Research and Innovation : Innovation + Job News

Toronto's QA Consultants predicted big demand for on-shore quality assurance testing when it opened its Test Factory on Sparks Avenue in North York last July. And big demand is what QA Managing director Brian Grieve says they have found.

"The amount of revenue and number of clients we've acquired through the facility over the past six months has been growing by leaps and bounds," he says. "We've seen 80 per cent growth over the past six months."

Grieve says the staff, which was at 12 when the Test Factory launched, has grown to 85, and the company has launched a training program to "immerse recent university graduates in QA over a three-month period." The company is just now filing its first patent. "I remember standing and looking at my old office and thinking it was so quiet. It gets a little loud now," he laughs.

He expect it to get louder in the near future, as Grieve's business plan calls for roughly doubling the client base over the next six to nine months, "and we expect to double staff, too." He's not worried about where to house all the new people. Their 60,000-square-foot facility can comfortable fit 600 employees.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Brain Grieve, Managing Director, QA Consultants

A venture capital investment of $23 million landed by Toronto mobile company Fixmo in late 2011 has already seen the company add 10 staff members, according to Fixmo chief marketing officer Tyler Lessard, bringing the total staff to 50. He says they will continue to grow their staff over the next six to 12 months as the company gears up to develop a broader global profile (they have postings for multiple positions up now).

Founded in 2009, the company originally set out to provide personal data security to users of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, through a set of software tools. But the mandate changed somewhat in 2010 when Fixmo partnered with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to commercialize the intelligence agency's internal integrity monitoring system.

"Fixmo was chosen for that partnership because of our record of success in the field of mobile security," Lessard says.

The company, headquartered on Yonge Street near King, soon opened a Virginia office and acquired Conceivium to offer a "holistic range of mobile integrity management software."

2011 saw rapid growth as the trend towards "bring your own device" policies in corporations has led to increased challenges for IT departments, who now need to secure data across a range of operating systems and software brands used by their employees. As the mobile age evolves, Lessard sees the demand for these services continuing to grow as they expand beyond North America and broaden the range of products they offer.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Tyler Lessard, Chief Marketing Officer, Fixmo

Jeff Brenner, CEO of Toronto startup Pressly, says that the company was born out of two core perceptions. "It comes out of our belief that the battle for publications on touch devices is going to be fought on the web, through browsers, more than through native applications. And the web today is really broken on those devices—it's build for a click and scroll desktop environment."

That led Brenner, through his company Nulayer, to build a platform that allows publishers to automatically optimize their websites for the touch-and-swipe world of tablets. The platform, launched a few months ago with the Toronto Star, is very low maintenance for publishers, who need only drop an RSS feed into Pressly to let the platform do its work.

The innovative approach and the success of the Star's launch recently led Startup North to proclaim Pressly one of the Canadian startups to watch in 2012. The company already provided much to watch at the tail end of 2011. Over the holidays, they launched with the tablet-optimized retail site logicbuy.com, and just this week prestigious UK business magazine The Economist launched an entirely new publication on Pressly.

Brenner says that within the next two to three months, he expects the company to launch its self-serve platform for smaller publishers. So far, the Pressly team has grown to 10 staff members, Brenner says. He expects that number to grow. "I can tell you the rate we've been growing the past few years is to double every year, and I expect that to pretty much continue on into the future."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Jeff Brenner, CEO, Pressly

Ryerson University's Flybits research group, a team working in the school's Digital Media Zone, recently won a "Golden-idea" award for a head-mounted computer display designed for police and security officers.

"Police need access to information, and we usually give them a walkie-talkie," says Dr. Hossein Rahnama, the research director of Ryerson's DMZ. Officers typically need to stop what they are doing to call in requesting or relaying information before returning to the situation at hand. "With head-mounted displays, when they need information, they look at a small screen in front of their eyes and see maps, sensors, etc."

The idea was developed in partnership with the Swedish company Appear, for a challenge developed to find solutions for Motorola's Golden-i wireless headset. "This is a great achievement, showing how effective European and North American partners can work together," Rahnama says.

Such tools may be the future of computing, and not just for police. "This is the post-tablet future of computing," says Rahnama. "Right now, everyone is moving to tablets, but after that, the new generation will be wearable computing."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Dr. Hossein Rahnama, research director, Ryerson Digital Media Zone

The Academy of the Impossible, a new "open source social enterprise" that aims to provide new educational opportunities will officially open its Junction Triangle office and educational space with a party December 16. The project was created by executive director Emily Pohl-Weary and director Jesse Hirsch using a small grant from the Atkinson Foundation and support from Hirsch's organization Metaviews.

"I've been running this writing group, Parkdale Street Writers, since 2008, and we've been camping out in other people's spaces—the library, the community centre—and we were looking for a home," says Pohl-Weary. "Jesse Hirsch does a lot of talks and workshops on media and technology and he was looking for a place where he could turn two-hour workshops into longer-term learning and action. So the Academy of the Impossible is a space for those, and we're hoping we can incubate ideas and projects for students and members."

Pohl-Weary describes the model for the school as collaborative: "The people who use it will be creators and shapers. It more like a conversation, or a learning network, than a lecture."

The Academy launches with nine faculty members, including Hirsch and Pohl-Weary, but the executive director says that the innovative arts, cultural and social project is a labour of love for all of them. As time goes on, some of the programs will generate revenue, she says, and a fundraising strategy will emerge.

The December 16 opening party runs 5pm to 9pm at 231 Wallace Ave.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Emily Pohl-Weary, executive director, Academy of the Impossible

When Yonge Street first wrote about Liberty Village-based solar startup Morgan Solar in 2010, it was big news that the company had secured $5 million in seed capital and landed a top-notch CEO. The innovative energy creators have grown since then, so much so that this month they announced they had raised an additional US$28.8 million in venture capital. The financing will expand Morgan Solar's production of its revolutionary Sun Simba lightweight panels, and expand its sales efforts.

Among the investors is Enbridge, the large natural gas utility, which has invested $10 million (US$9.8 million). According to a statement from Enbridge VP Chuck Szmurlo, this is the energy giant's first investment in solar technology.

"We’ve been excited for a long time about the potential for solar electricity, and we’re now pleased to help advance innovative ideas that will help reduce costs and enable the increasingly economic deployment of this emissions-free energy source. We look forward to playing a role in Morgan Solar’s growth."

The announcement caps a big year for Morgan Solar on the capital front. In May the company announced it had raised US$16.5 million.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Emma Hemmingsen, communications manager, Morgan Solar Inc.

A Toronto-based startup founded by Ryerson alumni now offers the world's largest online database of distilled spirits. Daniel Donlonv of Distilus says the company now offers listings for more than 1,300 spirits from more than 100 countries.

Founded in 2009 by Marco Molinaro and business partner Nick Ajram, the company is currently in the process of rolling out a 2.0 version of its online catalogue. Donlon writes by email that one of the latest features of the site extends an innovation Distilus had previously offered only to Ontarians.

"When a user is looking to purchase a particular spirit, they can locate it on our site, determine the volume that they are interested in purchasing, and then view the LCBO locations nearest them that currently have it in stock. This feature has, however, just recently expanded to have universal appeal."

Now the site allows users all over the world to find beverages for sale in their own country. "Regardless of what country you live in, when you are viewing a product on the site, you will be able to find the retailers nearest you (sometimes in neighbouring countries, if it's not available in your home country) that carry that spirit, as well as pricing information that will be displayed in your home currency," Donlon says. "Also, if the option is available to you, you will be able to place an online order for the spirit and have it delivered to you by visiting the retailer's website."

Two years in, Donlon says the company has employed technological tools to create a worldwide virtual office. "We all use technology to communicate with one another to make our dream live, despite the fact that we live so far apart and are in different time zones.... Our dream of impacting the international liquor scene is becoming a reality."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Daniel Donlon, Marketing Intern, Distilus

Brampton Civic Hospital last month became the first community hospital in Ontario to employ an around-the-clock "intensivist" physician, who will provide care in the hospital's new eight-bed Surgical Intermediate Care Unit.

The unit will serve patients who need more care than is available in a regular ward but not intensive care, according to a statement by BCU executive VP Liz Buller.

"Positioned solidly between the care received on the wards and the most intensive care levels, [the intermediate care unit] gives additional support to address the needs of surgical patients," says Buller.

An intensivist is a specialist in critical care like that typically available in intensive care units. The first-in-Ontario intermediate care innovations are part of an ongoing expansion of Brampton Civic Hospital that includes adding operating rooms and capacity in orthopedic and general surgery units.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Harpreet Hansra for Brampton Civic Hospital

Since launching in 2010, the Toronto-based home décor "flash sales" site Homesav.com has attracted more than 100,000 registered members. The first-year success, the company announced this fall, has drawn $1.2-million in financing from angel investors including the founding families of both Shopper's Drug Mart and ELTE.

Homesav.com will use the capital to grow its team—they are currently hiring for 10 positions—and launch initiatives to expand the company's reach.

The site offers high-end designer home furnishings at drastic discounts—the company says specials are as much as 80 per cent off the retail price—for a limited time. Currently handling more than 100 orders a day, Homesav.com just this week launched a month long "pop-up store" initiative with local new condo real estate listings site BuzzBuzzHome. The promotion will offer hand-picked items for sale to BuzzBuzzHome's users for one month, with new items being released for sale each week. Homesav.com says the partnership is an opportunity to extend its reach further into customers in the new condo-buying market.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Amanda Parker, public relations and media manager, Homesav.com

Founded in 2006 by Toronto entrepreneurs Alan Lau and Ivan Yuen, the mobile e-reading app company Wattpad, has a written an exciting story for itself this year.

"The easiest way to explain the concept is that it's like YouTube for books," says marketing coordinator Pamela Odina by phone. "People can share their own stories. We've got partnerships with some major publishers, there's a real mix of content."

That mix now extends to more than 1,000,000 free titles, and continues to grow. As does the company. This summer, Wattpad added their 1,000,000th registered user, and have added another 300,000 since then. But Odina says even those numbers don't tell the bigger story. "Many of our users are not registered, they're just reading. We get 7-million visitors a month."

On the heels of that success, the company announced $3.5 million in financing in September and moved into new office space near Yonge and Sheppard. Odina says the company is currently focused on building its team to develop more products and platforms. From the two founders five years ago, the company started the year with six staff and just hired number 11 this month. Odina says they plan to add another nine or so staff over the next year.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Pamela Odina, Marketing Coordinator, Wattpad

Designer Adam Schwabe began 2011 by launching Rocket Radar, a transit application for mobile devices that gives real-time next-vehicle information to Toronto Transit Commission subway and streetcar riders. His team added bus information to the service midway through the year. And last week they launched the service in four US cities: Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Davis.

"We've gotten a good reaction here in Toronto, and next week we're starting to reach out to users and media in those other cities to start promoting them," says Schwabe.

Thus far, the transit applications have been a side project for Schwabe and the two developers he's been working with from the beginning. For these US cities, a new part-time member was added to the team. "He's a package designer, and we've added a more real-world aesthetic to the design."

The newly added locations, which soft-launched about a month ago, were a natural fit because the transit services in those places provide data on the same platform the TTC does. "The technology was the same, so it was relatively easy for us to go to them."

In the short-term, Schwabe will be focusing on enhancing and expanding the functionality and reach of this batch of Radar apps. In the long term, adding more cities—New York, for instance—is a possibility.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Adam Schwabe, Founder, Rocket Radar

Toronto's Massive Damage brings an interesting twist to the world of zombie-apocalypse video games. Its first title, Please Stay Calm, has its brain-eating action take place wherever the user is. Using GPS technology and Foursquare's platform, the game is placed right at a mobile device's location.

"Basically our whole company is based on location-based gaming, using the real world as a playground for the game," says co-founder Ken Seto.

The launch of the mobile title in Canada in September and the US and the rest of the world in mid-October was the coming out for Massive Damage, which attracted $325,000 in angel funding on the launch. Seto says the free title (paid users get premium options) has been downloaded 166,000 times, with almost 10,000 daily users as of the end of November.

Seto says the staff has increased to eight employees from the two founding employees. They continue to hire, and expect to build the team to about 20 employees over the next 12 months.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Ken Seto, Co-founder, Massive Damage

Toronto-based Spatial View, headquartered near Front and University in the financial district, recently introduced a device to allow iPhone users to watch 3D content without glasses, and has also signed a slew of deals to provide such content, according to COO Al Lopez. The company has also recently released a screen attachment for laptops to allow similar 3D viewing. 
 
Launched strictly as a display technology company in 2004, Spatial View focused on "auto-stereoscopic 3D," which allows three-dimensional viewing without the use of glasses. "In the past couple years we've moved more into distribution of 3D content on mobile, laptop and desktop devices over the Internet," Lopez says, pointing to a recently announced deal to distribute a Peter Gabriel concert filmed by Eagle Rock Entertainment. "We'll have more exciting distribution announcements in the next month, names I'm sure you'll be familiar with."
 
Spatial View has 42 employees in offices in the US, Germany and Nova Scotia, along with its Toronto headquarters, Lopez says. But the staff is growing, with positions open now for six more employees. "We're seeing a lot of opportunity to grow as we expand to more and more platforms," Lopez says.

Toronto-based medical imaging innovators Tornado Medical Systems will receive $750,000 in financing from the provincial government's Health Technology Exchange (HTX) to commercialize its innovative breast cancer medical imaging technology.

In announcing the investment, HTX said the investment will help create jobs while allowing sharper diagnoses in breast cancer cases. Tornado's "world-class medical technology" should cut down the need for need for repeat surgeries.
 
The company was founded in 2009 as a partnership between Toronto's Sentinelle Medical Inc. and the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute. Headquartered in Toronto, it now has offices in Thunder Bay and Ithica devoted to developing diagnostic medical imaging tools. By the start of this year, the company had grown to employ 20 people, and launched a wave of new hiring in February. The company is currently hiring more than 11 new staff, and is expected to continue growth as it commercializes its technology.
 
Dr. Stefan Larson, CEO of Tornado, said in a statement that the HTX funding would fund more technological development as well as clinical trials for the technology.
 
Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Stephanie Evans, Operations Manager, HTX; Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

GO Transit, the Ontario-government-run regional transit network in the GTA, launched a new mobile application, GO Mobile, on Nov. 10.

The application for iPhones, Blackberrys and Android-enabled smartphones allows riders to view schedules, receive alerts and personalize information. In a release announcing the application, GO VP Mary Proc said the initiative should enhance customer service.

"We're very excited to offer our passengers the ability to access GO schedule information right in the palm of their hands," stated Proc.

Behind the scenes, the application represents a significant achievement not just for the transit service, but for Ryerson University's Digital Media Zone (DMZ), an 18-month-old innovation and business incubator at the downtown University. Six Ryerson students and one recent graduate collaborated to build the application for GO.

School representatives say this represents an evolution in the university classroom experience, with students getting hands-on, real-life experience dealing with projects for real-world clients. Stephen Johns, a computer-science grad who worked on the project said in a statement, "GO Transit was an ideal partner for our group as they were committed to experiential learning and developing a great, knowledge-based transit application."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Michael Forbes, Ryerson Digital Media Zone; Vanessa Thomas, GO Transit