• Startup Drinks is happening after DemoCamp on Jan 27 http://bit.ly/8273E2 #toronto #startups #social #
• Myths of the entrepreneur as risk taker. http://bit.ly/4XJ7pN #
• RT @RICCentre: Breakfast session on Angel and VC financing in Canada! Register at http://bit.ly/2zgCH9 #
• RT @bwertz: Speaking at the Angel Investing workshop in Vancouver today and hope to recruit more angels for BC #
• RT @CVCACanada: Proud sponsors of the next-gen of entrepreneurs: The Business Plan Competition adVenture 2010 http://bit.ly/7gJy7u #
• RT @danmartell: "Canadians are dangerous cause they can really drink." @bfeld on #twist http://bit.ly/8WnqQ8 #startupvisa #
• I'm at #TMTPred2010 all the usual suspects are here though I'm surprised to see @pkedrosky in the flesh #
• "What do entrepreneurs flock to loudmouths as mentors?" http://bit.ly/8LrsVI #mentorship < be selective #
• RT @DeloitteCanada: OH @BostonCigar "Government get out of the damn way" #TMTPred2010 #
• congratulations @TechCapital @GrowthWorks invest in Bering Media http://bit.ly/8U6rzp #toronto #startups #
• RT @jimmurphy: @bwat Wrote about this http://bit.ly/1C3zvC Sec 116 is largest single & fixable problem to Cdn innovation #TMTPred2010 #
• it is raining money. @ecobee raises $6.73 million from @techcapital, JLA, OETF http://bit.ly/8rnKGl #
• wow, Ottawa-based Tomoye has been bought by Newsgator http://bit.ly/6dfBb5 http://bit.ly/7kurbX #canada #acquisition #startup #
• Halifax HackerSpace looking at starting up. Developer developers developers! http://bit.ly/7GTP2L #
• RT @startupcfo: Post: What can go wrong? http://bit.ly/8q5AWs #
• VanEdge scores EA as an LP http://bit.ly/73U7iu #vancouver #vc #gaming #
• RT @bwertz: Great news for Vancouver & congrats to Paul Lee! RT @techvibes: Electronic Arts to invest in VanEdge Capital http://su.pr/1ArfKl #
• New job posted: Community Co-ordinator / Totally ADD / Mississauga, ON, Canada http://bit.ly/5DtBmM #
• RT @aliasaria: Reminder: TieQuest 2010 submissions for Canadian startups is soon — entry deadline Jan 30. http://bit.ly/6Kl4m8 #

Having learned the ropes as Directors of Sales at Sandvine, cofounders Michael Ho and Nicolas St-Pierre set out to develop technology enabling the delivery of hyperlocal geo-targeted online advertising.

With a major pilot customer signed on and patent-pending privacy architecture, Bering Media has now secured Series A financing from Tech Capital, GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund, and the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund.

Congratulations to the Bering Media team on the raise as well as Tech Capital for successfully bringing in the OETF on this deal, the first co-investment from the $250M fund.

• RT @phankinson: Tether is now the #1 top paid application on BlackBerry AppWorld (on the BlackBerry)… That was quick! #
• Just had my butt handed to me in squash a 6 games in a row . . . #
• RT @tpurves: Pssst it's Live! CommunityLend Canada's social-lending bank killer is now alive http://bit.ly/7VLgJE < congrats! #
• RT @sgblank Victory From Adversity: http://wp.me/prGQZ-1cm #
• RT @RobOstfield: We're excited to announce that @Jordan_Banks Thunder Road Capital has made an investment in @andpop http://bit.ly/4ZEg67 #
• RT @startupcfo Blog Post: Internet Sector Funding Report http://bit.ly/5Wbv1L #startups #funding #internet #
• RT @thoughtfarmer screenshots of ThoughtFarmer 3.6 on Flickr: http://bit.ly/5ffTLu. #thoughtfarmer #3.6 #launchday #
• Why @HubSpot won't exhibit at Tradeshows & Events anymore? http://bit.ly/6TwkUx #marketing #metrics #
• RT @RICCentre: Raising capital from local angels & VCs? Breakfast session on Jan 20th! Visit http://bit.ly/74KGfx #peelregion #gta #
• RT @suziedingwall: Exit trends: earn-out provisions are used ~100% of the time to deal w/ gaps in perceived value between startup & acquiror #
• RT @bwertz @TechFlash: Amazing list of Seattle startups started by RealNetworks alumni http://bit.ly/4ZawJq #fairchildren #
• RT @rayluk: Meeting with @RogersVentures this morning < this is a powerhouse meeting #
• RT @sgblank: A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company: http://wp.me/prGQZ-1du #
• RT @leilaboujnane iStockphoto & Photoshelter fully integrated in TinEye index! Attribution is your friend http://bit.ly/6I4ARm Go #TinEye #
• RT @rhh New post: Organization – The Shareholder Agreement: http://bit.ly/8x7LJk #
• RT @jacquimurphy *Drumroll !* RT @postrank: Announcing the PostRank Top Blogs of 2009! http://bit.ly/5syOxx http://bit.ly/4X8jb0 #
• RT @mastermaq @CityofEdmonton: Microsoft highlighting the great work the #yegdata team is doing http://bit.ly/5lJVRi! #
• RT @VCMike: New Blog Post: The Product Guy Myth http://bit.ly/7i0aJm #

I was reading Curbed.com’s Lockhart Steele’s presentation on Ten Things Happening on the New York Tech Scene in ’10 and I thought we shouldn’t be left out. So I started to compile a list of things that I’ve been tracking about the Canadian tech scene leading in to 2010.

So here’s my list of what’s going on in the Canadian tech startup scene in no particular order (and I know I’ve a few things like cloud with enomaly and vm6). I probably need to do a little more analysis to get this down to a regional analysis, i.e., Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Waterloo, Calgary, Vancouver.

What else did I miss?

10. The Changing Funding environment

• Quebec moneys begin to flow, I’m looking at your Roger Chabra at Rho Ventures and Chris Arsenault at iNovia and others
• New entrant: Rogers Ventures
• New class of angels with @wmediaventures and Boris Wertz and Jordan Banks at Thunder Road Capital
• Emerging incubators/accelerators: Flow Ventures, Basecamp Partners, Extreme Ventures, Bootup Labs, Montreal Startup

9. Existing Players aka the Big Guys

• FreshBooks
• Idee
• Dayforce
• Rypple
• Well.ca
• RedFlagDeals

8. Open Data

• City of Vancouver
• City of Toronto
• City of Edmonton
• David Eaves
• Mark Kuznicki

7. Social Analytics

• Kontagent
• Sysomos
• Radian6
• PostRank
• KeenKong
• HootSuite
• SWIX
• Peerset

6. Social Gaming

• SocialDeck
• TallTree Games
• Uken Games
• HitGrab
• Social Game Universe
• Pug Pharm
• GameON Finance

5. Social Media Channels and Advertising Networks

• ShinyAds
• AdParlor
• Deqq
• Glassbox.TV

4. Real-time data and analysis

• Thoora
• Eqentia
• ScribbleLive
• CoverItLive
• Metranome

3. Mobile

• PolarMobile
• FixMo
• Viigo
• Zoompass
• PhoneGap

2. Blogs

• StartupNorth
• TechVibes
• Bootup Labs
• Rick Segal
• StartupCFO (thanks Geoff, can’t believe I left Mark off the list)
• Ben Yoskovitz’s Instigator Blog
• StartupOttawa
• Mondoville
• The Mark News

1. Social Places

• Centre for Social Innovation, Toronto
• Bootup Labs, Vancouver
• The Code Factory, Ottawa
• Communitech & Velocity, Waterloo

After a few years and a handful of blog posts, I am at a loss for words other than to say I am glad things are finally rolling and CommunityLend is open for business in Ontario (for accredited investors).

Similar services have both thrived and suffered in the United States in the last 2 years. They have been occasionally targeted by regulators. Prosper.com for example is currently in a “quiet period“,

CommunityLend has taken a much different tact here in Canada however, and they chose to work with regulators rather than taking a litigious approach. In the end the hope is that this will mean a more stable and compliant environment for peer-to-peer lending in Canada.

• Alberta innovates innovation through innovation http://bit.ly/5Q2k9Q #
• RT @Desix Nice article about pricing models – gets you thinking in the right way if nothing else: http://bit.ly/4qX792 #
• New job posted: Marketing Manager / Kryptiva inc. / Sherbrooke, QC, Canada http://bit.ly/860yks #
• Great opportunity for an Entrepreneur-In-Residence in Vancouver with @bwertz http://bit.ly/69gEE5 #consumer #internet #ventures #
• The Innovation Age Bias at Sequoia Capital http://bit.ly/8j2ECn Innovator <30 while us old folk, >30 are ok for management #
• RT @CVCACanada VC's on the move: @rogerchabra moves from GrowthWorks Capital to Rho Canada (Rho Ventures) #
• Pre-launch marketing for stealthy startups http://bit.ly/6QTGXM by @aprildunford #marketing #
• #DemoCamp Toronto 25 – Silver Anniversary Edition with @gchahal + @albertupdates http://bit.ly/4BCRCm on Jan 27, 2010 #dct25 #
• RT @afrognthevalley: StartupCamp Québec City all day event January 19th 2010 (I'm planning on attending) – # bit.ly/7THzFC #startups #canada #
• Apps4good gets some press! http://bit.ly/7VsbPL #
• RT @innovacorp: Recession is over ! Or is it ? http://innovacorp.ca/bob-recession #
• RT @phankinson: In case you missed it, TetherBerry is now Tether and is now for sale on BlackBerry App World: http://bit.ly/4Gi1hq #
• RT @leilaboujnane: in case you missed it: In addition to the 66 million images added to TinEye in Dec, we added 25 million today. #TinEye #
• Is entrepreneurship a management sciences? http://bit.ly/800XDI by @ericreis on @HarvardBiz #
• RT @camlinke: DemoCamp Edmonton 10 set for January 27th. See you there! http://bit.ly/8A5jpd #democampyeg #democamp #yeg #
• RT @bwertz: Congrats, well deserved! RT @maurar: Way to go @invoker! @HootSuite Raises $1.9M For Social Media Dashboard: http://tr.im/JPM6 #
• RT @propelict: How to Protect Directors on Your Startup’s Board – Startups often desire to shield members of their board http://ow.ly/16ixlV #

Are you curious about what being a startup is really about? Do you think there are too many events in Toronto?

“Being in the community is important to you, but being in front of your customers is what is important to your startup.” -  Jevon MacDonald

Well, we’re trying to help connect entrepreneurs, designers, developers and others interested in starting new high potential growth companies. Why? Check out Paul Graham’s What Startups Are Really Like. In particular, 17. The Value of Community. We’re trying to create a peer group, people that are facing similar obstacles in creating new tech, software, mobile, social Internet startups.

“One of the most surprising things I saw was the willingness of people to help us. Even people who had nothing to gain went out of their way to help our startup succeed…The surprise for me was how accessible important and interesting people are. It’s amazing how easily you can reach out to people and get immediate feedback.” – comments on What Startups Are Really Like

I want a vibrant, connected, accessible community of founders, investors, advisors and others in Canada. And I’m not alone. There are great communities across the country in Ottawa, Montreal, Waterloo, Guelph, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver (and be sure to check out StartupDrinks).  Here’s what we’re doing locally:

1. Consider attending DemoCamp Toronto # 25 on January 27, 2010.
2. Are you looking for a social opportunity to connect with the individuals that fund high potential growth startups in Canada? You should consider applying to attend Founders & Funders on February 15, 2010.
3. StartupEmpire is happening on May 20, 2010. Stay tuned for details.

So it’s not about partying, but it is about finding others facing similar challenges and those that might be able to help your startup.

I hope you decide to participate.

• 10 Things you can learn from Lady Gaga http://bit.ly/7FsooZ #
• New job posted: Business Development Lead / Assetize / Toronto, ON, Canada http://bit.ly/87c5gf #
• Great coverage of @CommunityLend in the Financial Post http://bit.ly/55tg9t #toronto #startups #
• True Growth Capital never takes a holiday – http://bit.ly/8l1mee #
• What's the right amount of seed money to raise? by @cdixon http://bit.ly/6cn5Uj #startups #fundraising #