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Toronto Non-Profit and Millipore Collaborate to Design Stem Cell Bioreactor

Photo: The GuardianStem cells are all the rage these days, and it’s not just a medical fad. With the ability to differentiate themselves into just about any other type of cell in the human body, they can be used to combat cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and many conditions.

The problem with stem cell research, however, is that stem cells are notoriously difficult to harvest.  While there are many locations in the body that they can be harvested from, it is quantity that matters, and quantity is hard to get. It is no surprise then that stem cell bioreactors, machines capable of producing large batches of stem cells, could have a huge impact in the way we fight disease.

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Alarm Bells Sounding Over Rumoured SR&ED Changes

It's widely assumed that Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government will announce changes to the long-standing Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program (SR&ED) as part of their March 29 budget.

Harper has received recommendations from an expert panel’s report—known as the Jenkins Report after its chair Tom Jenkins—which made six broad recommendations to streamline a bewildering array of programs and produce more marketable business products from R&D funds.

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Edmonton's TestFlight acquired by Burstly

Edmonton-born TestFlight announced today that they have been acquired by Burstly. They are jointly launching TestFlight Live today.

TestFlight is one of the most popular service for beta-testing iOS apps. Burstly is a startup focused on helping mobile developers monetize through advertising.

TestFlight Live is a real-time dashboard that highlights actions and revenue for iOS apps. The TestFlight Live feature set is broken down into four segments: engagement, audience, revenue, and stability. The goal of the product is to provide a real-time display of the important factors happening in your app right now. It is available via Safari on desktop, iPad, and iPhone.

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University of Guelph's BetterPlanet Project Aims for Sustainable Commerce, Just Like China

Are you a bigger believer in climate change today than you were six months ago, perhaps after the strange, unseasonal fall and winter in Canada?

At the very least, several major media outlets—including the Toronto Sun—have reported that there's something happening to the world's oceans where they are acidifying at levels unseen in perhaps 200-250 million years. Australian Joe Romm titled one article, "Ocean acidifying so fast it threatens humanity's ability to feed itself."

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INcubes Demo Day: Five Innovative Internet Entrepreneurs Seek Funding

Three months ago, INcubes opened their doors to seven new companies for incubation in Toronto. INcubes evaluated the market potential of these startup ideas, and then off the startups went into a three-month qualifying curriculum program. 

In the third month - after business plan refinement, expert advice, market research and development facilitation, resource procurement, third party qualification, and product plan refinement - five of the seven selected startups created an investor package presentation and practiced their pitch before going live Tuesday at the Royal Ontario Museum before an audience of interested parties. 

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Yaletown Venture Partners adds Alberta Partners

Yesterday Yaletown Venture Partners announced the addition of Alberta-based Evan Hu, Terry Sydoryk, and Brad Zumalt as three new Executive Limited Partners (“ELPs”).

Yaletown ELPs are individual investors in Yaletown-managed funds who are actively engaged in their local technology communities and provide advice and business contacts to Yaletown’s principals and portfolio companies.

Headquartered in Vancouver with offices in Calgary and Seattle, Yaletown is backed by leading institutional investors and by a network of successful technology entrepreneurs, executives, and angel investors. Founded in 2002, Yaletown is led by a team that brings together an extensive network of industry relationships and more than 120 years collective experience building and financing technology companies.

More on the three new Alberta ELPs after the jump.

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Canadian-founded Uptake acquired by Groupon

Silicon Valley based Travel search engine Uptake was acquired by Groupon yesterday.

AllThingsD reported that Uptake had been acquired by for something in the “teens of millions” (between $10 and $20). The company raised roughly $14 million from venture capital investors, so it was basically a break even transaction. TechCrunch is reporting this transaction as an "acqhire" with the Uptake team being integrated into Groupon's Palo Alto office and the existing service being shut down.

But why is Techvibes covering this acquisition?

Uptake co-founder Yen Lee is a Canadian and a C100 member and we got a chance to sit down and chat with him about Uptake during C100's 48 Hours in the Valley. Check out the video after the jump.

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