Innovation + Job News

Saint John, New Brunswick-based group buying website Spinzo is preparing to launch in Toronto. The company is staffing up—hiring sales and marketing staff—in anticipation of bringing its "progressive savings" model to the GTA.

The variation on popular group discount sites adds a "more people equals a better deal" innovation. That means the price of an item falls when more people sign up to buy it. The platform also allows purchasers to bid a price they are willing to pay, committing to buy it only if the price reaches a certain level.

CEO Emmanuel Elmajian says this model attracts a better caliber of business to offer deals.

"If you look at many of the [traditional group buying sites], you see they tend to attract lower-end merchants," says Elmajian. That's because such sites use deep discounts as the main selling point. "A lot of businesses, restaurants in particular, don't want to do that." He says they might offer a 20 per cent discount as a base, and then up it to 30 per cent or more if a certain number of people bid. "Then maybe they want to cap the discount at 40 per cent. That's perfectly fine."

The more-people-equals-lower-prices approach, he says, also "brings viral back into the equation." Buyers have a strong incentive to publicize the deal.

The company launched in testing phase earlier this year, with more than $500,000 in investment from private and public partners led by Growthworks. Elmajian says the company has a sales person working in Toronto now, and is looking to add another one or two, in addition to hiring a marketing coordinator. Spinzo should be live, offering deals to the general public sometime in the next month and a half.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Emmanuel Elmajian, CEO, Spinzo

Less than two weeks ago, MaRS announced the launch of Canada's first dedicated cleantech fund, the $30 million MaRS Cleantech Venture Fund LP, to support the burgeoning industry in Toronto and Canada. Now California-based SAIL Capital Partners has jumped into the game locally with the announcement that it's launching a $100 million cleantech fund, a partnership with Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc., to invest in Ontario energy, water and and other eco-innovation technology startups.

In a statement, SAIL managing partner Walter Schindler said Ontario was becoming "the capital of cleantech in Canada," and noted that in addition to directly supporting innovation, funding will put local companies "at the forefront of this burgeoning industry and job creation."

Analysis predicts that the global cleantech sector will be worth an estimated $3 trillion by the end of the decade, and Ontario Minister of Energy Chris Bentley issued a release welcoming the growth of the local sector, which is supported by the province's Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund. "The clean-tech sector is a key part of Ontario's plan to create and support good jobs, replace dirty coal and build a healthier future for generations to come," Bentley said.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Andrew Block, Office of the Minister of Economic Development and Innovation, Province of Ontario

Toronto's ZBx Corporation, based in Don Mills, has grown rapidly after developing the ZAP rapid diagnostic test, which can help identify various ailments on the spot in 10 to 15 minutes, using a single drop of blood drawn from a finger. Founded in 2002 with two employees, the company has now grown to employ 11 staff as it prepares to bring its product to market around the world.

In a speech delivered at ZBx headquarters last week, federal Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear said the company was "a perfect example of what our government wants to achieve with our innovation agenda." He noted that over a period of years, ZBx was a recipient of several grants through the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program.

ZBx president and CEO Doug Ball recently told the National Post that the granting program is "the unsung hero in the Canadian bio-medical sector. They do an excellent job of picking projects to support, assisting entrepreneurs to go where Canadians have never gone."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Michèle-Jamali Paquette, Office of Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology); ZBx Corporation, Financial Post

"I cannot wait to start my business," Noura Sakkijha told StartMeUp Ryserson as it announced she was the winner of this year's $25,000 Slaight Business Plan competition. The company she's starting, Majoura, is a crowdsourcing platform for designers, allowing them to get feedback from consumers before manufacturing and distributing products.

In addition to $25,000 in seed money, Sakkijha will get mentoring from StartMeUp, an organization designed to foster entrepreneurship among students at Ryerson University.

To win this year's competition, Sakkijha beat out 31 other entrants, including four other finalist companies: Soapbox (recently profiled by Yonge Street), engineering consultants Peytec, homelessness documentarians Make Treks, job board My TaskRunner and discount postboard Bank My Coupons.

Past winners of the contest include former Yonge Street subject Damn Heels.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Piotr Makuch, StartMeUp Ryerson

Founder and CEO William Mougayar explaining the "big concept" behind Toronto social media startup Engagio this way: "We're entering a phase of frustration in the social web." People actively take part in conversations in blog comment sections, on Twitter, on Facebook and other platforms every day. "How do you keep track of all that conversation? The solution is to aggregate it all in a unified inbox."

That's Engagio—a single inbox to track conversations across social media platforms. Mougayar says it's an idea whose time has come. The company was founded last October, launched its product as a private Alpha in December, and by early February it was able to announce $540,000 in seed financing.

That quick start means the company is growing rapidly. Already this year, Mougayar says, Engagio has hired four staff members, and continues to hire. "If you extend the horizon out six to eight months," he says, "I expect we'll add eight to 10 more employees to the team."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: William Mougayar, CEO, Engagio

The Toronto innovation incubator MaRS announced last week that it was launching Canada's first private dedicated cleantech venture fund. The MaRS Cleantech Venture Fund LP opens with a goal of $30 million in capital to invest—about half that amount has been closed so far—from a group of private investors including Greg Kiessling of Bullfrog Power. It will be managed by Tom Rand and Murray McCaig of MaRS.

"Great companies will go where they can find the capital, and we want those companies to stay right here in Ontario," Rand writes on the MaRS blog, a point he elaborates on in the fund's announcement. "We have great companies here at MaRS. They've got strong intellectual property, and many have a real chance at global leadership if they can get to market fast enough. Finding that first million or two has always been a challenge in Canada, and we intend to fill that gap."

Elaborating on the phone, Rand says that access to seed capital is more than just a perk for the sector. "Without healthy venture and seed funding, there is no cleantech sector," Rand says. "It's an absolutely fundamental part of the sector." He says that up until now, there hasn't been much appetite in the Toronto private sector for some of the risks in the cleantech sector, risks New York and Silicon Valley are fine with.

Moving quickly, the fund has already announced its first two investments: in GreenMantra, a company whose technology promises to recycle plastics into usable waxes and greases; and in Smart Energy Instruments, whose technology may help build the smart electricity grid.

MaRS points to estimates showing the global cleantech sector will be worth $3 trillion by the end of the decade. It aims to see Canada capture two per cent of that market—equivalent to a $60-billion industry nationally.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Tom Rand, Managing Partner, MaRS Cleantech Fund

Professor Hoi-Kwong Lo of the University of Toronto, working with fellow U of T researcher Bing Qi and Spanish professor Marcos Curty, has published research on a new encryption method that could present a quantum leap forward in the attempt to thwart hackers. And that's a literal quantum leap.

The method, Measurement Device Independent QKD, is detailed in the physics Journal Physics Review Letters. It is an advancement in the field of quantum encryption, the technique for securing data transmitted over the Internet from hackers.

"Standard quantum encryption method is currently being used by various Swiss banks in encrypting critical data traffic. I have personally been an expert in the task force on the standardization of quantum key distribution products in Europe," says Lo.

The complicated field employed to secure information from prying eyes has long suffered from an "Achilles' heel" in the form of photon detectors, a problem Lo's group proposes it has solved. "We believe that our new method will significantly contribute to the standardization process and can be a game-changer in future quantum cryptographic products," Lo says.

The research team, who have already tested their method as a "proof of concept," expect to have a prototype available within five years. Lo says that the product could be commercialized within five years—and possibly much sooner—of the building of a prototype. "We are very interested in bringing our new method to the market. Currently, we are looking for industrial partners that will help us to co-develop our prototype."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Hoi-Kwong Lo, Professor, University of Toronto

Following on the smash success of its educational app PocketZoo, which went to number one in the iTunes App Store's education section after its release almost two years ago, Toronto app developer Tiny Hearts recently released its second product, InstaMatch, this February.

"It's been really well received so far," says company founder Robleh Jama. "We've gotten some great reviews from TechCrunch and others, and it was featured by Apple as a 'new and notable' application." The app turns images captured by the popular Instagram app into a card-matching puzzle game.

The company was founded in 2010, Jama says, because he loved apps and wanted to create apps he'd want to use himself. He says PocketZoo in particular was inspired by his becoming a new father. "I wanted to create an app I could use with my daughter." Since then, his company has tweaked the app, released a version for the iPad and grown to three employees working out of both the Ryerson Digital Media Zone and a shared workspace in the east end called Work Republic. All the way along, Jama's company has been self-financing.

"I'm not a big believer in spending time chasing investment," he says. "I think your customers are your best investors."

Jama says Tiny Hearts will soon be hiring three more staff—a developer, a marketing representative and a summer intern—as it improves InstaMatch, prepares an Android version of PocketZoo and gets ready to work on a new app.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Robleh Jama, founder, Tiny Hearts

Fisker Automotive bills itself as a maker of the "world's first true electric vehicle with extended range"—and they're luxury cars, to boot. This month the company opened its first Toronto showroom, employing one staffer, with its Fisker of Toronto location at the Shops of Don Mills.

General manager Michael Cornacchia says that so far, customers have been very impressed to see the two models on display.

"It's been very positive. We've got a good mix of people, and I think they're just excited to see a car dealership in the mall," says Cornacchia. All Fisker vehicles are custom-made; Toronto customers can expect delivery within three months of ordering.

The cars boast high-end sedan performance with low energy consumption: "It can travel from  zero to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds," states the news release, "yet was recently given an astonishing emissions rating of just 51g/km CO2 by the TUV [an independent European inspection agency] and a 112mpg equivalency rating."

Shops of Don Mills marketing representative Lauren Genz says the Fisker location was a natural fit with the mall's concept. "It's a good pairing. We're re-thinking the retail experience and they're re-thinking cars as a sustainable luxury product."

The Fisker Karma—that's the model Justin Bieber got on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for his 18th birthday—will sell for $102,000 when it becomes available in the coming weeks.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Michael Cornacchia, Fisker of Toronto; Lauren Genz, Shops of Don Mills

Karan Walia was working at his cousin's startup company GoClean—a waterless car-washing product that hit it big on the CBC program Dragon's Den and wound up in Canadian Tire stores—when he was struck by inspiration.

"I realized while I was there that it was a big inconvenience to drivers to go out to the car wash, and they'd often spend a lot of time there waiting in line," he says. "And most car washes use an average of 300 litres of clean drinking water, while our waterless process uses less than 170 millilitres, so there are major eco-benefits."

The resulting company, launched last week in Mississauga, is Washly, a service that allows people to park their cars in a publicly accessible spot, call or check in online using a computer or smartphone, and have experienced car detailers arrive to wash their car using the waterless system.

Walia, the company CEO, and his business partner, CTO Aysar Khalid, have financed the project themselves. "I guess in the startup world they'd say we're bootstrapping," Walia says. They work with six licensees, experienced car detailers, who do the washing. Walia says that in the first week demand has been high—they're already planning their expansion.

"We're getting a lot of calls from people in Toronto, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, so the demand is there," he says. "We're moving quickly to offer our service in Toronto by mid-April."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Karan Walia, CEO, Washly

"It's been a big week for us," says InGamer Sports co-founder Nic Sulsky. The MaRS-assisted Toronto startup announced March 14 that it had closed its first funding round and landed former NBC sports digital head Rick Wolf as executive vice-president. Both moves position the company for widespread growth as it launches its products in the US market this September.

As reported by Yonge Street in 2010 and 2011, the company has bootstrapped its way to growth since launching in time for the 2010 hockey playoffs. The InGamer platform allows sports fans to engage in online, real-time fantasy sports contests while watching live events. After growing steadily in Canada and internationally through partnerships with sports television networks, Sulsky says the recent developments position the company to rapidly grow.

"This was huge. The funding allows us to focus on the big picture now, which is a monstrous opportunity to grow. And Rick, with his reputation south of the border, his experience in fantasy sports companies and his background in broadcasting, validates our vision. This allows us to take the next steps to take our $1 million to become a $100 million company," says Sulsky. "And then, of course, on to turning  it into a $1 billion-dollar company."

The team at InGamer has steadily grown, from the two founders to 11 staff today. Sulsky says they continue to hire developers to add to their team.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Nic Sulsky, InGamer Sports

Over the past year, innovative Queen-and-Spadina-based startup Shiny Ads has raised more than $1.36 million in capital and added two new staff members to its team, bringing its total number of employees to six.

Launched in January, 2010, the service offers an automated self-serve way for media companies to accept and serve small advertisers on online and mobile platforms. The company had grown to four staff by last March, when president Roy Pereira says the company raised $470,000 in capital to finance growth in a round led by Intertainment Media, Maple Leaf Angels and York Angels. That private fundraising triggered a $197,500 loan from the federal government agency FedDev Ontario. Pereira says that after receiving the money from FedDev, the company hired two new sales staff—bringing its sales team to three—to kick-start growth.

"We have subsequently raised another round this January of $700,000" from the original three private investors, Pereira says.

The next step is hiring two more software engineers.

"Our pipeline is better than it has ever been and we are closing larger premium publishers," says Pereira. "Overall, that gets us into a better place for a larger financing round later this year that will allow us to grow even faster."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Roy Pereira, President, Shiny Ads

Mississauga's Research Innovation Commercialization (RIC) Centre announced the launch of its VentureStart program last week. The program will help entrepreneurs and innovators in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon launch their businesses with training and matching seed financing grants of up to $30,000.

In announcing the program, Pam Banks, executive director of the RIC Centre, said "it adds another dimension to our services in helping emerging entrepreneurs shorten the path to market success." The RIC Centre was launched in 2008 to support and incubate innovative businesses in the Peel region, and claims to have since helped more than 150 companies get their start; RIC stats show 46 per cent of those companies have gone on to find funding.

VentureStart got its own seed financing from the federal government, which provided a grant of just under $5 million to launch the program. Gary Goodyear, the minister in charge of FedDev, said that fostering innovation through grants like this one will lead to new jobs and a higher quality of life.

"How do we improve lives, create jobs and economic growth? Innovation. Our government recognizes the importance of investing in the ideas of graduates and providing them with the skills necessary to become innovators and successful entrepreneurs," Goodyear said in his statement. "Because innovation is about finding a solution to a problem, taking that idea and bringing it to market and getting it adopted by customers."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Stephanie Thomas, office of Gary Goodyear; RIC Centre

Futurestate IT, an Entertainment District-based company that was recently named one of the 10 Canadian Cloud Companies to Watch, has secured $1.5 million in financing from government and private investors to finance its growth.

One third of the money will come from FedDev Ontario, the federal government's regional economic development agency, through its Investing in Business Innovation initiative. The remaining investment is shared by the MaRS innovation incubator and the angel investors of the Maple Leaf Angels investor group.

Futurestate IT CEO, CTO and founder Alex Topitsch says he has been working in IT consulting for about 15 years, and founded Futurestate two years ago specifically to help companies solve the problems of migrating existing data and software to new operating systems with a custom software product. The company's AppRx software is the first cloud-based automatic solution for migration to new operating systems.

In two years, the company has grown to employ 14 staff. The capital injection from FedDev and the other investors will help fuel expansion, Topitsch says.

"Really, it helps us expand into the US, and that's really where we're going to make out mark," he says, saying the financing will allow the hiring of US sales staff and developers to enhance the product line. Topitsch expects the staff to reach 22 by the end of the year.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Alex Topitsch, CEO and CTO, Futurestate IT; FedDev Ontario

North York-based health technology startup Infonaut's innovative disease surveillance system, Hospital Watch Live, has been generating buzz for a while now—it's been about 18 months since the product was featured in Popular Science magazine, as Yonge Street reported in November 2010. But the system will now be tested in real hospital conditions after Infonaut signed a contract with the University Health Network last month.

After two years of live tests at various hospitals and a full-time simulation at George Brown College, Infonaut CEO Niall Wallace says this 18-month trial will be the "final-stage commercialization test" for the company.

"Innovation is a tough game," he says. "There's invention and then there's innovation. Innovation is when people start paying you for your invention." The system will be tested at Toronto General Hospital in the multi-organ transplant unit. Wallace says Infonaut is very focussed on selling to the US market; hospitals south of the border will be watching results from Toronto General very closely. "It's a very well respected academic and teaching hospital," he says.

The technology is designed to prevent the spread of infectious organisms in hospitals by automating disease surveillance and infection control functions. "Infonaut is the only system that automates and applies these techniques inside the hospital to save money, save lives and create a new gold standard for safety and quality that is driven by evidence and analytics," Wallace said in an announcement. The system tracks the movements of and interactions between patients and staff, while preserving patient privacy, in order to identify chains of transmission and prevent the spread of infections.

In preparation for its final commercialization, the company has been staffing up. Wallace says they've hired five employees in the past 10 weeks, bringing their staff to 12; they continue to hire developers, as well as sales and marketing staff.


Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Niall Wallace, CEO, Infonaut