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Toronto's Claystone Labs is Reinventing the Android Homescreen

Toronto's Claystone Labs has launched its Android homescreen service. The Canadian startup's vision is to become "Everything on your Android phone in one swipe."

It's a new way to using your Android device; Claystone's navigation is composed of Panels that feature content and apps to interact with. Panels are layered atop one another each time a user selects an item, which creats a swipable, browsable Stack. Confused? Check out the video below to see Claystone work its magic.

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HootSuite Announces Fourth Wave of Partner Integrations: MailChimp, Chime.in, and More

Vancouver-based startup HootSuite has extended the functionality of its social media management system with a fourth wave of partner integrations. Joining the company's growing app directory now are MailChimp, Chime.in, Identi.ca, Vision Critical Surveys, and RSS Reader. HootSuite says that these apps will be available immediately to Free, Pro, and Enterprise clients.

“Businesses today are social. Success depends on connecting with customers instantly across multiple social media channels and networks. The growth of our App Directory gives clients an impressive arsenal of tools to do this, all in a single place,” says HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes. “Our goal, as we close in on six million users by end of year, is to continue aggressively integrating leading apps, turning our dashboard into the mother of all SaaS resources for the social business.”

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BDC Venture Capital Backs Accelerators Across Canada With Follow-On Funding

BDC Venture Capital announced today that it will issue up to $6 million in convertible notes over two years to graduates of Montreal's FounderFuel.

Some 40 young enterprises from all over the country in the web, mobile, software as a service (SaaS), and gaming fields, will each be eligible for a $150,000 BDC convertible note upon their successful completion of FounderFuel's 12-week, mentor-driven business "boot camp".

The investment is part of BDC Venture Capital's larger commitment towards accelerators across the country. Vancouver's GrowLab and Toronto's Extreme Startups has also announced that a $150K BDC convertible note in follow-on funding will be available to successful graduates of their programs.

Pitch at the International Startup Festival in Montreal

The International Startup Festival is a three-day event on the business of startups. Held in the historic Old Port of Montreal, it brings together industry veterans and fresh new faces, creative thinkers, experienced entrepreneurs, and technologists from around the world.

Focused on hot sectors like mobility, gaming, and social networking, as well as cleantech, education, and healthcare, it features startup pitches, inspiring keynotes, and hard-hitting seminars on every stage of the startup lifecycle from “back of the napkin” idea to champagne-popping exits.

If you're interesting in pitching your startup in Montreal this summer, nominate your company now to be one of 12 startups selected to pitch. Not ready for the spotlight of the stage? Book one of 20 Startup demo tables to perfect your pitch and get exposure to festival attendees.

Deadline for Nominations is Friday, May 4 at 5pm EST. Apply now.

Looks Like Twitter Has Finally Integrated Summify Software

In January, Twitter acquired Vancouver startup Summify. Techvibes later addressed the problems Summify may have been acquired to address.

Now, it appears that Twitter has at last made use of the Canadian-born technology. Josh Davis pointed out this morning that Twitter's new email summary is a near-replica of Summify's popular email digests. He believes this is a case of Twitter finally using Summify's software.

Josh suggests that the Summify-powered Twitter email is "useful and may bring users back," noting that it "will solve several issues that Twitter has." It does indeed exude the clean simplicity that Twitter executes so well in its interface. Looks like Summify was a solid investment for the microblogging platform.

Student Startup 5: University of Toronto's CoursePeer, a Social Academic Talent Management Platform

Student Startups is a monthly series created by Techvibes to highlight Canada's talented student entrepreneurs. Across the country, bright minds with brilliant ideas are launching businesses before they even graduate from school. We want to recognize and celebrate these ambitious youngsters, who refuse to let studying for exams hinder their drive to succeed as entrepreneurs. Student Startups profiles cover both the startups and the students behind them—in their own words.

In our fifth edition, we've got University of Toronto students pitching his new venture, CoursePeer.

THE PITCH

Students: image you could convey to employers the hard work you do day-to-day in school—this way, they appreciate your strengths, which happen to fit their organization's needs. They then send you an email saying, "we want to hire you, no need to send us your resume. Just come in for an interview." CoursePeer does exactly that.

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Working at a Startup: Idiosyncrasies as Entertainment

This is Part One of our Working at a Startup series, the Fonolo Edition. This series documents the lives of real Canadian entrepreneurs as they endure the trials and tribulations of running a technology startup.

I’m no stranger to startups. I’ve had my fair share of big companies, egos, and political red tape. Working for a small company can be both challenging and rewarding. The team at Fonolo adopts a work hard and work harder philosophy. However, daily entertainment can be found in everyone’s idiosyncrasies.

Do you find yourself grappling with whether or not to work for a start up? It’s like being in an elevator for eight hours with the same people—every day. Or in Shai’s opinion, a fish bowl. Come to think of it, visuals of fish seem to pop up a lot in presentations. I wonder if there is a subliminal message we should be aware of.

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Want Something? Wantster Will Show You Where To Get That Online

Canadians spend so much time on Pinterest that the image-based boards website is the 23rd-ranked site in Canada, and the 46th worldwide, according to Alexa. Canada uses Pinterest the third-most on a country-specific internet rankings basis, behind only South Africa and the United States.

Still, have you ever wanted something you saw on Pinterest or on the general internet and couldn’t find out how to buy it online?

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Kik Founder the Only Tech Entrepreneur to Make Maclean's List of Canadians Under 25 to Watch

Maclean's recently published a list of Canadians under the age of 25 worth keeping an eye on. There were multiple athletes, multiple scientists, and multiple politicians. But only one tech entrepreneuer (and he was technically filed under "business.")

That lone ranger is named Ted Livingston. He's the founder and CEO of Kik Interactive. Based in Waterloo, Kik is a tech startup most famous for its mobile messenger app (and more recently Clik, which turns your smartphone into a television remote).

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