebook page fans. To learn more about Ms. Masson's company, listen to this podcast.
Ms. Masson took part in a live discussion. Find a mobile-friendly version here.