Toronto’s Wave Accounting Secures $12 Million in Series B Funding

Today, Toronto-based startup Wave Accounting, a free cloud-based accounting software platform designed specifically for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, announced that they have secured $12 million (USD) in Series B funding from the Social+Capital Partnership, a Palo Alto-based investor group aimed at turning venture capital into a socially progressive and constructive force that creates progress on a global scale, with participation from existing investors Charles River Ventures and OMERS Ventures.

read more

Share Your Ideas for the Future of the CBC on TheStar.com’s Microsite ‘The Network’

In anticipation of the federal budget cuts to the CBC and the release of former CBC Executive Richard Stursberg’s new book The Tower of Babble: Sins, Secrets and Successes Inside the CBC, TheStar.com launched a microsite and contest called The Network. Since its inception in March, The Network has provided a platform for Canadians to share their ideas about the future of the CBC and national public broadcasting.

read more

Help BroadbandTV Raise Money for Charity by Creating or Simply Watching a YouTube Video

Last week, BroadbandTV, the largest online video aggregator in Canada, announced the launch of their first social video fundraiser. Now the three year old startup is seeking global support for a local cause. VISO, BroadbandTV’s consumer-facing YouTube channel, has reached out to its network of 5,000 video content creators from around the world to help tell the story of Mission Possible, a local charity that helps residents in one of Canada’s poorest postal codes find jobs.

read more

Toronto’s Siren Advertising Invests Own Money into Client Ad Campaigns in Exchange for Revenue Share

Six years ago, Max Entin, founder of Toronto-based Siren Advertising started his own outsourced software development firm. When his developers had free time on their hands, they would work on creating proprietary products that the company could sell.

That’s when Entin’s team started to experiment with online advertising. Soon, they realized that they could make more money by focusing on online advertising, rather than software development. So, the company pivoted into Siren Advertising.

read more

Card2Contact is the First Business Card Conversion App for Blackberry with Human Verification

Card2Contact ImagesThere are tons of business card scanners on the market but most of them are not 100 per cent accurate. Typically, card scanner users still have to go in and fix some of the contact details manually when letters are misconstrued as numbers and vice versa. A new Blackberry App called Card2Contact, which launched last month, provides an easy and accurate solution to this problem.

Waterloo’s Card2Contact is the first BlackBerry App that converts business cards into contacts and stores them directly into Blackberry Contacts with 100% accuracy – supported by the company’s Human Verification Workforce.

read more

'She Takes on the World,' a Guide for Women Who Want to be Their Own Boss

She Takes on the World Book CoverHow does a woman turn her passion into a successful business? Canada’s very own Natalie MacNeil, an EMMY Award-winning media entrepreneur, popular blogger, and thought leader in the areas of entrepreneurship and leadership for women, tries to answer this question in her new book entitled She Takes on the World. The book just launched today and can be purchased on Amazon and at select Chapters and Barnes and Noble stores.

The focus of MacNeil’s new guidebook for aspiring female entrepreneurs is to teach them how to work happy and live on purpose. At the very beginning of the book, MacNeil suggests that the secret to success is “love plus passion plus a need in the market.”

From sharing “lessons and confessions” from other successful female business owners, to identifying ways to develop a “Master Action Plan (MAP),” MacNeil offers helpful advice and actionable steps to take in designing the business of your dreams. Throughout the book, she provides her favourite “gems” which are small tidbits of information about software, websites, or tools that she personally uses to make her work life easier and more efficient.

read more

Social Media’s Influence on Film and TV Audiences: An Interview with Alexandra Samuel

Photo of Alexandra Samuel

Alexandra Samuel is the Director of the Social + Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr University and co-founder of Social Signal, one of the world's first social media agencies. Earlier this week, she spoke at the Women in Film and Television (WIFT) luncheon in Toronto about strategies and tools for online branding, and reaching broadcasting audiences through social media.

Samuel explained to the WIFT luncheon attendees that “the audience dictates the success of a film or television show—even before it is made.” She gave the example of a Finnish-German-Australian sci-fi comedy called Iron Sky, which raised roughly one million Euros via crowd funding from internet audiences. Because the film was promoted heavily online to seek audience funding, it generated so much buzz that it sold out at the Berlin International Film Festival premiere.

read more

SocialBungy to Launch a Socially-Enabled Contest and Sweepstakes Platform This Spring

socialbungy screenshotToronto and Montreal-based startup SocialBungy believes that every digital marketing campaign should be unique on its own - without seeking the help of custom development or breaking your wallet.

When the company launched two years ago as a social media marketing shop, their customers, like Steam Whistle and Lindt Chocolate, were always asking for custom campaigns. But not all companies can afford the cost that comes with customization. To meet those market demands, SocialBungy plans to launch a socially-enabled contest and sweepstakes platform this spring. 

“Ultimately our goal is to eliminate the high cost of launching a professional and brand-tailored campaign. In fact, most of our campaigns will run along the same price range as our cookie-cutter competitors, with campaigns starting at $249,” says Mike Barwick, Founder of SocialBungy.

read more

Toronto Startup Gamifies Instagram With New InstaMatch App

Instamatch LogoIf you enjoyed playing memory card matching games as a kid, then you'll want to check out the new InstaMatch App that launched last week. Created by Tiny Hearts, an award-winning app studio based in Toronto and maker of Pocket Zoo, InstaMatch takes photos from the popular iPhone app Instagram and provides a creative twist on the classic card-matching puzzle game.

“I recently became a dad for the first time and I realized that no one was using Instagram to create games. I saw a huge opportunity and decided to create a family-friendly game and brand,” says Robleh Jama, Founder at Tiny Hearts.

read more