Business Minor Spotlight: Rosa Fragomeni
“My grandparents came to Canada with hope for a better life. Eventually building that future through their small businesses; a neighborhood barber shop and a family bakery. Growing up with that legacy of persistence and entrepreneurship shaped how I understood community, opportunity, and hard work. When I had the opportunity to go to Rome to complete the final credit of my bachelor’s degree at the European Innovation Academy in Italy, my business trip quickly became a full-circle moment. It reconnected me with the Italian culture and work ethic that my grandparents instilled in me. The EIA was a true training ground for founders—showing us how much it is possible in a short time when you have a strong team alongside world-renowned mentors, coaches, and professors from top global business schools, including UC Berkeley. That experience not only strengthened my skills but affirmed the entrepreneurial spirit that has been in my family for generations and continues to guide my path forward in my startup.”
-Rosa Fragomeni
The greatest innovations happen when passion and determination collide. At IMI, students are taught to follow their passions and carve their unique paths using the tools they’ve learned inside the classroom. Rosa Fragomeni is a recent UTM graduate of the IMI Minor in Business, Science and Entrepreneurship Program. She is the founder of the start-up, Trees of Life, which is supported by ONRamp at the University of Toronto and Women4ClimateTO at the City of Toronto.
IMI Minor in Business, Science and Entrepreneurship
Her interest in business began with participating in case competitions like those hosted by ICUBE at IMI and the Hult Prize, the world's largest student startup competition. With a newfound interest in problem-solving and entrepreneurship, she pursued the IMI Minor in Business, Science, and Entrepreneurship in her third year of her bachelor’s degree, which complemented her studies in Environmental Science and Anthropology. She appreciated the program’s multidisciplinary approach that allowed her to apply her entrepreneurial mindset at the intersection of sustainability, anthropology and business. Her interests in sustainability, anthropology, and business, forming a unique interdisciplinary perspective. Her favorite course, IMI400 - Innovation and Entrepreneurship, equipped her with the skills of perfecting pitch decks and crafting business plans with the hands-on encouragement and support of her professors. These experiences throughout the program provided her with the consistency, practice and role models to go beyond the classroom and take the necessary #bigleaps for her start-up.
From Idea to Reality
Trees of Life was built on the question: How will we memorialize our loved ones when we run out of burial space in the next decade? After realizing the gap in the Canadian market for eco-friendly burial, Fragomeni worked on a business model that would help grieving families and support loved ones while positively contributing to the environment. Trees of Life reimagines eco-friendly burials, giving people the chance to give back to the Earth and honour their loved ones in the form of a 'second life' as a native plant species.
In her final year of studies, Fragomeni pitched the idea for Trees of Life to Women4ClimateTO, a mentorship program that empowers female start-up owners developing innovative solutions to address Toronto’s climate goals at the City of Toronto. She says, “If you have persistence, determination, and authenticity, that’s what pushes you forward.”
After her acceptance, Fragomeni gained access to a community of consultants, municipal officials, and business owners with the same sustainability goals, which helped actualize Trees of Life. In the same year, Trees of Life was accepted into ONRamp at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, a co-working and collaboration space for UofT entrepreneurs. “There will always be a seat for you at the table, you just have to find it,” Fragomeni says.
In 2026, Trees of Life is aiming to further engage with its community and raise awareness for its mission as an early stage startup. Fragomeni is interested in participating in more conversations to hear what the community wants and how Trees of Life can serve them better and as of November 2025, has started a community event series called Memorial Tech where anyone can come and discuss their interest in eco-friendly burial or their lived experiences living next to or utilizing cemetery space (i.e. jogging, walking etc.). Her goal for Trees of Life is to understand ways in which she can better serve her community and Canadians through innovation in sustainability, conservation and cemetery land use management.
Advice for Students
Fragomeni's experiences serve as an inspiration to young students to pursue their dreams of starting that project or business they've always envisioned, remain determined amidst challenges and severe the community in innovative ways. Fragomeni, who has won numerous award both from the University of Toronto and her Department of Geography, Geomatics and the Environment, says:
“Anybody can do a start-up if you have the passion and the right team. And, if you acknowledge the skillsets that you need to go into the start-up world, you can do anything you put your mind to,” . From her experiences at IMI and her own start-up journey, she emphasizes the importance of remembering why you started. She notes that knowing the struggle of where you started and being grateful for how far you have come are the core values that will push you to overcome challenges, learn from mistakes, and genuinely connect in forming a community with your start-up.
To learn about Rosa Fragomeni’s new social venture nestled in the LinkedIn platform: Decisions Over Gelato where she ‘scoops’ founder stories and startup lessons into cheat codes!
To learn more about the Minor in Business, Science and Entrepreneurship at IMI, please visit the website or contact imi.businessminor@utoronto.ca.
