In The News

Between South by Southwest (SXSW) and Silicon Valley's annual Launch Festival, Toronto startups were all over the news this past week. 

 

SXSW is traditionally known for its music conference, but these past few years its interactive counterpart has been making the headlines. Entrepreneurs and small businesses flock down to Austin, Texas to launch or exhibit their products. Accelerator events have become just as much a part of the draw. This year 48 companies, including one Toronto startup, presented products.

 

Synaptop showcased its cloud-based operating system, an application that allows users "to collaborate on shared documents in real time," says an article in Cantech Letter. Users can also watch movies or listen to music simultaneously.

 

We spotted other Toronto startups in the mix. The Financial Post reported Shopify, ShopLocket and Tunezy all made the trek. 

 

North of 41, a Toronto-based company that aims to help local entrepreneurs by facilitating cross-border discussions, named cloud-based business app Big Picture App the winner of its Best Canadian Startup contest. 

 

Over in Silicon Valley, MaRS sent ten startups (including its entire winter JOLT accelerator cohort) down to the sold-out LAUNCH Festival to help give these small businesses exposure to potential investors and partners, as well as an opportunity to learn through networking events and various panel discussions. 

 

Included in the mix was InteraXon, chosen from the Demo Pit to demo its brain-sensing headband on stage to the Grand Jury and an audience of 1,500 people. Instaradio and Epilogger also pitched on the main stage, but they weren't the only local representation. The Working Group, Canadian Film Centre, HitSend, Konekt.me, Notesolution, and WeblishPal also attended.  

 

Read the full stories here, here, and here.  

Sources: Financial Post, Cantech Letter, MaRS