The origin of Hey Oscar™
Four students, one project, one conviction.
Hey Oscar was born at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), in the ESG UQAM
entrepreneurship program. They saw a real problem: people spend a lot of time
trying to figure out what to watch.
According to their market research, 98% of people spend more than ten minutes
looking for something to watch, overwhelmed by a catalog of titles that keeps
growing every year. Their conclusion: the answer isn't another algorithm trying
to please people based on watch history alone, but a companion that truly
understands each user's needs, context, and cravings.
With their shared passion for cinema, they jumped at the chance to build the solution.
UQAM · ESG
Jury's Choice Award
People's Choice Award
They're four students who studied entrepreneurship together at ESG UQAM. Hey Oscar was
born in their program's capstone course — the final project meant to put
everything they'd learned to the test.
In front of a jury, in a "shark tank"-style pitch simulation, they presented Oscar for the
first time. They won the Jury's Choice Award, then the
People's Choice Award for the most realistic and best-prepared project
in their cohort.
What started as a school assignment became a real app, used today by movie lovers looking
for an answer to the question we all ask ourselves: "Tonight, what are we watching?"
Proudly built in Québec, by students from here — and designed to be useful to everyone,
wherever they are.
