StartupNorth

Category: Canada

  • Clark Kent works at CPPIB


    AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved photo by Greenog

    By now you have heard Microsoft is purchasing Skype for $8.5B, a company which was spun out from eBay in 2009 for $2.75B. In 18 months nearly $6B of value was created for investors, many of whom are Canadian pensioners. Faster than a speeding bullet, a courageous $300M investment in Skype has turned into nearly $1.1B. I for one would like to know who to thank at CPPIB.

    This is not an apples to apples comparison, but the Skype investment tops the results of every fund CPPIB has invested in. If one factored in IRR this deal would blow everyone out of the water. Other Canadian pension funds are ramping up venture funds (e.g. INKEF). Wonderful news given the paucity of capital available in the Canadian ecosystem, however I would argue that Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and Index Ventures were important stakeholders – so perhaps what we’re really looking at is the Fantastic Four. It follows that Canadian LPs should concurrently invest into independent funds who will source opportunities and ensure alignment with entrepreneurs.

    CPPIB Returns

  • Natural Resources


    AttributionNoncommercial Some rights reserved photo by Chealion

    Ask a miner “What is Canada’s most precious natural resource?” and you’ll be sure to stump. The answer is easy… Canadians.

    One of the tricks to Silicon Valley’s winning streak is that they back not only repeat entrepreneurs, but repeat teams. Just like one of those wonderful chocolate fountains you occasionally fortune upon at weddings, Silicon Valley recycles people. A team forms, builds a successful enterprise, people move on to try some new things, and projects that find traction attract back the core crew.

    Is Canada effectively recycling people? Think long and hard, because if we aren’t the fountain is drying up – end of the party. I can name a handful who have ventured abroad and returned: John Green (@johnphilipgreen), Malgosia Green (@HeyGosia), Dan Morel (@dpmorel), Farhan Thawar (@fnthawar), David Crow (@davidcrow), Jeese Rasch, Zak Homuth (@zakhomuth)… the list goes on, but it could be longer. Maybe our friend Howard Lindzon (@howardlindzon) will start his next company in Canada?

    What is bringing them back? Visa issues, sometimes. Spouses, more often. Schools for children, okay I’ll take it. But it would be much better if what brought our best and brightest home was opportunity. And the crazy part is, it is knocking. We have a safe multicultural inclusive country, close to major markets, with investment matching funds up the wazoo, and here is the most beautiful part – our nation is brimming with high caliber engineers (who are getting scooped up by Twitter, Facebook, and Google as you read this post).

    Part of the challenge is funding. Canadian entrepreneurs are picking up and moving to New York, San Francisco, Boston, Boulder, and even Santiago (yes you read that right, Chile – in the southern hemisphere) for minuscule sums of seed financing so they can focus 100% on their startups vs their day jobs. Just ask Ken Seville (@civisidedotcom).

    Myopic policies might attempt to discourage cross border exits, which are vital and create deep new linkages. Instead what we need to learn is that the opportunity is keeping the founders engaged once they head for warmer climates. I can guarantee, foreign direct investment will not thrive in the absence of results. To generate returns we need to recycle teams.

    I am particularly excited about a handful of intiatives that address this gap including: Toronto Homecoming, C100, and Startup Visa. Let’s find ways to support their efforts.

  • The VeloCity Venture Fund

    Some rights reserved Photo by Thomas Hawk
    AttributionNoncommercial Some rights reserved by Thomas Hawk

    Remember Ted Livingston’s insanely great donation to UW VeloCity, well it looks like it is being put to good use. The VeloCity team announced The Velocity Venture Fund. The University of Waterloo and the team at VeloCity are working to put that capital to use for students in the VeloCity residence. It looks like they are both testing their ideas (love this) to make sure students are interested before the full launch of a fund. They are running a contest for UWaterloo students that provides a seed grant of $25,000 + office space + incorporation.

    It’s pretty cool. I am hoping to learn more about the Fund that is launching in the fall. Jesse Rodgers is a huge asset to UW.

    What does this first version of the funding contest look like?

    • A hack weekend followed by a pitch night where 5 teams are selected and given $500
    • Those 5 teams come back in a month or so and have a chance to compete for $25 000 + incorporation + office space on their next co-op work term or following term (so for spring that will be fall)
    • That is all.

    To qualify for the competition:

    • A current student at the University of Waterloo
    • Do you have to live in VeloCity? No. But it would give you an advantage.

     

  • The Hot Sh!t List

    Some rights reserved by ALL CHROME
    AttributionNoncommercialShare Alike Some rights reserved Photo by ALL CHROME

    There is a lot of crazy young talent kicking around. We’ve seen that great talent that UW Velocity is producing with Ted Livingston(@ted_livingston) at Kik. There are the Christopher (@golda) and Michael (@michaelmontano) at BackType. There is the stupidly awesome team at Extreme Venture Partners (@avarma, @fnthawar, @sundeep).

    I thought I’d throw together a quick list of designers, developers and entrepreneurs that are young, hot, kicking ass and taking names. There is an amazing amount of talent in Canada. And this is who I’m watching because they are hot sh!t.

    1. Dan McGrady (@dmix, LinkedIn), CareLogger
    2. Kaitlyn MacLachlan (LinkedIn), AskItOnline & Yellow Pages Group
    3. Casper Wong (@wongcasper, LinkedIn), CommunityLend
    4. Jennifer Fong-Adwent (@ednapiranha, LinkedIn), Rocketr
    5. Josh Davey (@joshdavey, LinkedIn), BurstN & Chango
    6. Alex Black (@waterlooalexjo, LinkedIn), SnapSort
    7. Cody Fauser (@codyfauser, LinkedIn), Shopify
    8. Vincent Cheung (@veenix, LinkedIn), ShapeCollage
    9. Wes Bos (@wesbos, LinkedIn), DealPage
    10. Michael Litt (@michaelrlitt, LinkedIn), Vidyard
    11. James Stewart (@JamesStewartUXD, LinkedIn), PostRank & TribeHR
    12. Julie Haché (@juliehache, LinkedIn), Shopify
    13. Duleepa “Dups” Wijayawardhana (@dups, LinkedIn), EmpireAvenue
    14. Joseph Fung (@josephfung, LinkedIn), TribeHR
    15. Andrew Peek (@drupeek, LinkedIn), Rocketr
    16. Simon Law (@sfllaw, LinkedIn), TrustCentric
    17. Eric Diep (@ediep, LinkedIn), A Thinking Ape
    18. James Blair (@jamesblair, LinkedIn)
    19. Edward Ocampo-Gooding (@edwardog, LinkedIn), Shopify
    20. Satish Kanwar (@skanwar, LinkedIn), Jet Cooper
    21. Jesse Miller (@jesse_miller, LinkedIn), Attachments.me
    22. Josh Merchant (@joshmerchant, LinkedIn), Lymbix
    23. Boris Chan (@borisc, LinkedIn), XtremeLabs
    24. Tyler Galpin (@TylerGalpin, LinkedIn)

    This list is incomplete

    I am completely aware that this list is incomplete. But who are the tastemakers that are building the next generation of emerging technology companies that no one knows about in Canada. Help me find great talents that are under 40 (this is irrelevant, who are the entrepreneurs, designers and developers that are shaping things) and based in Canada.

    [gravityform id=3 name=HotShit List Nomination ajax=true]

  • Entrepreneurship as a career path

    F1 in SchoolsI am a huge F1 racing fan. And I was impressed to see a group of Ontario high school students participating in F1 in Schools at the Ontario Science Centre. It is an amazing concentrated effort to bring together partners and create an educational program for the succession of the people that keep Formula 1 teams building new innovations (that in turn inthrall an audience). The program is a multi-disciplinary challenge for students aged 9 to 19 years to design, build and race gas powered balsa wood F1 cars. What a great opportunity to build the next generation of engineers and designers that are interested in 3-D manufacturing, CAD/CAM, computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, engineering, etc. It provides a training ground to ensure that Formula 1 teams have an educated talent pool with practical experience and excitement.

    It has started me wondering about the role we play in exciting the next generation of entrepreneurs. I remember reading that career choices are made by Grade 11 (source needed, I think it was in discussion around STEM careers and girls in IT from the Microsoft DigiGirlz program however I  am not able to find the reference). Much of the work and research seems focused on increasing the number of girls that choose Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

    In the US there is the work of the Kauffman Foundation that supports entrepreneurship through education, training, policy development and other activities.

    “The Kauffman Foundation is working to further understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, to advance entrepreneurship education and training efforts, to promote entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and to better facilitate the commercialization of new technologies by entrepreneurs and others, which have great promise for improving the economic welfare of our nation.”

    I really like how the Kauffman Foundation has divided up their Entrepreneurship Track: Youth Entrepreneurship; Minority Entrepreneurship; Higher Education; Capital, Markets and Economics; Knowledge, Training and Networks and Global Entrepreneurship. This division allows for the creation of programs, grants and offerings that support different strategic needs of each group.

    Communitech

    I am really impressed with the efforts of the team at Communitech. They are doing a great job building the programs, partnerships, and policy work that supports the efforts of Waterloo Region. They have identified the gap left by many of the University focused programs like UW Velocity and Impact, by building and supporting the activities to attract and engage students before they make their post secondary decision. Communitech delivers programs like:

    It is great to see that Waterloo Region really has an institution that is dedicated to supporting technology companies and startups. And is developing the necessary programs to interest kids in making STEM education and career choices. It shouldn’t be a surprise given that UWaterloo has a pioneered cooperative education program that revolutionizes the career experiences available to students.

    There are other programs available that typically focus on post-secondary students We have programs like the:

    I wonder who outside of Communitech (and maybe BCIC on the west coast) working on programs that support the development of entrepreneurship careers. Are there good global examples of entrepreneurship education and engagement for middle school or high school kids? Where can find other examples of what is working?

    Some rights reserved Photo by Terriko
    AttributionNoncommercialShare Alike Some rights reserved by Terriko

    What programs can startups take advantage to find talent possibly with subsidies (yeah I can’t believe I’m saying that) to help develop the next generation of founders. The Government of Canada – Canada Business has a list of Grants, Contributions & Financial Assistance that is a great starting point for getting access.

    What would be beneficial to startups is an agency that actively matches students and funding programs with my current business needs and stage of corporate development. Rather than relying on me to change my focus from product development, customer development, sales and marketing to educational program participation. It would be great if there was an member-driven organization like Communitech that was focused on making these programs accessible to me.

    Maker Faire

    I want to see programs like Maker Faire (check out the mini-Maker Faire on May 7-8, 2011), Ace Canada Student Entrepreneur Competition, Ivey Business Plan Competition, Moot Corporation, Extreme University, etc. The hard part is how to increase startup participation in the growth, development and refinement of the talent and ideology without distracting founders from their missions to build successful businesses.

    Who, how and what should be done to continue to build a culture starting with middle school and high school students to help encourage entrepreneurship as a career path? What do other startups want to see? I’m interested in hearing from John MacRitchie (@jmacritchie), Anand Agarwala (@anandx), Scott Pelton (@spelton), Brian Sharwood (@bsharwood), Lauren Friese (@LaurenFriese), Danny Robinson (@dannyrobinson) and others.

  • Housecleaning and what’s next for StartupNorth

    We have a little house cleaning to do here. We are starting to pick up the pace with posts but we are still missing a lot of good stuff. A lot of it gets posted to our Twitter account but since we stopped the Weekly Reading posts, many of you are missing those.

    • First off it is worth mentioning that things seem to be heating up in Waterloo, Toronto and Montreal. We are seeing acquisitions picking up pace and I think that will continue for the next year at least. The overall level of activity in these cities has been staggering
    • We are tracking almost a dozen “any day now” acquisitions and look forward to posting them. Of course we are a very discreet bunch so we don’t make a peep in advance. Some people could learn from us on that front I think.
    • So while things are really taking off in those cities, I am wondering what is happening everywhere else? Where is the action in Edmonton, Vancouver, Halifax, Calgary, Ottawa and Quebec City? Let’s get more of the great stories from those cities told.
    • Congrats to Lymbix on closing a financing with Growthworks Atlantic. That is $1.35m more in for a total of almost $4million in. Growthworks continues to be a source of needed capital in Canada and they continue to play in places others don’t seem to have an appetite for. Thanks guys.

    We have some very cool things in the pipe. Taking on sponsorship has helped us reinvest in StartupNorth and we owe a big thanks to KPMG and VMFarms for that. We have two very cool changes on the way and the result will be a very different StartupNorth. We think there is a lot of great content out there for Canadian startups now. The news and events that never used to get coverage are all well reported on both via blogs and twitter.

    I see our role changing to focus more on:

    • Direct support. We are going to focus more on connecting great startups with the right resources. There are a lot of great folks who have reached out to us over the years who are willing to help out and we think it is time to take them up on their offer.
    • Advocacy. Startups are not on the economic or political radar in Canada. It is sad and we think there are some things we can do to change that. Our activities will piss some people off and will hopefully inspire others. Either way, are going for broke.
    • Data. To advocate for startups you need a clear picture of what is happening. We have some very cool updates coming to StartupIndex and we hope it will be a powerful tool for the entire community.
    • Events. Grassroots events off the beaten path. It’s what we are good at and we hope to do more.

    That’s it for now.

     

  • Coradiant acquired by BMC software

    On the heels of yesterday’s acquisition of Tungle, BMC Software has announced today that they have acquired Montreal’s Coradiant, which was co-founded by Year One Labs partner Alistair Croll. We are happy that Montreal has managed to win something in the last few days.

    The price is currently undisclosed, but the back of the napkin calculation tells me this was a monster one. Probably not as large as the recent Radian6 exit, but sources put this acquisition well in to the 9-figures territory.

    This has been a long time in the making as Coradiant’s founding goes back to 1997 when Alistair Croll and Eric Packman founded NetworkShop.

  • Riding the rails to Waterloo

    Go Train 614 - Photo by Danielle Scott
    CC BY-SA 2.0 Some rights reserved by Danielle Scott

    Why isn’t there a commuter train from Toronto to Waterloo? Ok, you might ask actually ask why Toronto doesn’t have a train from downtown to the airport but let’s leave that for a conversation with more educated politicians and policy wonks.

    I’ve spent this morning with startups in Waterloo, hanging out with people at the Communitech Hub, UW Velocity, and a crazy number of super awesome startups (TribeHR, vidyard, 17 muscles, Footloose Games, Willet, Cyborg Trading Systems, Will PWN 4 Food and others). I left Toronto at 6:15am to avoid traffic and be in Waterloo before 8am for my first meeting. The drive was approximately 116 km and took approximately 90 minutes (arrived at 7:52am). I couldn’t help think about why there isn’t a train. The distance is just a little more than SF to San Jose (~74km) and double SF to Palo Alto (~51.5km). I can get a Caltrain from San Francisco to Palo Alto or San Jose.

    Waterloo - Early Stage Companies

    If the assumption is that UWaterloo is a top ranking university (possibly my alumni delusions that cause me to overlook UWaterloo’s non-placement on Times Higher Education rankings). And with more startups like Kik raising money with powerhouses like OpenText, RIM, MKS and Christie Digital. There are less reason for students to have to leave the reason. It makes it more attractive to rent an apartment for the year and stay in Waterloo to manage your costs on your coop program.

    Maybe the argument is that the capital is better spent on more programs for entrepreneurs or road infrastructure. But it seems that one of the greatest assets to the Toronto startup community (UW Coop students and graduates) are disconnected by public transportation. I wonder what my UW alumni brethren like Farhan Thawar (@fnthawar), John Green (@johnphilipgreen), Amar Varma (@extremevp),  Brydon Gillis (@brydon), Ali Asaria (@aliasaria), Razor Suleman (@iloverewards), Kunal Gupta (@kunalfrompolar) think about the need for better connections between Waterloo (assuming a stop in Guelph) and Toronto.

  • Pushlife acquired by Google

    Details are still emerging but it sounds like another Toronto company has been acquired by the GOOG. We’ve been hearing that the purchase price is close to $25MM, hopefully that’s Canadian Dollars this week and not US Dollars.

    The Pushlife web is currently down. But you can see 10 employees listed on the Company Page on LinkedIn including CEO and Founder Ray Reddy. Ray (@raymondreddy) hasn’t updated his Twitter since December 2010.

    t1m's Tweet

    This makes Pushlife the 3rd Toronto company acquired by Google (Bumptop and SocialDeck being the other two).

     

     

  • Startup Festival coming to Montreal – Why it’s important

    I know that David just posted about the upcoming Startup Festival, but I thought I would add my own thoughts:

    I have definitely been getting the feeling that the whole “startup conference” format is getting a little stale. The same formats in the same cities with most of the same speakers. The real benefit of any conference, the ability to spend time with smart people, is still enough of an incentive to keep us coming back.

    So when Philippe told me about what he is working on for the Startup Festival in Montreal, I needed a minute to re-set my thinking. When I did that however, it was clear that this would be something new.

    The announced lineup is looking great so far, but that is not the really exciting part. The entire format of the event will be much more fluid and engaging than a typical 1-2 track conference agenda.

    Philippe is engaging with the community and opening up the event as a platform for other groups to throw in and create their own events and activities during that time. We (the royal We – Startupnorth) are looking in to doing our own event one evening.

    I am excited about an event that is focused on openness and a shared sense of purpose with the community.