TechRev 2010 shines spotlight on Calgary's Tech Sector

The second annual TechRev Innovators Awards were held last night at Mount Royal University. Almost 300 stakeholders from Calgary's tech community gathered to recognize this year's winners. Not only were the achievements of the 10 companies that were named were recognized, but also the hundreds of milestones logged by the 304  nominated companies.

After 24 months of reading and hearing about the global economic crisis and its impact on economies and industries around the world, guests were heartened by the buoyant results achieved by the TechRev Community. From companies in start-up mode right through to companies who are recognized as global leaders, local companies are flourishing. 

Dr. Tom Keenan, a well known Canadian technology personality provides his perspective: 

“Calgary has a well-deserved reputation for innovation and its technology sector is buzzing with vibrant companies that are releasing world-class products, expanding into international markets, and attracting top talent from around the world.  

TechRev allows us to showcase our tech stars and inspire the entrepreneurs who are building the hot companies of tomorrow, right here in Calgary.”

The event originated and is supported by Calgary Technologies Inc. and the night started with CTI CEO John Masters providing an overview of Calgary's tech community and how well it has persevered thru the recession. Overall hiring and financials for the community has grown substantially, and this has proved to be a great asset to Calgary's oil and gas dominated economy. Some notable facts:

• Headcount in the TechRev Community increased by 18% in the past year.
• 65% of the TechRev Community released at least one new product in the past year.
• 25% of the TechRev Community secured external investment > $1M in the past year
• 55% of the TechRev Community expanded their international reach in the past year.
• 60% of the TechRev community expanded local operations in the past year.

Brad Zumwalt, a well-known serial tech entrepreneur (Veer, Eyewire, Social Venture Partners), was the MC for the evening and he offered his insight into the courage, perserverence  and innovativeness of tech entrepreneurs. He mentioned the work that was being done to help tech entrepreneurship in Alberta, with the $100 million allocation to the Alberta Enterprise Corporation.

Brad also mentioned and asked for a call to action to form the A100, which is fashioned after the C100, a group of select 100 Canadians who work primarily in Silicon Valley dedicated to supporting Canadian tech entrepreneurship and investment. The A100 would in similar vein, become a group that would mentor and grow a new generation of successful Alberta-led technology companies.

In no particular order, Brad then named this year's innovaters, which was a mix of software, internet, energy tech, and hardware companies, some relatively new, and some who have been around for 3 decades:

• Computer Modeling Group - Ken Dedeluk (oil and gas reservoir sim)
• Ice Edge Business Solutions - Barry Loberg (video game driven design software for business)
• Multiplied Media Inc. - Andrew Osis (Poynt search for mobile devices)
• Psyko Audio - Jim Hildebrandt (next gen headphones)
• Sustainable Energy Technologies - Brent Harris (thin film solar technology)
• Mob4Hire - Stephen King (not the author, but CEO of another kind of 'bestseller' - crowd-sourced mobile device testing)
• Benevity Social Ventures - Byran de Lottinville (philanthropic software)
  
• Wedge Networks - Husam Kinawi (internet security)
• Userful - Tim Griffin (shared computing resources)
• Genesis Technical Systems - Stephen Cooke (high bandwidth for ISPs)

Click on the individual company names to get the synopsis of each venture and congratulations to all!

TechRev is sponsored by Calgary Technologies Inc, Rogers Communications, the Alberta Government and the City of Calgary and spearheaded by Pamela Boytinck, the Executive Director at TechRev.