04/16/2010 Edmonton - Alberta’s best emerging entrepreneurs came with one mission, to be TEC Edmonton’s VenturePrize winners. The battle was won by Biolithic Corporation for the Fast Growth Award and Alberta Carbon for the Student Business Plan Award.
TEC Edmonton, through programs like VenturePrize, helps entrepreneurs build better businesses. The three startup finalists for the Fast Growth competition represented Alberta’s up-and-coming industries – life sciences and ICT. From a revolutionary diagnostic device to software to help emergency services planning and an online tool to manage volunteer groups – judging the best was no simple feat.
Innovators come first at TEC Edmonton. The cailbre of talent that was showcased today is a reflection of the creativity taking place in our province,” said Chris Lumb, CEO of TEC Edmonton. The determination to build strong business plans through training, mentoring and finally pitching is what makes Alberta’s entrepreneurs stand above the rest.
The prizes are appealing - over $150,000 in cash and in-kind services - but the value that resonates with participants is in the preparation for the final submission to the competition.
Through a six-week business planning seminar series followed by professional feedback and networking, the TEC VenturePrize program shifts startups into high gear. In addition, the enhanced business profile that comes from being a TEC VenturePrize finalist opens up doors for growth opportunities. The Student Business Plan Competition drew its top finalist from the northern (CEFE) and the southern (STIC) competitions.
The life of a student can be consuming, but these finalists found the time and energy to build business plans on novel research such as turning petroleum coke into activated carbon and making nanotechnology experimentation more efficient. As a supporter of the Student Competition, Alberta Innovates Technology Futures can attest to the value of inspiring new entrepreneurs. "They're the foundation for our future. They're going to build on our technology, commercialize innovative concepts and create prosperity for the benefit of all Albertans," says the Interim CEO for AITF, Gary Albach.
The third award - the Screeners Award of Merit (SAM) - went to Innovequity Inc. The SAM, sponsored by University Technologies International, is presented for a business plan submission that shows excellent promise; encouraging them to further develop their business plan for resubmission next year.
- 30 -
|
|
|
| Before: Ben Zittleu from Firenest Innovsations (on the left) interviewing Dan Haight from Darkhorse Analytics (on the right) during the Pitch Your Story to the Media training session given by yours truly, Marilyn Jones, corporate and social media trainer for mediamag.ca on April 6, 2010. | After: Dan Haight from Darkhorse Analytics presenting his final pitch to the TecEdmonton / Venture prize judges at the awards luncheon on April 15, 2010. |
BACKGROUND: TEC Edmonton helps inventors, entrepreneurs and investors transform high-tech discoveries into viable corporations. Through our business services, TEC Edmonton helps navigate the commercialization process providing assistance with technology evaluation, intellectual property protection, business plan development, marketing research, corporate management and funding preparation. A unique non-for-profit enterprise, TEC Edmonton is a joint venture between Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) and the University of Alberta.
Contact: Nadia Andersen Communications and Marketing Manager TEC Edmonton (780) 492-1865
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Fast Growth Finalists:
Biolithic Corp. has developed a revolutionary rapid diagnostic device that enables consumers and healthcare professionals to rapidly confirm an infection, offering the opportunity to globally save millions of lives, hundreds of billions in healthcare costs, and prevent the spread of disease.
Contact: Maziyar Khorasani at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Darkhorse Emergency Services, a division of Darkhorse Analytics Inc., is an emergency services software developer and consultancy. Darkhorse’s focus is twofold: to bring the latest academic research to the emergency services planning process, and to create tools managers can use without a dedicated analyst.
Contact: Dan Haight at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Firenest Innovations Inc. is a software startup that provides powerful online tools for the underserved market of small to medium nonprofits in Canada and the U.S. Founded by engineering graduates from the University of Alberta with tech backgrounds from Boston, Waterloo and Silicon Valley, Firenest connects nonprofits with their staff through a simple, secure, online portal.
Contact: Eugene Chen at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Student Finalists:
Alberta Carbon - Petroleum coke is an abundant by-product of oil sands upgrading and is currently being stockpiled in Northern Alberta since it has almost no commercial value. Alberta Carbon’s business will be to process petroleum coke using microwave technology and turn it into activated carbon. Activated carbon is a high demand resource used in water treatment, air purification and other industries.
Contact: Tristan Willson at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
E² Technologies - The high cost of equipment associated with the micro and nano technology industry has limited its potential growth. The photolithography process, which is frequently used to construct micro and nano technology, requires a cleanroom to house four pieces of equipment. E² Technologies significantly reduces costs by combining the four pieces of equipment into one system.
Contact: Tom Tran at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Molecular Tetris Inc. - Their goal is to become one of the first players on the nascent market, helping Canada take a step forward in productivity gains through innovation. The emerging niche in the field of interdisciplinary modeling and simulation services for research and development has applications in many industries. Molecular Tetris will provide rational experiments for customers to help them reduce costs significantly.
Contact: Svetlana Sapelnikova at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Screeners Award of Merit (SAM):
Innovequity - Addressing a $20 billion Factory-Built Housing Industry (FBHI) in North America. Innovequity’s Geometric Construction Unit (GCU) is an emerging leader in the next generation of construction automation. The GCU automates the manufacturing of both closed walls and floors with integrated wiring, plumbing, insulation, and HVAC installed. A significant amount of manual labour will be eliminated through the utilization of the GCU thus significantly decreasing the cost to manufacture structures. The GCU will save the FBHI $20 per square feet. Innovequity estimates the annual cost savings for implementing the GCU to be at $350 million in Canada and $4.9 billion in the USA, annually.
Contact: Louis Hui at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Read the report from TechVibe on the 2010 TecEdmonton / Venture Prize Awards Luncheon
See Mack Mark's photostream of the 2010 TecEdmonton / Venture Prize Awards Luncheon from which we "borrowed" the event photos. Thanks Mack!
Ken Bautista from Red the Agency of Edmonton was awarded the Venture Prize for 2009 in the Jump Start/Fast-Growth category for individuals, teams, new companies, inventors, students or any other type of entrepreneur with high-growth, technology concepts or businesses.
PHOTO CAPTION: Jason Suriano President and Executive Producer at Central Insitute for Exploration. left, with Ken Bautista CEO & Creative Director with Central Insitute for Exploration as they show off their TEC Edmonton Venture prize for Fast Growth Grand Prize Winner for 2008-2009 at the TEC Edmonton Venture Prize awards at the Westin Hotel. Photographer: Walter Tychnowicz, Edmonton Journal.
Bautista's project CIE: Seek Your Own Proof, uses websites, mobile phones and real-world locations to engage kids in the Central Institute for Exploration and explore the past, present and future. See the CIE: Seek Your Own Proof Website.
The other Jump Start finalists were Cristian Scurtescu, whose company, SmileSonica, uses ultrasound to prevent dental root problems; and Trevor MacDonald of SwiftClips, which is developing interactive touch-screen software for big box stores.
The student entrepreneur winner was Gordon McKinlay of Kennelseek, which helps pet owners find boarding space anywhere in Canada and the U.S.
The six finalists in both categories share $150,000 in cash and in-kind services.
See the rest of David Finlayson's May 1, 2009 Edmonton Journal article
[Webmaster's note: I am particularly proud of Ken & Jason for winning this prestigious award. I had the pleasure of working with Kendal and the 2009 Venture Prize finalists Ken, Jason, Cristian and Trevor, during a Media Training Workshop I conducted for TecEdmonton on April 3, 2009. See photos from the training session on the left.]
Culture shock on a newly discovered hostile planet is inevitable, even if you aren’t the only inhabitants...
On an extremely hot, desert planet, a race of monstrous lizards have developed a complex civilization.
When an Earth colony’s emergency landing becomes permanent, the colonists baptize the new planet Mars II and begin to create their own civilization.
After several encounters, both lizards and humans demonstrate a willingness to understand each other. But all too quickly, their relationships deteriorate beyond remedy...despite the best intentions of individuals from both sides.
Everything on the colonized planet is hostile to humans: the heat, rarity of edible food and scarcity of water. Struggling to survive on their own, a confrontation with the planet's natural inhabitants seems inevitable.
Culture shock has sunk in — violence and horror reign — and not even the most devoted pacifists can prevent the worst from happening.
Download Chapter One today! Sylvie Bérard Sylvie Bérard was born in Montreal in 1965. Attaining a Doctorate in Semiology, she has been teaching Quebec Literature for a few years at Trent University in Peterborough (Ontario). She is a Lettres Québécoises (literary magazine) contributor and a member of the editorial collective of the journal XYZ. Sylvie Berard has published short stories in numerous anthologies and literary journals — Moebius, ASFFQ, Solaris, and Tesseract — as well as written many articles on science fiction.
The French version, Terre des Autres, won the Grand Prix in 2005 science-fiction and fantasy in Quebec, the Boréal Award in 2005 and the Radio-Canada Readers Award or, in French, Prix des Lecteurs de Radio-Canada, in 2006.
Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-894063-19-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-894063-19-7
5.5" X 8.5" $15.95 US (Free shipping in North America
320 pages
Order here: www.edgewebsite.com
Page 5 of 5
