Tag: 43North

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Plum wins Buffalo startup prize, sets sights on U.S. market

This post originally appeared on Communtech News.

Waterloo Region’s Plum won a $250,000 prize from Buffalo-based business competition 43North, a prize the company plans to leverage as it builds a sales force in the United States.

Plum was one of 11 winners – chosen from 11,000 applicants – and it earned a lot more than money. Each year 43North gives out $5 million in cash prizes, but it also awards incubator space, mentorship opportunities and tax incentives to young companies with interesting ideas.

Plum is a talent-acquisition tool: software that helps recruiters find candidates based on ability and personality. Using questionnaires, Plum analyzes both the role and the candidate, then finds the best fit. It started out as CreamHR, moving to Waterloo Region in 2013 to join the second cohort of startups in Communitech’s Hyperdrive accelerator program. Hyperdrive has since been wound down, and a new sales-focused accelerator, Communitech Rev, was launched earlier this year.

“This is a huge honour for us,” said Caitlin MacGregor, co-founder and CEO of Plum. “The prize money is building on some great funding momentum we’ve had with local angels, but what’s really exciting is that this represents our beachhead in the U.S. market.” 

There’s a lot of talk lately about how Waterloo Region’s companies need to do a better job of tapping international markets,with a Compass report released this week on the Waterloo Region tech ecosystem.

The report cited three key growth areas: adopting a global sales mindset (particularly with respect to the nearby U.S. market), close a gap in seed-stage funding, and nurture stronger ties with Toronto.

“That advice is bang-on,” said MacGregor. “Our home and headquarters are staying in Waterloo Region; that’s where our development happens. But Buffalo is a warm, welcoming city for startups and an incredible sales connection,” MacGregor said. “When you’re a startup, you’re asking people to take a risk on you and trust something new. Picking up marquee customers at events like 43North is key to showing off what your product can do, and can really boost international adoption.”

Even on the question of the Toronto-Waterloo Region corridor, MacGregor sees room for Buffalo: “Waterloo Region and Buffalo are a great, natural partnership. They’re only two hours away – a logical extension of the corridor we’re developing – and a way to connect great Canadian companies with the U.S. market. More than that, they’re really excited about it down here in Buffalo. People talk about the “Golden Triangle” of Toronto, Waterloo Region, and Buffalo.”

The excitement MacGregor refers to comes through in a video posted by 43North just yesterday, with a neighbourly holler across the border.

For MacGregor, the warm reception was welcome, but not expected.

“When we came to Waterloo Region, everyone was so welcoming and supportive we felt instantly at home. I wasn’t expecting that from Buffalo, but it’s the same here. That same feeling of family. It felt a little like getting married, and being welcomed in to a whole new family of in-laws. Our parents are in Waterloo, but we just got a big, extended family in Buffalo we weren’t expecting, and we can’t wait to get started.”

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Plum announced as 2015 43North Finalist

AC Graduate to compete for $1 million grand prize

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New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the 11 finalists for 43North, the world’s largest business idea competition, which included AC Graduate Plum. The finalists will now compete in front of a panel of expert judges on October 29 at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo to win 43North’s top cash prize of $1 million, one of six $500,000 prizes, or four $250,000 prizes.

“This year, 43North attracted more than 11,000 registrants from 117 countries, all 50 U.S. states and nine of ten Canadian provinces, said  43North Board Chair Jordan Levy said. “Now these 11 talented finalists will pitch before a world class panel of judges for the chance to win the competition’s top prize of $1 million.”

The public is invited to attend the 43North finals pitches and awards ceremony on Thursday, October 29 at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. Tickets are free but registration is required at www.43north.org.

Supporters can also vote for Plum online to help them win this year’s People’s Choice Award. The finalist with the most votes via http://vote.43north.org on October 29 will receive an additional $10,000 on top of their $250,000, $500,000 or $1 million prize. 43North’s People’s Choice Award is sponsored by Larkin Development Group.

The 11 finalists for 2015 are:

 

Plum
Hometown: Waterloo, ON, Canada
Plum is a turnkey cloud software solution using modern behavioral science and predictive analytics to instantly identify high potential job applicants for success and fit. The results are scientifically matched up to an employer’s needs, for each role, creating an invaluable shortlist.

ACV Auctions
Hometown: Buffalo, NY, USA
ACV Auctions is a live wholesale marketplace for dealer-only automobile auctions. Conducted via a smartphone application, ACV Auctions creates liquidity for wholesale inventory (trade-ins and aged automobiles) 24-hours-a-day. An intuitive five-minute process of snapping pictures and drafting a vehicle description launches an auction to hundreds of registered buyers.

CoachMePlus
Hometown: Buffalo, NY, USA
CoachMePlus manages data that coaches and athletes use to optimize athletic performance. Athletic teams at all levels use the system to track athlete health, manage workouts, and improve game day readiness. Its NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA and NCAA clients illustrate its ability to support athletes, coaches and front office personnel.

Cytocybernetics
Hometown: North Tonawanda, NY, USA
Cytocybernetics has developed novel technology to improve drug safety screening. It will ensure that new drugs brought to market do not cause cardiac arrhythmias as a side effect. This technology will increase the speed and reliability with which pharmaceutical companies can navigate the FDA approval process for all new drugs.

Uma Bioseed 
Hometown: Ithaca, NY, USA
Uma Bioseed has developed a patented, enzyme-based, organic seed-treatment solution. This solution protects agricultural seeds from pathogens (virus, bacteria and fungus) both on and around the seed throughout the critical germination phase, enabling the possibility of significantly enhanced crop yields and greater food security.

CleanSlate
Hometown: Toronto, ON, Canada
The “CleanSlate” Ultra Violet (UV) system is a tabletop rapid device sanitizer for improved infection control. It sanitizes smartphones, tablets, glucometers, thermometers and a range of other portable electronics using UV light. Using RFID tags, the “CleanSlate” provides infection control staff with accurate compliance data on device sanitization reports.

Disease Diagnostic Group (DDG)
Hometown: Boston, MA, USA
DDG is focused on screening, tracking and diagnosing highly infectious diseases that benefit from ultra-low cost and rapid early-stage diagnosis, potentially saving millions. Its platform technology has yielded portable and reusable devices capable of quantitatively assessing diseases from a drop of blood—in one-minute—at ultra-low costs.

GetGems
Hometown – Tel Aviv, Israel
GetGems is the first digital currency startup to link mobile payments on the blockchain with a social networking platform. Unlike other messaging apps that offer payment functionality, GetGems reaches beyond those currently banked to those without a bank account or debit card. Blockchain technology enables this transfer of value.

Painless1099
Hometown: Richmond, VA, USA
Painless1099 opens “smart bank accounts” for freelance professionals to automate withholding, saving for, and paying state and federal taxes.

Qoints 
Hometown: Toronto, ON, Canada
Qoints aggregates digital marketing data. As less than 25 percent of brand marketers use data to justify decision making; Qoints helps brands and agencies evaluate the performance of their digital campaigns by comparing against industry benchmarks.

Voiceitt
Hometown: Jerusalem, Israel
Voiceitt’s product, Talkitt, aims to revolutionize the way people who have speech disabilities due to various motor, speech and language disabilities communicate, enabling them to use the most natural means there is, their own voice.