Month: May 2013

Waterloo North Hydro today announced it has invested in Eyedro Green Solutions Inc. eyedro.com, a local software and electronics design company that helps consumers better understand their electricity usage and help them reduce costs.

Through its holding company, Waterloo North Hydro purchased 23 per cent of Eyedro with an option to purchase an additional 10 per cent within a year.

“This is an important strategic investment for us,” said Tim Jackson, Chair of Waterloo North Hydro’s Business Development Committee. “It aligns well with our goals of being a leader in the energy industry and seeking investments that create value for our customers and shareholders over the long term.”

Eyedro is a privately-owned company with a focus on affordable energy management products. Their flagship electricity monitoring products allow consumers to visualize electricity usage in real time which helps them identify waste and reduce electricity consumption and costs.

“One of the few tools available to homeowners and businesses is to monitor electricity usage,” said Trevor Orton, CEO and Co-Founder of Eyedro. “Smart meters are a good start, but real time information is the goal. We are very pleased to be associated with a long standing and reputable company such as Waterloo North Hydro.”

Eyedro is one of the startup companies participating in the Waterloo Accelerator Program and is based at the Communitech Hub. With this new funding, Eyedro plans to accelerate growth of its product development and sales teams. The capital will also allow the company to focus on value-add partnerships with other complementary energy saving products.

“Eyedro is offering a unique and low cost solution to help consumers better manage their energy usage and reduce costs” said Rene Gatien, President and CEO of Waterloo North Hydro Holding Corporation. “There is a growing need for Eyedro’s products due to the increasing cost of energy and conservation initiatives being introduced by various jurisdictions including Ontario. We are very excited to be part of the Eyedro team.”

Waterloo North Hydro Holding Corporation is a holding company that owns Waterloo North Hydro Inc., the local distribution company and is jointly owned by the City of Waterloo, The Township of Wellesley and the Township of Woolwich.

For further details, please contact:

Waterloo North Hydro Holding Corporation
Rene Gatien, President & CEO
rgatien@wnhydro.com
519-886-5090

Eyedro Green Solutions Inc.
Trevor Orton, Co-Founder & CEO
torton@eyedro.com
226-499-0944 x220
eyedro.com & myFreeMonitor.com

TitanFile Inc., the developer of a secure collaboration and document-sharing system, has unveiled new features for its product, including the TitanFile Secure Deposit Box, which makes it even easier and safer for clients to receive communications.

Based in Halifax and Kitchener, TitanFile began two years ago as a secure document-sharing platform and launched a new version last autumn that stressed ease of use and flexibility so it could operate seamlessly with other products on any device.  The company is now enhancing that most recent version by adding new features.

The big advance is the Secure Deposit Box, which gives client organizations a web page that serves as an online repository for their files and messages.  Rather than having clients with sensitive, time-critical messages send their correspondence and files as emails, which can end up in a spam folder, the deposit box ensures that all messages end up in a secure place, where they are organized and viewed only by the appropriate people.

What’s more, TitanFile is also introducing a feature that allows people to access files in TitanFile channels (including the deposit box) without registering.  That means TitanFile users can initiate contact with their clients, collaborate and share documents with them, without requiring that they go through the bother of registering.

“The Secure Deposit Box reduces the number of steps (needed to communicate) and makes it easier for our clients to initiate contact with their customers,” CEO Tony Abou-Assaleh said in an interview.  “It was driven by the demand of our clients.”

He added that clients have various requirements in terms of security and often have to apply different levels of security to one document, depending on whom they are sharing it with.  The new TitanFile features allow them to tweak the application easily to suit their needs.

The other features in this release include:

• Blind Carbon Channel – This lets the TitanFile client see all conversations and files being shared in a specific channel but denies such a privilege to other people accessing the channel.
• Safe Notification – This allows clients to use TitanFile to send emails that have been stripped of all private content to protect confidential details. This feature helps organizations comply with regulations by keeping sensitive information out of potentially unsecured email accounts.
• Open Invitation – This function allows the TitanFile client to easily add or remove people from a channel, allowing greater flexibility when collaborating.

Safe Notification and Open Invitation are available to all subscribers, while the other new features are open only to enterprise subscribers.

Co-founded by Abou-Assaleh and Milan Vrekic (now the executive director of co-working space Volta in Halifax), TitanFile raised $250,000 in seed funding from Innovacorp in 2011, and last year raised more than $800,000 from Innovacorp, the First Angel Network and private investors. It also borrowed about $400,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency last year.

Abou-Assaleh said TitanFile will likely raise money again later this year, though it has not set a target yet.

Source: 
May 6, 2013

Accelerator Program Graduates: Axonify, Magnet Forensics Inc. and Miovision Technologies were recognized at the CDMN Canada 3.0 2013

Today, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) announced the winners of the inaugural CDMN Moonshot Awards. The four winning Canadian digital media companies were honoured at CDMN’s Canada 3.0 conference, taking place today and tomorrow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The Awards, presented in four categories, were developed to recognize Canadian companies that create jobs and wealth for Canada through innovation in digital media. The Moonshot Awards also acknowledge companies that contribute to the Canada 3.0 “Moonshot Goal: that anyone can do anything online by the year 2017.”

The Honourable Reza Moridi, Minister of Research and Innovation, was on hand to congratulate the companies. “The Moonshot awards recognize trailblazing companies who are pushing boundaries and boosting the economy with innovation in digital media. I was pleased to see so many companies from Ontario among the nominees, and proud that the four winning digital media firms are based in Ontario. I want the world’s next biggest tech company to be built here – and I know we’ll get there thanks to innovators like those recognized by these awards.”

The winners were selected from 15 finalists from more than 30 submissions from across Canada. “It was an incredibly tough decision,” said Dr. Kevin Tuer, CDMN Managing Director and Awards Judge. “The innovation and technological creativity coming out of Canada is truly inspiring. It’s critical that we continue fostering and recognizing the abundance of talent in Canada with awards like these.”

The CDMN Digital Media Dynamic Company of the Year award was presented to Magnet Forensics Inc., developer of the Internet Evidence Finder, used by the world’s top law enforcement, military and corporate organizations to recover digital evidence like instant messaging chats, social media artifacts and web history. The award was accepted by Jad Saliba, Founder and CTO, and Adam Belsher, CEO. This award recognizes the Canadian company demonstrating the greatest increase in productivity through the adoption of digital media.

The CDMN Digital Media Globalizer of the Year award was presented to Axonify, an employee training process that is transforming the way corporate enterprises train their employees. This award recognizes a Canadian company that demonstrates the greatest increase in international sales, investments or other contributions to the growth of the Canadian digital media industry internationally.

The CDMN Digital Media Innovator of the Year award was presented to Miovision Technologies, an intelligent solution to address the challenges facing today’s global transportation networks, accomplished through its Adaptive Signal Control, which automatically adjusts traffic signals based on real-time demand of vehicles and pedestrians. The award was accepted by Kevin Madill, Co-Founder of Miovision Technologies. The award recognizes the Canadian company demonstrating the greatest degree of innovation through the adoption of digital media.

Finally, the CDMN Digital Media Company of the Year award was presented to Desire2Learn, also nominated in the Globalizer of the Year category. The award was accepted by Dennis Kavelman, Chief Operating Officer. The award recognizes the Canadian company that made the greatest contributions to the growth of the Canadian digital media industry in 2012/2013.

“The winning companies and all of those nominated clearly demonstrate the creativity and competitiveness of Canadian digital media companies both at home and globally,” said Sid Paquette, Director at OMERS Ventures and a Moonshot Awards judge. “At OMERS Ventures we believe in the development of valuable intellectual property to create prosperity for future generations. The Moonshot Awards provide much-deserved recognition for talented companies who are achieving this goal by creating jobs and wealth, and contributing to Canada’s profile in the ICT and mobile sectors.”

“It was great to be a judge on the Moonshot Awards – an awesome testament to the fact that there are a lot of exciting innovative Canadian companies out there. Our panel had a tough time selecting between the qualified opportunities,” said Terry Stuart, Deloitte Canada’s Chief Innovation Officer and Moonshot Awards judge. “One of the really important awards was the Globalizer of the Year rewarding companies that expand beyond our borders.”

The Award winners were determined by a panel of expert judges including Kevin Newman, CTV Host, W5 Correspondent and Founder of New Man Media; Sid Paquette, Director at OMERS Ventures; Terry Stuart, Deloitte Canada’s Chief Innovation Officer; April Dunford, RocketScope Managing Director and Founder; and Dr. Kevin Tuer, CDMN Managing Director.

About the Canadian Digital Media Network

The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), a federal Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research, is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in digital media (ICT + mobile) by creating and enabling connections and collaboration between entrepreneurs, companies, research institutes, government and intermediary organizations across the country. CDMN helps bring more digital media solutions to market to create more companies, jobs and wealth in Canada.

Together, the Network provides access to the knowledge, connections, services and support that digital media companies need to successfully innovate and market themselves at home and abroad. Major initiatives include an exclusive online national collaboration platform; an online Research Portal that provides one-stop access to important information about key digital media issues; the CDMN Soft-Landing Program to drive Canadian success globally; National Tour events enable companies to go global; and CDMN Canada 3.0, Canada’s only national digital media conference focused on the commercialization of innovation. Learn more at www.cdmn.ca or follow @CDMN on Twitter, join the Canadian Digital Media Network Group on LinkedIn, and like the Canadian Digital Media Network Page on Facebook.

SOURCE: The Canadian Digital Media Network

For further information:
Jeri Brown, Media Profile
416-342-1842
jeri.brown@mediaprofile.com

Stratford Accelerator Centre launches

Stratford already had the mine.

Now it has the mill, just a few blocks away.

There was some fanfare at 6 Wellington St. Thursday as dozens of invited business, academic and community leaders gathered for the official grand opening of the Stratford Accelerator Centre.

“I’m not going to tell you this was an easy road,” said University of Waterloo Stratford campus executive director Ginny Dybenko from a packed upper-floor meeting room at the downtown centre, “but we’re absolutely delighted now to be welcoming you all here.”

The university is a key partner, along with the city, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) and the Waterloo-based Accelerator Centre, in the new business initiative aimed at nurturing early-stage digital media and technology-based companies.

Seven of those startups are already working out of the bright, tidy office spaces in the building that was once home to — fittingly enough — a bank.

But why Stratford?

It’s all about mining and milling, said Accelerator Centre CEO Tim Ellis, picking up on a metaphor once used by Governor General and former University of Waterloo president David Johnston.

The UW Stratford campus is the mine, where there’s “a core of great people creating great ideas,” said Ellis.

“Now that we have a mill beside it, I think we have the perfect storm to take all of those ideas, and the other existing ideas that are in the community and outside of the community and provide a landing place for them to take their ideas to the next level,” he said, “and commercialize and accelerate their growth.”

Bringing that vision to Stratford is “not inexpensive,” said Ellis, with a nod to the university and the CDMN for their support, but worth the cost and effort.

“We didn’t want to do it on a very small, insignificant scale. We wanted to do it right,” he said, “and show the community that this is a valuable asset that we need to keep going for years to come.”

Mayor Dan Mathieson said the Stratford Accelerator Centre will be unique, bringing together the best practices of the University of Waterloo and the best practices of the Accelerator Centre and “Stratfordizing” them.

“It’s not all about round holes and square pegs,” he said. “It’s about doing what works in each community.”

Mathieson also borrowed some words from Johnston, who liked to point out that Wayne Gretzky was a hockey player who didn’t skate to where the puck was, but to where it was going to be.

“The Accelerator Centre in Stratford is where the puck is going to be,” said Mathieson.

And the pace at which the accelerator centre and the university are moving forward in the city is “phenomenal,” added CDMN managing director Kevin Tuer.

“It’s the new evolution. It’s the re-creation. It’s the next big thing for Stratford,” he said.

Following the grand opening Thursday, the Stratford Accelerator Centre also hosted an open house, where visitors could browse the building, and meet some of the startups working there.

The seven early-stage companies currently associated with the local centre are BuildCircle, Empatico, Trending.Info, Mindr Mobile, MotoRegistry, MXM Nation and uIntuition, each of them selected through a competitive application and intake process.

The Stratford Accelerator Centre is also offering a new three-month “pathfinder” initiative for individuals who have an idea for a business, but aren’t quite at the startup stage yet.

More information about the centre, and a link to apply, can be found at www.acceleratorcentre.com/stratfordap