StartupNorth

Category: Competitions

  • CIX 2010 Submission Deadline

    Canadian Innovation ExchangeThis is your friendly neighbourhood startup spider reminder that the Early Bird Tickets and Submissions to Canada’s Most Innovative Company competition are due tomorrow on October 1, 2010.The 2009 winner was CognoVision and we’ve written about the finalists in the past. The goal is to provide value to all of the finalists and submission. Canadian companies in ICT, Cleantech and Digital Media are encouraged to Submit Your Profile!

    How are companies chosen?

    Companies are evaluated by a selection committee agains 4 criteria. Basically it’s the same stab in the dark we all make when picking investments. One of the key criteria is traction, i.e., there are more mid-to-later stage companies. But it’s less about company age and more about state of corporate development. There’s a preference to companies that are able to demonstrate traction (think customers, intellectual property, partnerships, etc.).

    • Quality of Innovation
    • Market Potential / Viability
    • Management / Industry Experience
    • Competitive Positioning

    Who does the choosing?

    Check out the 2009 selection committee, they are some of the most respected folks in the Canadian VC, academic and business circles. The list includes folks like:

    The team at Achilles Media has been extremely receptive to entrepreneur and community feedback. They have made changes to the submission process, the ticketing for finalists, and continue to try to evolve the program and benefits for submitting companies to up the value. The realization is that media exposure is a small part of the benefit to the CIX Finalists. They are doing a great job to make CIX participation a valuable decision for Canadian companies. The best part, if you have an idea about what would make CIX more valuable to you, send it to the Achilles Media team they are open to making things better. Make sure you check out the 2010 program and think about an Early Bird ticket.

    The first step is to Submit Your Profile!

  • The Next 36

    The Next 36The Next 36 is a new program at the University of Toronto that “aims to transform Canada’s most promising undergraduates into high impact entrepreneurs”.  The program is founded by Reza Satchu and Tim Hodgson. Mr. Satchu was the founder of SupplierMarket which sold to Ariba in 2000 (for a reported $581MM) and founder of StorageNow Holdings sold to InStorage REIT. SupplierMarket was a Sequoia Capital company and was eventually acquired for approximately $581MM. Mr. Hodgson was CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada and is connected on the finance and banking side.

    The program is aimed at identifying 36 high potential undergraduate students that are in entrepreneurship. It provides a program that includes:

    • Personal mentorship from Canada’s top business leaders and entrepreneurs (think Anthony Lacavera, Kevin O’Leary, Nadir Mohammed and others)
    • Support for the development of your own mobile app company
    • Combination of academic theory, business mentorship and practical entrepreneurial experience
    • A powerful peer network with 35 of Canada’s most talented and innovative students
    • $25,000 scholarship for each student selected

    It’s an interesting opportunity to build a mobile application, get a $25,000 scholarship, build the personal network with the most powerful business folks in Canada. It’s an interesting opportunity for the Next 36 team to partner with other local organizations like MEIC long with their existing corporate sponsors.

  • How to prepare for a C100 Mentoring session

    We gearing up for the next 48 Hrs in the Valley here at C100 global HQ. We’ve learned a lot from previous 48 Hrs events so expect a few surprises, to be announced soon.

    But in the meantime, a few dates for you to be aware of:

    • Sept 29: Drop dead deadline for companies to complete the application form
    • Oct 7: Selected companies will be notified
    • Oct 13: First draft of mentor deck due
    • Oct 27-28: 48 Hrs in the Valley

    I know what you’re saying, “What the heck is this Oct 13 deadline? We gotta hand in drafts of our presentations??”

    Short answer: “Yes!”

    The upcoming 48 Hrs will be the C100’s eighth mentoring event and after each one the mentors always told us the same thing, “We wish the companies were more prepared.”

    That is a strange coincidence, because the companies always tell us, “Damn, I wish we were more prepared.”

    Well, the good thing about the C100 mentoring team is you only have to tell us something seven times before we start to take immediate action.

    To make sure everyone feels they are properly prepared, we are asking… nay, demanding… that all companies complete their mentor decks and submit to us by Oct 8 for feedback by our crack team of mentor experts.

    To help you out, here are some useful tips on how to prepare you 48 Hrs mentor deck:

    • Think of the biggest challenge  facing your company and talk about it. What exactly do you want to get mentoring on? (In C100, we call this the “challenge statement” meaning, what is the biggest challenge  facing your company right now)
    • Don’t get bogged down in technology: Mentors want to talk about business issues, not about speeds-and-feeds
    • Don’t talk history: Mentors want to discuss the here and now, the long road you took to reach your current destination probably isn’t relevant
    • Be specific: generic presentations get generic feedback. Drill down into one aspect of your business, describe what is going on, and ask for specific advice and feedback

    Here is a deck template all companies should follow. Your deck shouldn’t be more than nine slides long:

    1)      Executive Summary: Short bullet points what your company does and what is your “challenge statement”

    2)      The Market: Give mentors background on the market your company addresses

    3)      What do you do?: How do you address your chosen market

    4)      Who are your competitors?

    5)      Short background on the team (emphasis on short)

    6)      Financial snapshot including funding, revenues and expenses

    7)      Challenge statement: This is the most important slide of the deck… what issue do you want mentoring on? Be very clear and specific here

    8)      Context: How did this challenge come about? How have you addressed similar challenges in the past

    9)      Importance: Why is addressing this challenge important? What would happen if this challenge was addressed? What would happen if it wasn’t?

    Trust us, follow this template and your mentoring session will be way more valuable than if you didn’t.

    The goal is always to make the mentoring sessions as useful and impactful as possible. So we at C100 will be asking the companies early and often to provide drafts of their decks so we can help ensure they are prepared for the mentoring session and ready to go.

  • StartupCampMontreal – May 6, 2010

    It’s time againg for a road trip to Montreal. Phil Telio and his crew of supporters (John Stokes, Austin Hill and Sylvain Carle) are hosting another must attend startup event in Montreal. The event is shaping up to have 2 components:

    1. Participant-driven Conference – starting at 1pm
    2. Keynote & Pitches – starting at 6pm

    Unconference

    The participant-driven event, aka the “unconference”, is one of the best parts. The idea is that the schedule is determined by the attendees. There will be technologists, lawyers, funders, marketers, designers and others. The question is what do you want to talk about? NoSQL technologies. Mobile implications for social gaming mechanics. Legals of fund raising in Canada without Section 116. I’ve heard that Dave McClure is planning on doing “an exercise in entrepreneurial improv theatre”. I first saw Half-Baked dot com at ETech’07. It’s an incredibly fun engaging way to learn how to quickly build companies, business models and pitches without the constraints usually imposed by making it your own business.

    Keynote & Pitches

    The evening event is essential cocktails and pitches. Highlighting the event is Dave McClure’s keynote.

    Dave McClure Dave McClure has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years as a software developer, entrepreneur, startup advisor, angel investor, blogger, & internet marketing nerd.  Dave currently runs a seed-stage investment program for Founders Fund, and also manages the fbFund REV social incubator.  His passion is helping startups with marketing, product strategy, and startup metrics, and he has been an advisor or investor in more than 40 companies including: Mint.com (acquired by Intuit), SlideShare, Mashery, TeachStreet, KISSmetrics, Simply Hired, Twilio, Bit.ly, UserVoice, and CreditKarma, among others.

    Following the keynote there will 5 pitch/presentation/demo spots. Traditionally StartupCampMontreal presentations have been very pitch focused. I think there is an opportunity for a presenter to really rock this venue. Thing about this as a chance to build demand and generate excitement about your startup. It’s a chance to get feedback about a part of your business. Whether that is your fund raising pitch, your product demo, or other. I’d start by looking at TechCrunch50, Demo, and others for inspiration. You want to win the giveway. Trust me you want to win the giveaway.

    Giveaway

    Geeks on a PlaneThe StartupCampMontreal organizers are giving away a ticket for Geeks on a Plane Asia. What the hell is geeks on a plane? It sounds like a bad movie that stars Samuel Jackson. Playing the role of Samuel Jackson is Dave McClure.  The goal of Geeks on a Plane is a great one. It’s to get you out of your comfort zone. To force entrpreneurs to travel to meet investors, customers, entrepreneurs in other countries, and gain insight and connections that can be used to further your business. It’s a great event in the safety of the company of other geeks like you.

    • Meet startups, geeks, & investors in cities around the world.
    • Learn about trends in internet, mobile, and other tech platforms.
    • Gain insight into local markets, demographics, business models.
    • Meet cool people, new ventures, have fun on planes, trains, buses.

    I’m an entreprenur and this sounds AWESOME! How do I win? You need to apply to present at StartupCampMontreal6. One of the presenting companies will be selected to get some mentoring from Dave McClure and a ticket to travel with Geeks on a Plane.

  • Student Technopreneurship in Alberta

    What is technopreneurship? I’m guessing that it’s technology entrepreneurship. The Government of Alberta Advanced Education and Technology has a program for “young entrepreneurs” (crap, I guess by the Alberta definition I’m now old). The program is a business plan competition run by post secondary education institutions and non-profit community groups. It’s a pretty cool deal to support the existing institutions.

    The program essentially provides $20,000 to winners ($10,000 for high school students) plus “incubation services” and mentorship. I hope the “incubation services” and mentorship are provided without fees to the winners. Though with it looks like some of these services are financed through the Alberta Innovation Voucher Pilot Program, that offered vouchers of up to $10,000 or $50,000 to cover 75% of services by approved service providers. These programs are not directly related, but it does show a preference to a network of approved providers and funding redirection.

    There’s a lot of great things going on in Alberta. How can you fault an organization that links to DemoCamp (BarCampEdmonton) as part of their networking advise for entrepreneurs?  They are venture programs like AVAC Ltd. that are actively investing $79M in Alberta. You can see deals being done like Tynt Multimedia that included Montreal-based iNovia Capital on their latest $5M round, and Calgary-based CoolIT Systems. There is a lot of work with the Alberta Deal Generator, and the Banff Venture Forum that are driving interest and attention. And there are deep entrepreneur led grassroots efforts with STIRR in Calgary and DemoCamp in Edmonton.

  • CIX Top 20 Announced

    cix It’s a very interesting list of Canadian companies selected for the CIX Top 20.

    It’s a great showing for our friends at TechCapital Partners with Metranome, OverlayTV and PostRank in the list. As expected for a conference in Toronto there is strong representation from the the Waterloo-Montreal corridor with only D-Wave System from BC.

    There is a strong focus on software/web services (particularly focused on media) with CognoVision, GlassBOX Television, Metranome, Morega System, Peerset and Overlay TV in the media enablement space. And Dayforce, Enstream, IGLOO, PostRank, and Rypple in the web services space.

    It’s going to be an interesting dog and pony show.

  • New Ventures BC Competition is now open

    new ventures bc competitionNew Ventures BC is a competition for BC startups that has been running since 2003. The competition is open to new companies that have “not yet secured significant financing from “outside investors” (ie. investors other than friends, family, and company founders)”. The competition costs $100 to enter and is open to B.C.-based privately held companies (full eligibility requirements).

    Registration for the 2009 New Ventures BC Competition is now open! Competition deadline is April 20th, 11:59pm.

    REGISTER NOW

    The new 2009 prize structure includes:

    • $120,000 British Columbia Innovation Council First-prize package
    • $63,000 British Columbia Innovation Council Second-prize package
    • $37,000 British Columbia Innovation Council Third-prize package
    • BC Hydro Sustainability $40,000 prize
    • BC Bioenergy Network $20,000 prize
    • British Columbia Innovation Council Economic Impact $20,000 prize

    If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur with a new technology business idea, join us!

    For details and to register for the competition, visit http://www.newventuresbc.com or call 604-725-5740.

    Competition deadline is April 20th.

    The questions and evaluation criteria are very interesting set of metrics for any startup looking to raise money. The questions are not all encompassing, but they are an extremely complete list of the types of discussion that is required during the initial fund raising. Check out Round 2: Feasability Test and Round 3: Venture Plan of the Contest Rules for details about what your business plan should cover.

    1. Product/Service: Describe your product or service and the nature of the technology.
    2. Technology Development: Describe the development stage of your product/service.
    3. Team: Describe your company’s strengths and weaknesses. List the credentials of your technical and management teams, and if applicable, advisors and board of directors. If you don’t have a team, describe the key positions and critical skill sets that you need to add.
    4. Business Plan Status: What research has been conducted, what remains to be done, and how and when you anticipate doing so. What key sources are included to document and support your plan?

  • OCE Elevator Pitch contest at Discovery 09

    discovery2009_logo The Ontario Centres for Excellence is hosting an Elevator Pitch contest on May 12, 2009 at Discovery 09 event. First place prize is Cdn$5000 and second place is Cdn$2000. Not shabby for a 700 word entry.

    Step into OCE’s Elevator Pitch contest – 12 May 2009
    Metro Convention Centre, Toronto

    Venture capitalists and angel investors can spot a good business pitch in roughly the time it takes to ride an elevator. Test your pitch by getting in on the Elevator Pitch at Discovery 09. Go one-on-one, face-to-face with leading VCs and angel investors and deliver a compelling overview of your tech-based business idea in five minutes or less. Capture their attention, advice, and a chance to win cash prizes for best pitch.

    To enter, visit www.ocediscovery.com/elevatorpitch2009.aspx.

    Startups need to submit a 700 word maximum submission that covers the following:

    • Describe the product or service and its underlying technology
    • What is the market need – what is the value proposition to your intended customers?
    • What is the sustainable competitive advantage of your product or service?
    • Describe the market and market size.
    • What is your market entry strategy?

    Submissions are due by April 16, 2009.

  • CIX now accepting applications – Takes place March 3rd and 4th

    picture-4The Canadian Innovation Exchange is taking place on March 3rd and 4th again this year in Toronto. The event appears to have been compressed mostly in to 1 day with some pre-event socials taking place on March 3rd.

    This is a tough time for Canadian startups, we certainly heard that loud and clear during StartupEmpire, but it is also the chance to focus on our strengths and to take advantage of what makes Canada’s startups great.

    Registration opens in January, but in the meantime, fill out the submission form and start working on your pitch.

  • Pipeline – US Venture Funding for Canadian Startups

    Looking for venture funding? Consider participating in the following initiative run by PWC and Burns & Levinson LLP.

    The US/Canada Venture Capital Pipeline links venture capital firms and investment banking firms based in the US with Canadian companies seeking financing. The event is designed to build relationships and create business opportunities between US investors and Canadian companies. This December 4, 10 Canadian IT companies will head to Boston to meet one-on-one with U.S. investors.

    The deadline to submit applications is November 14.

    Here are all the details. If you are interested in applying, please contact:

    Leonard Gold
    Managing Director
    Burns & Levinson Canada Co.
    Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP
    lgold(at)burnslev.com
    617.345.3831

    Charles Godbout
    Vice President, Corporate Finance Inc.
    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
    charlesgodbout(at)ca.pwc.com
    514.205.5020