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December 2, 2014

AC Grad Magnet Forensics helps retrieves the hidden digital evidence online crimes leave behind

The Internet. Social media. Chat rooms. The applications consumers use to navigate and manage their daily lives are also tools used as exploitation methods for bad guys.

ISIS is turning to Twitter to recruit others to its terrorist organization. Pedophiles use chat rooms and Facebook to lure innocent children to meet them or send them pictures. Cyber attackers are using phishing schemes to send emails to steal a person’s banking information. An employee uploads confidential corporate information to Dropbox and walks out the door.

Someone has to stop them. Someone has to help the law enforcement professionals responsible for our public safety, win the day.

Magnet Forensics is a technology company founded in 2011 by former Waterloo Regional Police Officer Jad Saliba. A specialist in digital forensic crime with a background in computer programming, Saliba began developing tools back in 2009 to help he and his fellow police officers uncover the invisible digital fingerprints criminals leave behind when they use technology to commit a crime.

“Almost every crime committed leaves behind some kind of digital evidence,” says Adam Belsher, CEO of Magnet Forensics. Adam, a former Blackberry executive, joined Jad in 2011 to help lead the company and craft its growth strategy. “Smartphones, a laptop computer, GPS technology in a car, a NEST thermostat—all of these devices leave behind digital traces of a person’s daily activities. Many of these devices are also connected to the Internet. So when a criminal uses technology—either directly or indirectly in the commission of a crime, all of that information is of investigative value.”

Magnet Forensics’s Internet Evidence Finder (IEF) helps law enforcement professionals find and recover evidence from hundreds of Internet, business computing and mobile artifacts; analyze the information to get to critical evidence fast; and present that information back in an understandable form for improved collaboration with colleagues or in a court of law. The company’s tools are now in use in more than 2,500 organizations in 93 countries around the world, and IEF has been instrumental in retrieving critical evidence required for convictions in some very profile criminal cases.

To read the full article, click here.

December 2, 2014

Waterloo's R&T Park featured in the Financial Post

University research and technology parks — the product of a successful partnership between government, academia and industry — are a critical engine for innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada. However, the tremendous economic momentum built through research parks is at risk of slowing, even stalling, if we don’t come together to make the necessary investments in the future.

Canada’s 26 R&T parks, which employ more than 65,000 people, generate $4.3-billion in gross domestic product. In the next five years, those numbers are expected to rise to $6.4-billion in GDP, nearly 100,000 employed, with an average of 33% of them holding an advanced Masters of PhD degree.

R&T parks provide a powerful attraction for offshore corporations looking to establish a Canadian presence, providing essential services, critical mass, and ready access to university research and a highly trained workforce. At the other end of the spectrum, 75% of the parks also offer accelerators and services for startups, helping to foster Canada’s next wave of innovation and business growth.

The economic ripples created by an R&T park impact all parts of a local economy. In Waterloo region, the David Johnston R+T Park has attracted global technology brands such as Agfa, Google, OpenText, and SAP. It is also home to the world renowned Waterloo Accelerator Centre, which houses upward of 40 young technology startups at any point in time. It is truly a success story that showcases what is possible when government, a university and the business community are united through a common vision for economic prosperity.

The brainchild of the current Governor General, the honourable David Johnston, the R+T Park broke ground in 2004 and welcomed its first corporate tenant later that year, with a mandate to foster radical innovation; providing Waterloo region with a compelling source of commercial advantage derived from technological leadership.

In the past decade, it has facilitated more than 6,400 jobs; generated $602-million in spending; and contributed $428-million to Waterloo region’s GDP. More than 50% of its tenants plan to launch a spin off in the next five years, and 87% of business ventures incubated at the Accelerator Centre, plan to remain in Waterloo region. Perhaps most astounding, 70% of the world’s GDP runs on software created by companies that are located within the park.

To view the article, click here.

November 24, 2014

AC Grad Karos Health fosters health-care collaboration

In a remote part of Northern Ontario, a patient shows up at a hospital with symptoms that mystify the doctors.

After getting images from a CAT-scan, as well as blood work and other tests, doctors need to consult with a specialist in Toronto. Fortunately, that specialist is just a few mouse clicks away, thanks to software solutions from Karos Health Inc., a growing Waterloo company that makes it easy for doctors to share information and collaborate, no matter where they are. The best idea is to “move the data, not the patient” whenever possible, says Karos president and founder Rick Stroobosscher. If the patient does need to be moved, the entire medical file, including images, notes and lab results, should instantly be at the disposal of the team at the next facility, he adds.

Stroobosscher founded Karos Health in 2006, launching it from his own home. He previously worked for nine years at Mitra Imaging, a medical information technology company based in Waterloo that was acquired in 2002 by Belgium-based Agfa-Gevaert Group and renamed Agfa Healthcare. Mitra was an early player in the technology used to store, archive and display radiology data and other clinical images electronically, and connect all of that to the rest of a hospital’s information system. After Mitra, Stroobosscher began to think about the next step — how to better enable health-care providers to work together not just within a hospital, but “across a city, a province, a state or even countries.”

That led to Karos, which initially moved into the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo and now is located in office space on Father David Bauer Drive. In August, Karos acquired its first company, Medical Insight based in Copenhagen, Denmark, a move that gives the company “a fantastic base to work from in Europe,” as well as complementary technology, Stroobosscher says. Karos now employs 50 people, including 30 in North America, mostly at the offices in Waterloo, but also in the United States, as well as 20 in Europe.

To read the full article, click here.

November 24, 2014

AC Grad Clearpath Robotics is changing the world with its life-saving robots

It started with a singular goal: to prove that robots weren’t evil. It was 2008; Clearpath Robotics CEO, Matt Rendall, and his co-founders Ryan Gariepy, Patrick Martinson and Bryan Webb, were students at the University of Waterloo. At the time, armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan shaped the public’s perception of robots. “Everyone was talking about drones and bomb-disposal robots,” explains Rendall. “We wanted to show that you can use these same systems for a much more humanitarian purpose.”

The team never commercialized their initial concept—a landmine-clearing automaton—but stuck with the idea of using robots for jobs too dangerous for humans. Five years later, Clearpath is a bustling, multimillion-dollar concern with 70 employees at its Kitchener, Ont. headquarters. The company now has a high profile in robotics circles, anyway, thanks to its yellow-and-black unmanned Kingfisher vehicles, which are used in commercial applications such as mining. (You can now find the Kingfisher measuring tailings in potash mines—a procedure that would otherwise expose people to harsh chemicals.) Clearpath has also gained big inroads selling robot technology to research laboratories. Clients include the Canadian Space Agency and MIT.

Clearpath is one of 10 corporations named by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions and Richardson GMP Ltd. to its current list of Canada’s Passion Capitalists, which recognizes organizations for their energy, intensity and sustainability. This year’s winners don’t just rely on their intellectual, human and financial capital to get ahead, says Paul Alofs, a former Disney and HMV executive who inspired the awards with his book Passion Capital. They have something more: “Not just passion, which is an emotion, but a tangible asset called passion capital,” says Alofs. Passion capital, he contends, is built by channeling the emotion into concrete actions that are energetic, intense and sustainable. Alofs believes Clearpath has this kind of capital “in spades.” “They believe very deeply in their product and what they’re doing,” he explains. “In their own way, they have changed a small corner of the world.

To read the full article, click here.

November 20, 2014

Discovery Channel's How It's Made showcasing AC Client TeTechS

Lights, camera, action! It was an extra exciting “Hollywood” kind of week here at the Accelerator Centre, as we welcomed the filming crew from the Discovery Science Channel’s How It’s Made program to our Waterloo facility.

The How It’s Made team was in town to spend the day with Accelerator Centre Client, TeTechS, documenting how to manufacture and assemble a terahertz vision sensor system – specialized technology that leverages terahertz light to find previously undetectable objects and defects in advanced manufacturing processes.

The final assembly of the TeTechS terahertz vision sensor system was filmed right here at the AC.

The program is expected to air in the Spring of 2015. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as we learn more.

November 20, 2014

AC Grad Kik raises $38 Million in Funding, buys GIF startup Relay

Kik Interactive, Inc., maker of chat network Kik, announced it has acquired Relay, a leading GIF messenger, and raised a $38.3 million Series C round of funding. The addition of Relay brings Kik to the forefront of visual messaging, an increasingly popular form of communication, especially among teens and young adults. This is Kik’s first acquisition, made with a combination of cash and equity at undisclosed terms.

Kik now has more than 185 million users. Each day, more than 50 percent of active users share content with their friends, including photos, videos and mobile websites developed specifically for Kik. In August 2014, the company launched Kik Promoted Chats, enabling brands to chat and share content with Kik users in a one-to-one setting, while tracking and optimizing their results.

To read the full article, click here.

November 17, 2014

AC Grad Clearpath Robotics poised to double size of workforce

As the demand for mobile robots ramps up, jobs for humans at Clearpath Robotics are growing as well.

The Kitchener-based company got a big boost on Wednesday from a federal financing program to help it more than double the size of its workforce to 140 people over the next two years.

Clearpath, which is getting up to $950,000 in a repayable loan, was one of three companies in the area to share in up to $1.53 million in contributions from the federal government’s FedDev Ontario program.

The other companies are:

In the Chat Communications,which is getting up to $400,000.

Linkett (previously known as WestonExpressions Inc.), which is getting nearly $180,000.

Clearpath, a company started in 2009 by three University of Waterloo students, has become one of the stars of Waterloo Region’s technology sector.

It has shipped about 1,000 of its robots all over the world. It grew this year from about 34 people in February to about 70 people who now occupy part of an industrial building on Strasburg Road in Kitchener.

To read the full article, click here.

November 17, 2014

AC Grad BigRoad builds technology truckers love to use

There’s an old adage in the trucking industry that says: “If you bought it, a truck brought it.” It’s an accurate statement. Close to 70% of commercial freight in North America today is transported by trucks, with more than 11 million tons of goods valued at $9.075 billion travelling annually over US and Canadian highways. The North American trucking industry is valued at more than $600 billion.

Trucking is also one of the most regulated industries. From weight and emission restrictions, to hours of service limiting the number of hours a driver can spend on the highway, trucking fleets and owner operators must remain constantly vigilant and compliant with safety regulations as set out by the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Truckers and fleets have relied upon technology such as telematics and fleet tracking systems for decades to aid truck performance, track driver behaviors and streamline business processes. However, these traditional technology options — delivered by large technology vendors — have been hardware heavy, requiring in-vehicle installation, as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades. These hardware centric solutions have never really appealed to the driver. The technology is viewed by truckers to be restrictive and controlling; in other words, a hindrance rather than help. They are also expensive, and require information technology expertise to manage, which has often put them out of reach for small fleet owner/operators, who make up the bulk of the North American trucking market.

The emergence of low cost, powerful smartphones and tablets, however, is changing the trucking technology game forever. Eighty-five percent (85%) of drivers today use cell phones. More than half of those devices are smartphones, and now seven out of 10 drivers report they are using those mobile devices to conduct business. Going hand in hand with this proliferation of smart phone devices is a host of new business and productivity apps aimed helping fleets and truck drivers better and more efficiently manage their business operations.

BigRoad, founded in 2011 by seasoned experts in the transportation industry, is a rapidly growing technology start up with the best interests of truckers at its heart. The company’s highly popular BigRoad app allows truckers to electronically capture and document their hours of service (HOS) – a key metric required for FMCSA compliance. The app, which is available for Android and iPhone platforms, also helps fleets connect with drivers more easily, manage critical information such as driver location and availability, and track state mileage reporting and vehicle inspection reports. In just two years, BigRoad has earned the business of more than 1,000 fleets and more than 160,000 drivers today use the app for HOS tracking.

In July 2014, the FMCSA broke down any remaining barriers to mobile device-based electronic logging with a newly revised guidance (49 CFR Part 295). The guidance confirmed that electronic logs produced by apps such as BigRoad are indeed considered official records of duty under Federal Law, removing any lingering ambiguity related to the regulations. This means truckers using the BigRoad app will no longer face questions or objections from Department of Transportation (DOT) roadside inspectors.

With the road ahead smooth and clear, BigRoad is focused on executing its strategy to bring to truckers the most user-friendly electronic logging system on the market today. The app, which already has a five star ranking on the app stores, continues to capture new users daily as news of its usefulness spreads through truck stops and fleet depots.

Just the Deets

Name: BigRoad
Industry: Transportation
Management Team: Terry Frey, COO; Willem Galle, CEO; Dan Collins, CTO
Founded: 2011
Graduated Accelerator Centre: 2013
Employees: 16
Customers: 1,000 fleets, 160,000 drivers
Website: www.bigroad.com
Twitter: @bigroad
Crunchbase: http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bigroad

November 14, 2014

AC Grad Perspecsys expands global footprint with new Canadian office

Perspecsys, the leader in enterprise cloud data protection gateway solutions, today announced the opening of its new Canadian office to support global demand for its cloud security solutions. The new Mississauga, Ontario office will house a growing team of engineering, sales, product and marketing personnel that bring Perspecsys’ AppProtex Cloud Data Protection Gateway to market. The solution, part of a fast growing category that Gartner has coined “Cloud Access Security Brokers,” is deployed at some of the most innovative and largest enterprise organizations across the globe.

According to Gartner, cloud adoption will reach $285.7 billion by 2018, as enterprises look to reduce IT costs and streamline operations, from customer service to big data analytics. The new state-of-the-art, collaborative 12,000-square foot Mississauga office will provide Perspecsys much needed growing room to enable the cloud adoption plans of some of the largest brands in the world. These customers rely on Perspecsys to keep sensitive and regulated data under their complete control, even while adopting public cloud applications like ServiceNow and Salesforce.com.

To read the full article, click here.

November 13, 2014

AC Grad ChangeIt inks major deal with BMO

We are incredibly proud of AC Graduate ChangeIt, who today announced a strategic partnership with BMO Bank of Montreal to deliver a first of its kind charitable giving program to Canadians. Using ChangeIt’s innovative, secure technology, Canadians will be able to easily make a donation to their favourite charity using their credit card.

The official partnership announcement, which took place at Sick Kids Hospital today in Toronto, featured Robin Cardozo, COO of SickKids Foundation, Mike Kitchen, CEO, ChangeIt, Nick Mastromarco, Managing Director, Acquisition, Loyalty & Partnerships, BMO Bank of Montreal, Jay Hooper, Vice President of Development, WWF-Canada, and Sharon Wood, President and CEO, Kids Help Phone.

Read the full press release here.