Okeiya

ABOUT OKEIYA

A place
for you.

Okeiya is a project born in Québec, exploring how to better connect students with the activities, people, associations, clubs and projects that bring a campus to life.

THE STARTING POINT

An idea born on
an already vibrant campus.

At Université Laval, the opportunities already exist: activities, associations, clubs, teams, projects and communities. Okeiya starts with a simpler question: how can we make it all easier to discover — and, above all, to join?

A FISH, AN OCTOPUS AND CONNECTIONS

Fish. An octopus. One shared current.

The fish represent people, each with their own colour and path. Schools form around an activity, an interest or a project.

The octopus brings schools together. Her arms evoke the connections between people and communities, much like associations and the people who bring student life to life.

The duo also nods to Yannick’s and Xiao’s avatars. Together, they share one aim: helping you find your people, at your own pace.

A school of fish moves together. A school is also where student life happens. For Okeiya, this image expresses a simple intention: helping you find your people and your place on campus, at your own pace and around your interests.

“Find your school” evokes a group of fish in the student headline. The brand signature, “Follow the current. Find your school. Make waves.”, connects discovery, belonging and participation.

Okeiya is an independent project. It is not an official Université Laval service.

OUR APPROACH

Build with the community, not on its behalf.

Okeiya is still in development. We prefer to test our assumptions, talk with students and organizations, and shape the product around what we actually learn.

OUR PRINCIPLE“The product should step aside when real student life begins.”

THE FOUNDING TEAM

Two paths. A shared wish to bring people together.

Okeiya is led by Yannick Normand and Xiao Huot.

September 2026 · Université Laval

In September 2026, law student Xiao Huot posts a message in the Université Laval AI club community. She wants to develop an app for university events and is looking for someone to help bring her idea to life.

Yannick Normand, a software engineering graduate, responds. Their meeting marks the start of their collaboration on Okeiya.

Yannick Normand at his Université Laval graduation ceremony
CO-FOUNDER · TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCT AND AI

Yannick Normand

The fish behind your student life

Born in his Instagram posts, this personal signature connects Yannick’s fish avatar with his commitment to student life and his role as Okeiya’s co-founder.

A graduate of Université Laval's bachelor's program in software engineering, Yannick now focuses on developing Okeiya. He plans to begin a part-time master's in artificial intelligence in winter 2027. His interests include AI, product development and tools that can meaningfully enrich student life.

View my CV

@yannicknormand →
Xiao Huot
CO-FOUNDER · PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY

Xiao Huot

The octopus bringing people together

A law student and Okeiya co-founder, Xiao originated the idea for an app dedicated to university events.

@xiaohuot2018 →

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY

Okeiya is also being built in public.

Follow the project, our experiments and the people behind Okeiya on Instagram.

TODAY

Okeiya is not presented as a finished product.

We build, test and learn progressively. Features shown as a vision or exploration should not be confused with capabilities currently available.

Tester access requires a verified @ulaval.ca address and human approval. You can then create your student profile. Activity discovery is not available yet.

WHERE IS OKEIYA TODAY?

The vision is ambitious.
The product is being built now.

TodayOkeiya accounts and the tester access process are in active development.
In developmentThe discovery, community and activity experiences illustrated on this page.
What can I actually do today? +

Once your tester access is approved, you can create and edit your student profile. The activity and community discovery illustrated above is not available yet.

How can I get involved? +

You can try the demo, share feedback or contact us. Input from students and organizations helps us decide what to build next.

Share feedback → · Contact us →