Entries from the 'Start-up' category
STIRR Comes to Canada
With the inaugural Founders’ Table dinner on the evening of May 15th, STIRR will have begun its entrance into the Canadian tech scene. Originally co-founded by Sanford Barr in California as a way to connect entrepreneurs, it has become one of the most popular organizations for founders in Silicon Valley. STIRR is now coming to Canada, with Calgary as its base location. Once again, the dedication of Pat Lor and Claudia Moore in building the Calgary (and Canadian) tech community is shown as they will be heading up the STIRR Canada team. One of the most important aspects of STIRR is that it is organized and attended by entrepreneurs that have gone through the process of founding and running a tech company. This gives them direct knowledge of the things that entrepreneurs desperately need (such as funding and guidance), as they attempt to help provide access to those essential elements.
The first STIRR Canada event will be held this Thursday (May 15th), and will be a Founders’ Table. It will bring together a small group of local founders, emerging innovators, and funders around a dinner table for a facilitated conversation, interaction and relationship building. Garrett Camp, founder of one of Calgary’s most successful tech startups, StumbleUpon, is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the event. I had a chance to chat with Sharon McIntyre (part of the STIRR Canada team) on the phone and she said an important difference between this event and other founders and funders type events is that there will also be an “emphasis on bringing very early stage individuals into the event and connecting them with mentors.” While most founders and funders events are primarily trying to connect people who need money with those who have it, this event will also bring innovators to the table who may not be ready for financing. The event is invite-only in an effort to connect the right people together, as Sharon put it: “It’s a bit like planning a wedding party; you need to make sure that the right people are sitting at the same table together in order for things to go well.” STIRR Canada will also be running larger Tech Mixer events in the near future that will encourage more entrepreneurs to join in and interact.
Cambrian House gets the axe
So much for the wisdom of crowds. Techcrunch (and Mark Evans) are reporting that Calgary crowdsourcing up-start Cambrian House is headed for the deadpool. Apparently VC Spencer Trask passed on making an investment in Cambrian but instead has picked up their assets cheap - fire sale cheap. Techcrunch’s Erick Schonfeld reported today that Cambrian House’s IP, assets and website will be sold to Spencer Trask for far less than the $7.75 million that investors pumped into the company.
Spencer Trask plans on taking the assets and rolling them into VenCorps, a Cambrian House project that was exhibiting as the Canadian Innovation Exchange in Toronto two weeks ago. Vencorps community builder Will Pate was holding down the booth and did a great job demoing how they’re going to apply the crowdsourcing concept to venture capital.
Platial ventures into new territory
Platial, arguably the leading independent social mapping application with more 150 million geobits under its hood, has launched a new version of its application, further expanding the types of information that users can attribute to a location.
With the new release, Platial’s location-based storytelling becomes much richer. Now, the mapping application allows its users to capture more relevant information about the actual experience of a location, using targeted categories that help a visitor understand that location on more of a personal and emotional level.
In addition to the categories and the new look and feel, the Platial release introduces a number of new features that are sure to be embraced by the active Platial community.
Founders lunch in Toronto on May 10th
The second Founders lunch will be taking place this Saturday, May 10th in Toronto. It is an invite-only event and provides a great opportunity for local tech entrepreneurs to intermingle in a casual environment. The inaugural lunch was held in March and was hosted by Learnhub.
Death To “Honest Work”!
Last week, the Vancouver Sun reported on the precipitous drop in median earnings in BC, as well as in Quebec, over the past 5 years. The comments in the story’s online forum are anything but inspiring, oscillating wildly between downright embarrassing and borderline xenophobic. Some of the readers espouse disgust at the idea that “some people” have had the utter gall to figure out how to make money. And others suffer the delusion that their mere presence in the world bestows upon them the right to expect success, as if showing up should be its own reward.
Most shockingly, in my opinion, is the apparent unwillingness of British Columbians to recognize that news like this might just be our own damn fault.
[Read more →]
What’s it like to work for a Tech Start-Up?
Here’s your chance to find out. In partnership with Launch Party Vancouver 4 (LPV4), Techvibes is hosting a Start-Up Career Fair dedicated to the unique opportunities available at technology Start-Ups in Vancouver. The event will merge the ‘unconference’ format of DemoCamp with a traditional Career Fair. Representatives from Strutta, Carrie & Danielle, Lypp, Tagga, Live Current, MovieSet, Vibrant Software, 6S Marketing, FCV, Layer 7 and GO Recruitment will be pitching you on why you should work for them and highlight some of the cool opportunities at their Start-Ups.
Who should attend? From web designers to systems engineers and all stops in between. If you’re a student, a recent graduate, or just part of the workforce and curious about what its like to work for a Start-Up - this FREE event is for you. The Career Fair will take place on Wednesday, May 21st at 3:00pm at Republic at 958 Granville Street. BONUS: Everyone is invited to stick around for a drink and networking at Launch Party starting at 5:30pm. You can register for both events separately on Facebook - LPV4 here and the Start-Up Career Fair here.
AERS Gets Thrifty
Victoria-based E-commerce research and analytics leader Advanced Economic Research Systems Inc. (AERS), announced last week the appointment of Alex A. Campbell to the company’s board of directors. Campbell is the founder and former chair of Vancouver Island success story Thrifty Foods.
Campbell is widely respected and will bring to the company experience in adapting business processes to facilitate continued growth and success. Campbell sold Thrifty Foods to Sobeys Inc. in 2007 and continues to be involved in an advisory capacity. This appointment sheds some light on their $1 Million private equity funding a couple weeks ago.
Vancouver’s Stockgroup get $3 Million
Stockgroup Information Systems Inc. announced today that long time investor PEAK6 Investments L.P. will be injecting $3 Million into their business. PEAK6 is a leading options trading financial institution. As part of a larger strategic agreement, Stockgroup will provide market data, research and news to PEAK6’s new online options information portal - The Options News Network - and Stockgroup will issue 3000 preferred shares at US$1,000 per share to PEAK6.
“Stockgroup and PEAK6 share a common goal: to give investors new and innovative tools they can use to succeed in the financial markets,” said Marcus New, chief executive officer of Stockgroup. “Backed by our proprietary financial data and analysis, OptionsNews.com can establish itself as a leading information source for the retail options investor. Our agreement provides a powerful resource for investors seeking to use options to enhance their portfolios. PEAK6’s investment in Stockgroup demonstrates the tremendous value we bring to their organization. We will continue to explore new ways to expand our relationship.”
This agreement closely follows Stockgroup’s recent relaunch of Stockhouse.com, an online community for investors. Stockhouse.com features blogs, editorial content and analysis on thousands of ticker symbols. Community members can also create profiles and publicly share top stock picks in their portfolios.
New Ventures BC Round Two Finalists Announced
175 companies have been chosen for round two of the New Ventures BC competition, representing a record number of applicants for the competition. Prize money totalling $335,000 is at stake for the final 3 new ventures. The field will be whittled down quickly as only 30 companies will move on to round three, and only 10 companies to round four. An unsurprising sign of the times, many of the competitors are pitching alternative energy or ecological sustainability ideas. If one of them make it to the final 3, they will qualify for an additional $20,000 of the BC Hydro Sustainability Prize.
For the full list of companies that made the cut, visit the NVBC Blog.
DataGardens wins the 2008 TEC VenturePrize
The annual VenturePrize Awards Luncheon held earlier today was a mix of old and new. Returning to Hall D at the Shaw Conference Centre in downtown Edmonton, the ceremony recognized a number of Alberta’s best entrepreneurs and also served as an informal launch event for a new name and branding for the competition.
Now called TEC VenturePrize, the business plan competition was formed in 2002 by Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) and is run by TEC Edmonton, itself a partnership between EEDC and the University of Alberta. The new name features TEC Edmonton more prominently, and the updated logo is fresh and modern looking. Today’s event was the first time the new branding has been prominently displayed, and I expect the website and other materials will be updated in the weeks to come.
“Providing entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed is the driving force behind TEC VenturePrize,” said David Cox, CEO of TEC Edmonton. “Awarding entrepreneurs that pursue their passion, developing fast growth business opportunities, is what it’s all about.”
TEC VenturePrize consists of two parts: the Fast Growth Award, and the Student Business Plan Competition. The finalists in this year’s student competition included IdleTime, MountainFlix, and BlackFire Technologies. James Matsuba’s IdleTime, an electronic marketplace to connect employers and temporary workers, took home the prize of $6000 in cash, while each of the runners up received $2000.
The finalists in the Fast Growth category included DataGardens, Simple Solar, and Tagle. The judges decided to award first place to DataGardens, giving Geoff Hayward and his team $90,000 in cash and prizes. The runners up each take home $38,000 in prizes.
DataGardens has created technology that essentially creates a virtual data centre. Their solution is described as an evolution in how companies manage their IT infrastructure. Usually, companies have two choices: they can either centralize everything in a main office, or they can spread their IT throughout branch offices. DataGardens hopes to provide their customers the best of both worlds.
For more information on the competition and the participants (including contact information), see this TEC Edmonton news release. I took a few photos too, which you can see here. Curious about what was on the menu? Feel free to read this post on my blog.
