AC JumpStart – AC Demo

June 15, 2017

Media Release: The Accelerator Centre Announces Cohort 6 of their AC JumpStart Program

June 15, 2017

Waterloo Ontario – The Accelerator Centre is pleased to announce Cohort 6 of the AC JumpStart program. The program provides each recipient $30,000 in seed funding and $10,000 of mentorship.

56 Studios

Brothers DePaul

Eagle Vision Systems Inc.

EMAGIN Clean Technologies Inc.

Finservices Inc

Healthy Pets

Jobbee Technologies Corp

Quali Robotics

Serenity Bioworks Inc.

Site Safety Solutions Inc. REBAR Safety

Visa Run Inc. (Trade Name: Sherpa)

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About AC JumpStart

AC JumpStart is funded by FedDev Ontario and delivered in partnership with Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo.

The AC JumpStart program began in January 2015, with three cohorts of companies participating in the program in 2015, and two cohorts annually in subsequent years. Each cohort receives funding and mentorship over a 12-month period. Over the four year term, the program will support 180 companies.

About the Accelerator Centre

Our world-renowned, four phase accelerator program was developed based on our proven methods and best practices from accelerators and incubators around the world. The program, combined with our proven mentorship model, gives you the resources and guidance you need to grow all areas of your business, get your product to market faster, increase sales, and scale.

For more information visit www.acceleratorcentre.com.

About FedDev Ontario

FedDev Ontario delivers programs and services to help create, retain and grow businesses, cultivate partnerships and build strong communities. The Agency’s programming is designed to support a strong southern Ontario economy and position the region to compete globally.

For more information visit www.FedDevOntario.gc.ca.

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For more information contact:
Tabatha Laverty
Community Manager
tlaverty@acceleratorcentre.com

May 14, 2017

Emmetros Launches MemorySparx One – Their First in a Suite of Products for People Who Live with Dementia

For Mary Pat Hinton, helping people who live with dementia and their care-partners have a better quality of life is personal.

Seeing her grandmother, Jean, suffer with Alzheimer’s disease in the 80’s, a time it was not well understood and there were few resources available for patients, made a lasting impact and inspired her to change the way those with dementia cope with their conditions.

As a result of her experience, Mary Pat started Emmetros – a company dedicated to creating solutions that help dementia sufferers to live independently and with dignity.

In 2016, Mary Pat joined the AC’s Accelerator Program to help guide her business to success. “Before I joined the AC, I did a lot of research into incubators and the resources available to entrepreneurs like me,” Mary-Pat explains. “I came to the AC because of their focus on long-term success and their stellar mentorship team.”

When she started Emmetros, she knew she wanted to create something bigger than a single app to support people living with dementia, and the mentors at the AC helped her build out her business in a way that will see the company develop a full suite of solutions that will work together to create an all-in-one digital solution – not only for those living with the disease, but for their families and care communities as well.

“The mentors at the AC are like an extension of my team. They are always there for me.” she explains. “They are incredibly experienced, can shift focus easily, and can go as deep into my business as I need them to. No moment spent with them is a wasted one,” she adds.

Last week, Emmetros launched MemorySparx™ One. The first application in the planned suite of solutions to support those with dementia and their families.

MemorySparx One is a digital memory aid that helps individuals living with dementia organize and recall important information like personal photos, health information, and more.

Traditionally, those living with dementia (or their families) were instructed to create paper booklets to help them organize and keep track of important information. “One of the major challenges with paper-based memory aids is keeping them up to date, while making sure that they remain easy to use and meet the changing needs of a person who is experiencing declining cognitive abilities,” Mary Pat explains. MemorySparx One leverages decades of research on the value of those paper-based memory aids and combines it more than a thousand hours Mary Pat and her team have spent partnering with and getting to know people who live with dementia, their families, and academic researchers to create a mobile digital solution that provides these people with a way to communicate with confidence and greater independence, wherever and whenever they need to.

MemorySparx One allows users to:

Add and update content using intuitive templates designed with the unique needs of people with dementia in mind
Store personal details, captioned photos, audio recordings, and personal health information in one easy-to-access tool
Access information that’s important whenever and wherever it’s needed – at a doctor’s office, a social engagement, or a professional event
Keep track of personal health history, medications, and changes to mood or behavior so you can speak for yourself at appointments with care professionals

Emmetros’ next focus is on developing their complementary suite of products and on continuing to build out their incredible team and work culture. ‘We are fortunate to have a team of very talented and experienced people. Every one of them is incredibly passionate about our vision,” Mary Pat explains proudly. “When I started this, I never expected that people would be asking me how they could join our team, but they are and that’s pretty amazing. Every single day I wake up grateful. There’s nothing better than that.”

MemorySparx One is available for iPad and is on the iTunes store now. For more information, visit memorysparx.com.

Media Contact:

Tabatha Laverty
Community Manager
tlaverty@acceleratorcentre.com

January 19, 2017

Flying High: University of Waterloo drone startup Pegasus Aeronautics takes off with the help of AC JumpStart Funding

With applications in law enforcement, agriculture, retail, military and other sectors, the global commercial drone market is booming, with an estimated CAGR of 16.9% through to >$1.2B US by 2022.

For industrial applications, drones — flying unmanned robots — offer a significantly more affordable, nimble and safer alternative over traditional aircraft or helicopters. However there is one significant drawback. Drones, which are typically powered by lithium batteries, are limited in their flight time and range. With the added weight of sensors and cameras, the average industrial drone can only achieve about 15 minutes of fly time, including take off and landing.

This time constraint has proved to be a huge inhibitor for growth, explains Matthew McRoberts, CEO of Pegasus Aeronautics. “If you are doing a land survey or inspection of a wind turbine, the fact drones today have very limited air time really limits their usability.”

McRoberts and co-founders Joe Kinsella and John Biskey met in residence while studying engineering at University of Waterloo. Over the four years, the three collaborated on various school projects, and in fourth year, McRoberts and Kinsella teamed up for their final engineering capstone. The challenge they sought to tackle: a new solution to extend the range of drones.

“We always knew we wanted to do something that was drone related. Drone range limitation is a well understood challenge within the industrial sector and one of the largest problems facing industrial drone manufacturers, so it was a logical choice,” explains Matt McRoberts.

Many other companies have sought to solve the problem in the past, but most solutions have focused around the battery itself, says McRoberts. “They’ve tried tweaking the battery. Automatic battery swapping. Recharging stations. Even solar power. But they basically are stepping around the primary source of the problem – the battery.”

McRoberts, Kinsella (Biskey joined the team after the initial capstone) decided to chart a different course with their engineering, setting out to create gas/electric (hybrid) powertrain alternative to the battery.

“We felt that a gas/electric hybrid system was the only and best way to solve the problem. But no one had done it before. First, it is very difficult to make gas engines run in the first place. And on top of that, we had to design power electronics that would be lightweight enough they can fit on something that can fly.”

Proving through the capstone that it was possible to create the envisioned powertrain, the team was encouraged by its faculty advisor to found a company to commercialize the technology and Pegasus Aeronautics was born.

FedDev Ontario JumpStart funding, secured through the Accelerator Centre, provided the young company with a critical injection of capital to move forward. “AC JumpStart funding and mentorship was a real tipping point for our business,” says Matt McRoberts. “We were facing two paths post graduation. Leave our technology on the table, or pursue it as a business. AC JumpStart allowed us to take our project and turn it into a real commercial opportunity.”

Access to Accelerator Centre’s team of mentors, provided as part of the JumpStart funding program also provided to be instrumental to the founders. “The mentorship we received totally changed the way we thought about how we would structure business. The mentors — Kevin Hood (sales mentor) in particular urged us to do primary research to really understand our industry, our competitors. It gave us a huge edge on the competition. First, we learned that a universal powertrain would have widest appeal and allow us to partner with all industrial drone manufacturers. Second, we learned that ease of use was critical – researchers in the field are not engine experts. I can’t overstate the contribution Kevin made to our business.”

The team at Pegasus Aero are now readying to bring their final product to market. Over the next few months, they will be doing some field beta testing to collect final feedback, and have customers lined up anxious to get their hands on the company’s unique hybrid powertrain.

“Just to get the job done, field teams using drones today are lugging hundreds of pounds of batteries into the field and are spending $14,000 a year or more per platform in battery costs,” says McRoberts. “Our solution is so easy to use, a field worker can pull the drone out of the back, siphon gas from the truck and be up in the air for 8 times as long. Fortunately for us, marketing around those kinds of advantages is pretty much a no brainer. We help industrial drone manufacturers overcome a really big barrier. So when we explain what we do to folks in the industry, the response is “how soon can get our hands on it?”

October 13, 2016

How a new wave of startups are bringing law enforcement into the digital age

At home and abroad, Canadian companies like HealthIM are using new technologies to help police forces solve cold cases and deal with 21st century threats

When Alexandra Brown set out to create a tool that would show people what they might look like when they get older, she never expected to receive a call from the police.

She wasn’t in any sort of trouble—rather, the police wanted to learn more about her software.

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Unlike novelty smartphone apps that use simple algorithms to morph users’ features into different shapes and permutations, Brown’s AprilAge relies on a database housing thousands of scanned images of real faces to predict future appearances based on age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle.

For law enforcement officials, it has proven to be a helpful tool in the search for suspects and missing persons involved in cold cases.

“You need the image to be realistic and believable,” Brown says. AprilAge assures police officers the image they’re looking at is “a statistically significant result.”

Founded in 2010, the Toronto-based company’s first customer in blue was the forensic services branch of the South Australia Police. These days, Brown primarily targets health and wellness providers, who use the software to show patients the benefits of a healthier lifestyle, but she continues to sign up police forces in the United States, Poland, Ecuador and Turkey.

AprilAge is just one example of law enforcement agencies’ newfound appetite for technology and innovation, observers say. While the industry is known for its stodginess and traditionalism, a growing number of police forces are discovering that startups can help make their lives easier.

“Where there is a problem with paperwork or something like that, it can really make a lot of sense for a private firm to step in and provide assistance,” says Christopher Parsons, managing director of the Telecom Transparency Project at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.

Several opportunity-driven Canadian startups—including HealthIM and Labforge, both based in Kitchener, Ont.—are rising to the challenge.

HealthIM, started in 2014 by University of Waterloo students Daniel MacKenzie and Daniel Pearson Hirdes, makes software that improves how police respond to situations involving mentally unstable individuals.

Police don’t currently have any tools for dealing with such circumstances, MacKenzie says. Officers typically apprehend people they suspect might need help and then take those individuals to a hospital for assessment. The process can take hours and involve a lot of paperwork, only to result in the individuals’ eventual release. This happens about 60% of the time, he adds.

HealthIM’s tool is installed directly in police car computers. Officers fill out a patient profile and send it to a hospital. Medical staff can then prepare an assessment and provide police with a preliminary report before they arrive at the hospital.

The system provides benefits to police, medical staff and detained individuals.

“If you’re not stuck under police guard in a hospital for hours, that just helps make everyone’s life better,” MacKenzie says.

HealthIM won $25,000 in funding last fall from the University of Waterloo’s Velocity accelerator hub and a further $60,000 from the school’s AC JumpStart program earlier this year. Unlike AprilAge, the company is specifically targeting police departments and has signed up two so far in Ontario, in Brantford and London.

MacKenzie credits HealthIM adviser Ron Hoffman, a former mental health training co-ordinator for the Ontario Police College, with landing the deals. Once he gathered everyone at the table, the company found police to be eager customers.

“They are more progressive than I thought in terms of innovation and tech,” MacKenzie says. “They’re always looking for solutions to make their lives easier.”

Apply for AC JumpStart Funding at acjumpstart.com

Labforge, founded in 2014, has also brought in advisers with law enforcement and security backgrounds to open doors. Clint Robinson, former head of government relations with BlackBerry, is helping the company showcase its technology with police and military forces.

Labforge is working on systems that incorporate drones, wearable sensors and smart cameras to give security forces “situational awareness” or a better idea of what’s happening around their personnel in the field.

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Currently, when police officers enter a building, they often don’t know what they’re getting into. A system that identifies and differentiates friendly individuals from unfriendly ones can potentially save lives.

“[When you enter a building,] you don’t know where the good guys are or where the bad guys are. Technically, the whole place is a hostile environment,” says co-founder Yassir Rizwan. “If you can put trackers on your guys, then the story changes.”

Labforge’s smart cameras can also identify details officers might otherwise miss. They can, for example, spot licence plates of stolen cars or missing children via image recognition. The company is currently talking to several law enforcement agencies about potential trials, Rizwan says.

Despite the opportunities, security-oriented startups face a number of challenges. Chief among them are privacy concerns and the public’s ill ease with law enforcement using advanced technology to gather data on their whereabouts. Startups dealing in the space would do well to be as open about their technologies as possible, says Citizen Lab’s Parsons.

Often, it’s enforcement agencies and not the companies themselves that are engendering public distrust. Police may be enthusiastic about adopting new technology, but they’re usually not as forthcoming in disclosing how it’s being used, he adds.

It’s incumbent on the firms, then, to push their customers toward improved transparency as well.

“They’re trying to sell into an aspect of government that is very, very secretive, which isn’t very helpful for the public’s trust in law and order,” Parsons says. “That can boomerang back on companies.”

If both businesses and law enforcement give prompt, upfront disclosure of what technology is being used and in what manner, it will make it easier for startups to do business and help ease people’s concerns, says Tamir Israel, a staff lawyer with the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa.

“You do need to deal with the friction upfront, kind of like ripping off a Band-Aid,” Israel says.

September 27, 2016

Waterloo technology creates the next evolution of keyboard and mouse

How AC JumpStart Client Palette’s hardware is changing how we interact with software

When you first look at Palette, you might think it’s a DJ mixing board. But look a little closer and you’ll realize it’s a customizable input device used for photo editing and software.

Partnering with several high profile companies like Adobe has turned what began as a 2013 fourth-year design project into a company that has since shipped to more than 40 countries. It’s a game changer for those who interact with the digital world.

Calvin Chu, CEO of Palette, says the traditional dragging of a mouse cursor and keyboard shortcuts can only take you so far.

“We looked at different types of interfaces in the world and saw that a lot of them had similar components,” says Chu. “We realized these tools were made for specific jobs.”

This caused him to ask a critical question – “What if we could make tools that are tailored for your work instead of a one size fits all keyboard and mouse?”

Palette’s physical sliders, dials and buttons that adjust brightness and control is making that possible. It doesn’t hurt that its magnetic sides allow it to be rearranged like Lego pieces.

A $60,000 AC JumpStart – University of Waterloo award is helping Chu and his team expand Palette.

Funded by FedDev Ontario and the University of Waterloo, AC JumpStart is delivered through the Accelerator Centre and provides early stage technology startups with the seed capital, mentorship, and market-readiness tools needed to build a business in today’s knowledge economy.

“Coming from a technical background, it can be difficult understanding the finance and sales side of things,” says Chu. “The mentors and their experience have been great for us.”

So far, the majority of business comes from the United States and Europe. Almost no one guesses where Palette actually comes from.

“Our customers – including our Canadian ones – always assume we’re in Silicon Valley,” says Chu.

AC JumpStart’s mentorship is helping Chu strategize Palette’s expansion into distribution and retail internationally. The most popular Palette kit across the globe so far is their Expert Kit.

Chu credits its success to balancing between the Starter Kit’s lower cost and the Professional Kit’s advantages. There’s also the option to customize your own kit from scratch or add custom pieces to any existing kit. No matter what customers choose, Chu says they all serve the same purpose.

“There’s a better way than dragging your mouse and using shortcuts, and we’re taking the steps to provide that for people,” says Chu. “We’re making people’s jobs easier.”

August 17, 2016

Applications now open for Phase One

We’re excited to launch our new four month, cohort-based program

Applications are open for the first cohort of our newly developed Phase One program, launching this September!

Phase One is an intensive four month program focusing on market validation and investment readiness.

I am very excited to launch this new program because it offers a truly unique combination of expert sessions and peer-to-peer learning, blended with the world-class mentorship the AC is known for. The select ten companies we accept into Phase One will also have access to our newly developed Advisory Network; a group of incredibly talented advisors from industry.

— Paul Salvini, CEO, Accelerator Centre.

This new program is the first of four phases within the our recently restructured two-year incubation platform, which is tailored to the unique needs of each company as they scale.

The first phase culminates with Presentation Day; an open house event where companies present to a panel of experts and business leaders who determine who is ready to enter the second phase of the program. Companies successfully entering Phase Two are automatically considered for up to $40,000 in funding and mentorship through the AC JumpStart program.*

The deadline to apply to the Accelerator Centre is Sept. 9, 2016.

Apply now

About the Accelerator Center
The Accelerator Centre (AC) is dedicated to building and scaling sustainable, globally competitive technology firms; and to commercializing advanced research technologies emerging from academic institutions. The AC offers an intensive, milestone-driven program to help Clients gain traction and establish early growth; begin to scale and prepare for global expansion.

*About AC JumpStart
AC JumpStart provides eligible companies with $30,000 in seed capital (to be matched by recipient firms), $10,000 in mentorship, and access to market research and connections to investors. The program is funded through an $8 million commitment from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and delivered in partnership with Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Waterloo. Companies considered for AC JumpStart must meet the eligibility requirements posted at www.acjumpstart.com

March 8, 2016

ExVivo Wins $25K CBMC Prize

by Peter Moreira

This post originally appeared in Entrevestor.

ExVivo Labs of the University of Waterloo won the $25,000 first prize at fourth annual Canada’s Business Model Competition at Dalhousie University in Halifax on Saturday.

Co-Founders Christian Brum and Eric Blondeel won the prize for a poised and focused presentation on the development of their product, which reduces the pain and wait times involved in testing for allergies.

The pair will now proceed to the International Business Model Competition at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, in late April.

The pitchers described current tests for allergies as primitive, painful and inconvenient. People who believe they have an allergy now have to wait several months for a test, which involves placing substances on a needle, pricking the skin, and looking to see if there is a reaction. This is repeated with different substances until there’s a reaction.

ExVivo has developed a simple, painless patch that detects allergens through biomarkers present in the skin. Once the product is launched, patients could buy it at a pharmacy and apply it at home. If there’s a positive reading, they can book an appointment with an allergist. If not, they’ve saved a lot of hassle. It could reduce the wait times, which can stretch to more than a year.

“That’s why we’re calling it the home pregnancy test of allergies,” said Blondeel. “We’re not trying to take away the allergist. We are trying to find the right people who should be going to see an allergist.”

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ExVivo has been working with Velocity Science at the University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Accelerator Centre’s ACJumpstart program, and is now preparing for its first clinical trials.

It is also now trying to raise investment capital. CEO Moufeed Kaddoura was unable to attend the competition in Halifax because he was at an allergy conference in Las Vegas, meeting with potential investors.

Brum and Blondeel charted the progress of the company, which previously received funding from the Velocity Fund.

As well as interviewing allergists, pharmacists and allergy patients, the team at one point surveyed 700 people across the country, many of whom said they would test repeatedly with the product. The main reason for wanting the patch was to speed up the testing process and be able to use it at home. And mothers of children with allergies don’t want their children subjected to the repeated pinpricks.

The team is preparing for an initial product that will test for grass allergies, which are increasingly common.

They added that the patch could be used by researchers to generate an early income stream. Clinical researchers need to find people with allergies to conduct their tests, but they can only determine whether people have allergies using the existing primitive process. By using the ExVivo patch, researchers could quickly find a group of people with allergies, cutting time and costs of the trials. And ExVivo would not have to go through the lengthy regulatory process to sell to researchers.

The Canadian and International Business Model Competitions assess student entrepreneurship teams based on the process they used in building their company. They place particular emphasis on the use of a lean canvas and interviewing potential customers and partners to shape the business case.

December 10, 2015

The Accelerator Centre Announces Third AC JumpStart Cohort

26 Companies receive funding and mentorship to grow their businesses

The Accelerator Centre is pleased to announce the third cohort of the AC JumpStart program. 26 companies were selected to participate in the program, which provides funding and mentorship aimed at growing their business and accelerating their sales.

CoinValue — coin valuation software and hardware developer

Digital Governance Group —real-time political engagement software platform

Dimples — customized 3D printed jewellery

Eleven-X — cellular IoT hardware and software

English Never Stops — cloud-based peer-to-peer language acquisition platform

FishBuoy — Software offering real-time water and environmental conditions to anglers

Fidget Toys — developers of a multifunctional stress-relief toy

Find BoB — online marketplace easing the transfer of financial business ownership

HealthIM — standardizing hospital admission processes for persons with mental illness

HH Development — data management solution for professional motorsports

Horizon Solutions — helping building owners improve energy efficiency

InkSmith – Manufacturing filament (ink) for 3D printing using bioplastics and 100% recycled materials

iSports Development — software platform connecting professional and amateur athletes

Kineris — wearable devices that speed recovery from joint injury or surgery

Local Line — connecting local food suppliers to customers

Massuni — allows users to easily design customized furniture that meets their exact needs

ONEIRIC — sports tech manufacturer

Palette — platform of physical input devices for improving creative workflow

Pressa — developing a water bottle allowing users to naturally flavour water

Streetcast — mobile platform that allows organizations to communicate with local residents and visitors

TaaCam — virtual reality (VR) and higher dimensional (3D/4D) digital image or video solution

Thalo — revolutionizing the way information is displayed on portable devices

UCIC — enables users to see any place in the world in real-time by connecting people.

Vidhub — platform for profs, students and researchers to have discussions in a sandboxed environment.

VIV Life Group — helps people discover meaningful experiences that are curated just for them

zpharm — medical tech company focused on smoking cessation

Through the AC JumpStart program, each company will receive $30,000 in seed funding, $10,000 worth of mentorship from the AC’s team of industry experts, as well as access to market research, investor connections, and the AC’s network of Clients and Graduates.

About AC JumpStart

Funded through an $8 million commitment from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the AC JumpStart program is delivered in partnership with Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo.

The AC JumpStart program began in January 2015, with three cohorts of companies participating in the program in 2015, and two cohorts annually in subsequent years. Each cohort receives funding and mentorship over a 12-month period. Over the next four years (2015-2018) the program will support 180 companies.

November 18, 2015

AC JumpStart Client Suncayr Plans Broader Product Line

This post originally appeared on entrevestor.com

By Peter Moreira

Suncayr CEO Rachel Pautler sums it up best when it comes to the obvious appeal of her company’s skin protection product, joking that her team initially wondered, “Why has no one done this before?”

The product—a marker that tests the effectiveness of your sunscreen using ink that only becomes visible when your skin is exposed to UV rays— has a literal pain point, allowing users to avoid sunburns and skin damage. Pautler says it is also more precise than competing products like the Netatmo June wristband and Goodlux Sunsprite lapel clasp, which measure the overall amount of UV exposure received, but cannot gauge sunscreen coverage.

Pautler and fellow co-founders Derek Jouppi, Andrew Martinko and Chad Sweeting are nanotechnology engineers who began working on the idea as a senior class project at the University of Waterloo in 2013. Development started in Waterloo’s Velocity Science accelerator program before half the operation moved to the Velocity Foundry, a hardware incubator. It has also received mentorship at Communitech.

In the span of about two years, Suncayr’s innovative technology has already started turning heads internationally. In 2014, the company was the only Canadian team shortlisted for the prestigious James Dyson Award. Most recently, Suncayr was named one of the Kairos Society’s K50 companies, an international network that spotlights companies that have founders under 25 and a revolutionary, market-ready product.

At the K50 Global Summit held this month in Hollywood, Suncayr was selected out of the group as one of the most promising 13 startups, receiving a resource prize from the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center which includes a week of retail space in San Francisco for consumer testing.

Pautler says that while getting the Suncayr marker to market is their chief focus, the medical implications of their technology reach far further.

“Our core technology is not really the UV sensing at all,” she said. “It’s more so how we keep it on the skin. Sun screen has a lot of solvents– it dissolves a lot of things– so we developed our technology to keep a very thin film on the top of your skin.”

Future applications of their technology, Pautler says, could include better skin-contact drug delivery for things like nicotine or birth control, and use as an alternative to surgical tape.

“We’re hoping to build out the company to a whole suite of skincare products.”

For now, the Suncayr marker is still in the process of going through Health Canada’s regulation process. Once the company gets the greenlight they will be able to start pre-sales this spring, in anticipation of a full launch in to the Canadian market by July. Pautler says the company’s first round of funding could occur as early as this December.

Learn more about Entrevestor.

November 10, 2015

AC JumpStart Client Voltera becomes first Canadian winner of James Dyson Award

by SHANE DINGMAN – TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

This story originally appeared in The Globe and Mail

A group of University of Waterloo graduates has become the first Canadian winner of the international James Dyson Award, a prestigious engineering design competition judged by the British inventor.

The winning invention is called the Voltera V-One, a compact device that can print prototype circuit boards in minutes. Right now, when engineers are designing a circuit board, it can take days or weeks to get a prototype manufactured, and it usually involves a pricey minimum order of multiple units as well.

“I can’t tell you how many times we faced the problem we set out to solve,” says Alroy Almeida, co-founder of Voltera Inc., who is also preparing this week to ship the first early-bird units of the device to backers of the company’s crowdfunding campaign. About two dozen of the machines are shipping to backers who helped the company raise more than $500,000 in February, 2015. An additional 300 are expected to deliver in early 2016.

The Voltera falls into the category of 3-D printing, but it is far from a simple hobby machine.

“We’ve got customers now from all walks of life. In our early-bird backers, there’s a professor at a local university. He’s going to use it to run courses, and he runs an international electronics competition,” Mr. Almeida says. “Pebble [the California-based smartwatch maker with roots in Waterloo] purchased an early-bird unit. They are looking to use it in their prototyping.”

Production units are expected to cost in the $2,000 range, and come with the special conductive and insulating ink used to print the two-layer circuits. There’s also a solder-paste dispenser, allowing other components to be attached to the board.

In the future, the company is looking to create a marketplace where Voltera owners can download existing circuit-board designs that they can add to or modify.

Mr. Almeida says the team found out it won via a video message from Mr. Dyson. In it, he says: “As an engineer, I know the frustration of waiting for circuit boards to be printed, and the Voltera elegantly solved this problem. And that’s why I’ve chosen you as the International Winners of the James Dyson Award, well done!”

Mr. Almeida and co-founders Jesús Zozaya and James Pickard are mechatronics engineering graduates from Waterloo; fellow founder Katarina Ilic is a graduate of nanotechnology engineering.

Since 2008, the award has been won by British, American, Australian and German student projects. The winners get $45,000 (U.S.) and an additional $7,500 goes to their university.