If you are going to have a beauty contest (or not), the contestants may as well be good looking, and CIX seems to have delivered. I have to admit that I didn’t even think the list would turn out this well. There is a cross section of everything from startups to companies looking for follow-on rounds.

There has been some debate recently about the value of events like CIX, and I have to admit, I have not been easy on similar events in the past, but I have to say that I think it is time to move on. If you think CIX is all about a bunch of companies getting up and presenting, then you are wrong. I think of CIX more like a DEMO or Techcrunch 50 for the Canadian community, and that is something we need.

More than that, a lot has changed in the Canadian Startup community in the last year, and this is a chance to start putting more names to faces, and for more shy startups to start coming out of the shadows. It is also a chance for the Venture Capital community to pull back the curtains and start connecting more closely with the community.

We are using the CIX space to put on a second StartupCamp. So if you didn’t get a chance to get your name out there at CIX itself, make sure you put your name in the hat for StartupCamp.

The list of presenting companies was released today, you saw it here first!:

• Accipiter Radar Technologies Inc., Fonthill, ON
• Acquisio, Saint Lambert, PQ
• Akoha Inc., Montreal, PQ
• Big Deal Games Inc., Toronto, ON
• Biosign Technologies Inc., Toronto, ON
• Blueprint Software Systems, Toronto, ON
• Brainpark, Inc, Toronto, ON
• CellWand Communications, Toronto, ON
• Coveo, Quebec City, PQ
• Digital Payment Technologies Corp., Burnaby, BC
• dthree Inc., Mississauga, ON
• HomeZilla, Toronto, ON
• Kaben Wireless Silicon Inc., Ottawa, ON
• Mobidia, Inc., Vancouver, BC
• Octopz, Toronto, ON
• Planeteye Inc., Toronto, ON
• Redwood Technologies, Calgary, AB
• Spatial View Inc., Toronto, ON
• Standout Jobs, Inc., Montreal, PQ
• Streametrics Corporation Inc., Montreal, PQ