Tag: Accelerator Program

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Ear-o-Smart named one of the top wearables

IMG_6106Smart jewellery is fast becoming a top wearable tech trend, and is proving to be one of the best ways to get the benefits of smartwatches and fitness trackers, without having to wear a dull slab of plastic on your arm.

Wareable, a website dedicated to wearable technology, listed AC Clients Biosensive‘s Ear-O-Smart as one their eight top wearable products.

“Most fitness monitors are limited to wrist-based electronics, but do you really want to wear a bulky wrist monitor to a party or a meeting?” says Ravinder Saini, CEO of Biosensive. “”We believe that wearable electronics should be embedded into the products we use in our everyday lives, and for that reason, we created Ear-o-Smart, a product designed to fit seamlessly into your life.”

Ear-o-smart is the world’s first smart earring, which lets you monitor and track your health vitals. The earring tracks activity, calories burned and heart rate, and syncs this to iPhone or Android.

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Alan Quarry joins the Accelerator Centre!

Alan QuarryThe Accelerator Centre is excited to announce that brand strategist and marketing pioneer Alan Quarry has joined the AC as Brand Architect.

Alan will spend every Wednesday working with AC Clients as a sounding board, helping to develop and execute their brand strategy. Alan’s presence is an excellent complement to our team of AC mentors, all of whom are dedicated to helping the brightest startups build and scale their businesses.

Alan will also work with the AC’s leadership team, consulting on our own brand as we execute our strategic growth plans in the coming year.

For those unfamiliar with him, Alan is a gifted brand architect and brings to the AC a formidable level of experience. He serves as the Chairman of a 100 plus person team focused on helping Quarry Integrated Communications clients build their business.

Alan has served as director of the Institute of Canadian Advertising and is a past president (twice) of the Trans Canada Advertising Agency Network. He teaches fourth-year Marketing Communications and MBA courses at Wilfrid Laurier University, was an instructor for three years in University of Windsor’s Executive MBA program, and also the WLU Entrepreneur In Residence in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

We’re thrilled to have Alan as a part of the AC team as we continue to grow and work to develop the next generation of leading Canadian technology companies.

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Helping define success in Waterloo

Video series looks at why entrepreneurs are choosing Waterloo

Today the City of Waterloo launched a five-part video series, entitled Why Waterloo, aimed at explaining Waterloo’s growing appeal.

“There is a buzz about our city and we all feel it,” said Mayor Jaworsky during this year’s state of the city address. “Whether we are long-time residents, established community leaders, young students…or youth about to embark on their post-secondary journey, we all know that Waterloo is the place to be.”

In the series, a selection of local businesses spanning different industries are asked to share what being in Waterloo means to their organization.  Common themes like talent, collaboration, support and quality of life are prevalent throughout the series.

We’re excited that the first installment showcases the Accelerator Centre. Watch as Paul Salvini, CEO and Shane Pegg, VP Strategic Initiatives answer the global question: Why Waterloo?

Having just received $8 million in funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southwestern Ontario to support AC JumpStart, and an additional $200,000 over four years from Waterloo city council, the AC is set to expand; supporting more clients, more graduates, and making a bigger impact in the community. For more information about the Accelerator Centre, visit acceleratorcentre.com.

For more information about the city’s economic development initiatives, visit wearewaterloo.ca.

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Prime Minister Announces Advancing Selections for Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program

Source: Prime Minister News Release

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the organizations that have been chosen to advance in the selection process for the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP) which is designed to help outstanding small- and medium-sized Canadian enterprises to grow, prosper and create jobs. He made the announcement at Communitech, a hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies in Waterloo, Ontario. The Prime Minister was joined by Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), Peter Braid, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, and Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre.

The following organizations have been chosen to advance in the selection process under the CAIP:

  • BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) (Accelerator)
  • Bioenterprise Corporation (Accelerator)
  • Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM) (Incubator)
  • Centre for Drug Research & Development (CDRD), in collaboration with CDRD Venture Inc. (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Communitech Corporation, in collaboration with University of Waterloo Velocity, Laurier LaunchPad and the Waterloo Accelerator Centre (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Corporation Inno-Centre du Québec (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • GrowLab Ventures Inc., in collaboration with Extreme Startups (Accelerator)
  • Invest Ottawa, in collaboration with Wesley Clover, PARTEQ Innovations and InnovationPark at Queen’s University (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Manitoba Technology Accelerator (MTA) (Incubator)
  • Prince Edward Island BioAlliance Inc. (Incubator)
  • Propel ICT (Accelerator)
  • Ryerson University, in collaboration with Simon Fraser University and University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • The Next 36 (Accelerator/Incubator) University of Alberta, in collaboration with TEC Edmonton and Innovate Calgary (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Wavefront Wireless Commercialization Centre Society (Accelerator/Incubator)
    – See more at: http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2014/06/20/pm-helps-canadian-start-companies-grow-and-prosper#sthash.bmwzBFRz.dpuf

Read the full news release here

Check out a 24 SEVEN exclusive video on Why Accelerators Matter here

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Accelerator Centre Client TeTechS launches its first Terahertz Spectrometer system

Revolutionary terahertz technology enables imaging and sensing applications never achieved with other imaging technologies.

Waterloo (Ontario) CANADA, January 18, 2014 – TeTechS Inc., a terahertz technology solution company, announced today that the company released its first terahertz spectrometer system.

The TeTechS Rigel 1550 terahertz spectrometer is portable, modular, compact, fast, and reconfigurable for analysis of solids, liquids, powders, and gases. With its revolutionary fiber coupled terahertz sensor technology, Rigel 1550  provides higher performance and flexibility than the state of the art in terahertz systems, allowing better discrimination, less complex signal analysis, and enabling applications which cannot be robustly achieved with previous spectrometry technology.

The fiber coupled movable transmitter and receiver heads can be mounted around the sample under test, for the cases where bringing the object/sample/process under test inside the spectrometer head is not feasible. The distance between the transmitter and receiver heads can be adjusted to create working space needed for different measurement settings.

TeTechS Rigel 1550 is an innovative and reliable turnkey system with a built‐in 1550 nm femto‐second fiber laser, a fiber laser beam distribution chassis with fast and slow scan modules, and built‐in lock‐in and low‐noise amplifiers, with a controlling and operation software. The system is permanently aligned to provide a collimated terahertz beam between the transmitter and the receiver heads. The user has access to the collimated terahertz beam inside the spectrometer head where the interchangeable and easy to use transmission, reflection, and attenuated total reflection (ATR) measurement modules can be placed.

“Rigel 1550 can be used for a wide range of applications including material characterization, material sensing, non‐destructive test, hidden object detection, product inspection, manufacturing quality control, thickness measurement and uniformity analysis, coating and thin film analysis, additives analysis, and electronic chip fault analysis” says Dr. Daryoosh Saeedkia, founder and CEO of TeTechS Inc. “It can also be used for material verification and identification, such as: plastics, pulp and paper, gels, organic powders, and adhesives, to name a few” said Saeedkia.

About TeTechS Inc.

TeTechS Inc. is a leading innovator of advanced terahertz technology solutions committed to developing terahertz sensor and imaging systems for industrial and scientific applications. TeTechS Inc. draws on the distinctive characteristics of leading‐edge terahertz technology to develop unique non‐destructive and non‐invasive sensing and imaging solutions. The systems can see features of interest behind enclosures or inside packages, which are invisible to other imaging modalities. The Customers’ problems can be solved in ways that cannot be addressed by other imaging modalities such as X‐Ray and infrared imaging. The company’s vision is to become a major terahertz technology solutions provider to the industries worldwide through developing innovative terahertz imaging and sensing system solutions.

For further details please contact:

Daryoosh Saeedkia, PhD
President & CEO
TeTechS Inc.TeTechS Inc.
Tel: +1 (519) 584‐0791
Toll Free: +1 (855) 574‐1764
Fax: +1 (519) 513‐2421
Email: info@tetechs.com
Web: www.tetechs.com
Twitter: @TeTechS
LinkedIn: TeTechS

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Accelerator Centre Client Sober Steering's technology being used in New York State education system

Technology Ensures School Bus Drivers Are Sober Behind the Wheel

By: Peter Lawrence
Source: School Transportation News

Recently, I attended a presentation at the Rochester Area Transportation Supervisor’s Association in New York State on Drug and Alcohol awareness to meet U.S. federal requirements as stated in law §382.603

At the meeting, we had the opportunity to see a new technology being used to monitor and notify carriers if an operator or mechanic has alcohol in their bloodstream. The state-of-the-art technology was originally designed to detect chemical weapons from sensors that were dropped from aircrafts.

Sober Steering, a company based out of Canada, developed this product that acts as an alcohol interlock for school buses and other vehicles. They accomplish this through transdermal sensors that are built into the steering wheel. The sensors detect alcohol through direct contact with the skin. With this alcohol interlock, in the event that a driver tries to start a vehicle with alcohol in their bloodstream, the transmission will not be able to shift out of park and an electronic notification is sent immediately to their employer. Another neat feature of this system allows for randomized rolling tests where the operator can provide a sample while the vehicle is in motion.

Read the full article here.

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Stratford Accelerator Centre Client BuildCircle Inc: Does balance exist for an entrepreneur?

The Art of Compromise

By: Angela Pause
Source: youinc.com

“Balance [for an entrepreneur] doesn’t exist,” says Dan Heitbohmer. ”It’s like taking oil and water and shaking them up, trying to keep them mixed. Impossible.”

Heitbohmer, 38, has learned the hard way that the elusive “balance” the media and healthcare professionals encourage is for a different type of person than the entrepreneur. It might work for the nine-to-fiver, but as the president of BuildCircle Inc, a cloud-based software that manages the complex series of communications that accompany any construction project, Heitbohmer says the only option available to him is simple compromise.

It was a tough lesson to learn, he says. Heitbohmer “crashed and burned” in December 2012, after a six-month stint of working 19-hour days at his company, while also helping his wife, Melissa, with their newborn and five-year-old twins. Ignoring his failing health, he was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia and spent two weeks in bed – all the while stressing about work, and feeling guilty about not being a fully engaged father and husband.

Read the full article here.

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Accelerator Program Client Avenir Medical's device in action at Mount Sinai

By: Vanessa Lu
Source: thestar.com

Donning surgical scrubs on Monday, Dec. 16, Armen Bakirtzian stood in an operating room at Mount Sinai Hospital and held his breath.

Orthopedic surgeon Allan Gross was handling a device, which Bakirtzian initially designed as his final-year university design project.

After five years of work, and various iterations, it would finally be used for the first time in a patient — to help guide the placement of an artificial hip.

“It was a thrill for us, seeing our product used in a live OR,” said 28-year-old Bakirtzian, whose devices had first been tested in cadavers. “It was a dream we were picturing for years.”

Read the full article here.

Visit them online.

 

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Accelerator Program Client Milao Language Inc. receives $50,000 in funding from the Ontario Centres of Excellence

“Milao Language Inc. announced today that they have received $50,000 in funding from the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). This important milestone will help Milao as they continue to work towards commercialization. The funding comes at an opportune time as Milao has begun beta testing with the University of Waterloo’s beginner Spanish students. The Milao team expects a need to implement requested features from excited students and faculty.”

The full news/blog post was published on the University of Waterloo, Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Tchnology Centre website.  Click here for a link to the full article.

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Accelerator Program Graduate Clearpath Robotics awarded $100,000 contract by Government of Canada

KITCHENER, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Nov. 12, 2013) – The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, joined by Harold Albrecht, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga, today announced that the Government of Canada has awarded a contract of over $100,000 to Clearpath Robotics Inc. of Kitchener, Ontario, for its innovation, the Kingfisher M200 Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV). The contract was awarded through the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP), formerly known as the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP).

“The Government of Canada’s top priority is the economy and we understand that helping Canadian businesses expand and succeed directly benefits Canadian workers and families by creating jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity,” said Minister Finley. “We are proud to encourage Canada’s entrepreneurial spirit by kick-starting Canadian businesses to get their innovative products and services from the lab to the marketplace.”

Clearpath Robotics Inc.’s innovation, the Kingfisher M200 USV, is a portable robotic vessel, designed to measure and analyze inland waters such as lakes, rivers, ponds and estuaries. The Kingfisher is intended for use by researchers and environmental engineers performing lengthy or difficult surveying of inland waters. It provides a safe and reliable method for collecting high quality data with more accuracy and at lower costs than the existing industry-standard techniques. The Kingfisher has also demonstrated substantial benefits in terms of safety and water accessibility, as it is able to collect data from areas deemed impossible to reach by boat and too dangerous to enter on foot.

Read full article here.

Source: Daily Commercial News Online