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Introducing This Is Our Stop, a Niche Social Network for Bus Riders

There's Facebook, with over 900 million users and the broadest mix of people and purposes possible. And then there's Vancouver's This Is Our Stop, a niche network designed for bus riders.

Vancouver developers Tylor Sherman and Todd Sieling have created a mobile-optimized social network in which users enter the five-digit code of their bus stop and are then presented with a map, arrival times, and a text box inviting them to "talk about this stop." It's an open-ended network; write anything. The founders liken it to a chalkboard hanging at the bus stop where anyone can grab chalk and write anything.

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Legendary Nights Out with Electric Courage

The inception of Electric Courage began with a thrilling moment; in fact, it’s one that some (many) of us would be familiar with:

“The idea stemmed from one of the conversations we were having as a group. My teammate was telling us about a conference he was attending the week prior and how he locked eyes with a girl from across the room. He was dead sure that she also thought they had a moment but, by the time he had decided to go back and introduce himself, she was nowhere to be found. A few hours passed and he was on a flight back home. We realized that we'd all had moments like that in our lives and thought: why not see if we can figure out a way to solve this? Electric Courage was born,” explained Duncan Bays, a co-founder of Electric Courage.

Bays met his co-founders Holly Smith, JP Leroux, and Shahed Al-Haque at last year’s Next 36competition.

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Hey! Wait a Second Here. Do Any of These Incubators and Accelerators Actually Work?

It wasn't terribly long ago that incubators were a niche concept. In 1980, you could almost count them on your two hands—there were just 12. Today, there are literally thousands littering Canada and the US.

While only a few are prominently famous—think Y Combinator in Silicon Valley and TechStars in New York City—hundreds upon hundreds more in every shape and size have triggered a tidal surge in this service of fostering startups. The idea is great: mix quality mentorship with access to funding to cultivate ecosystems of successful technology companies.

Yep, the idea is great. But do they actually work?

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SABRTech Wins International Clean Technology Open Competition

A small Nova Scotian startup, SABRTech, has won the Nova Scotia Clean Tech Open, an international competition designed to fund and mentor clean technology startups.

SABRTech, formerly Marine Arctic and Antarctic Technologies, is developing a procedure to convert grown and harvested algae into aviation biofuel.  The idea is obviously a good one: the company was awarded $100,000 in cash, $200,000 as a negotiable seed investment, and mentoring and business development services.

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Canadian Startup Makes Global Repository for Human Mistakes... One Mistake at a Time

Toronto's Mistakeville has created a "how not to" site - a place where people can share their mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others.

Because we believe you aren’t defined by your mistakes. Instead, you are defined by how you react to them. We believe mistakes are a badge of action. It's easy to make no mistakes – just do nothing. We believe sharing mistakes helps both ourselves and others. Sharing a mistake is the single most powerful thing you can do to learn and grow from your mistake. Sharing a mistake is like giving a gift of learning.

Mistakeville was created by Dimitris Sotirakopoulos and Michael Kahn. The pair are learning from other startup entrepreneurs mistakes and are currently looking for a technical co-founder to join the team.

Toronto's Bee Media Acquires Adcentricity

Toronto-based Bee Media has acquired Adcentrcity for an undisclosed sum. Bee Media, previously a personal shopper and location-based deals companny, will leverage its acquistion of Adcentricity, a location-based digital media firm, to complete somewhat of a pivot: the company is "in the process of expanding into an exciting, leading-edge, location-based digital media company that delivers targeted advertising and offers a fully integrated platform and ad network."

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Every Day Can be Draft Day with Fantasy Feud

With more major league franchises than any other Canadian city, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Toronto is home to the most sports-related startups.

Bump 50:50, YapAgame, InGamer Sports, and Huddlers are all on Techvibes' radar. And now Fantasy Feud has got our attention. One month out of beta, Fantasy Feud is a platform built for the avid fantasy sports enthusiasts.

Until now, fantasy sports has been limited to getting together with friends online or in person to pick players for a season long pool. Whether it be hockey, football, baseball, or basketball usually after a couple months half of the participants have lost interest while those in contention follow a little too closely.

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The Anti-Groupon: Get Free Stuff – No Strings Attached – with Vancouver's Mobile App, TikTok

50% off isn't cool. You know what's cool? 100% off.

And to really pile on the cliches, let me also say: there's an app for that.

Vancouver-made TikTok is a mobile app delivering free goods to locals through a uniquely structured business model. Created by Vancouverite Dorian Banks, who founded MetroBridge Networks and sold it last year, TikTok offers short-term freebies to users. The geo-located coupons often expire within hours and vary by area and time of day.

The idea is to balance a business' day: drive traffic through the doors during slow times with tiny gifts (one free slice of pizza, one free cup of coffee), and hope they either buy additional items or return as a paying customer—and the businesses never have to worry about taking 90%-off vouchers during peak times, straining resources.

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