StartupNorth

Tag: Canada

  • StartupVisa – The Canadian Edition

    Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/eduardozarate/3910529487/in/photostream/
    Photo by Eduardo Zarate

    Canada is a great country. One of the defining characteristics are the forward looking immigration policies that appeal to educated potential immigrants.

    Danny Robinson (@dannyrobinson), Maura Rodgers (@maurar), Boris Wertz (@bwertz) started StartupVisa.ca as a response to the StartupVisa.com created by Eric Ries, Dave McClure, Shervin Pishevar, Brad Feld, Paul Kedrosky, Manu Kumar, & Fred Wilson in the US. The goal is to modify existing Canadian immigration policy to expedite the process for entrepreneurs and change the “minimum net worth of C$300,000 that was obtained legally” to include provisions for “Canadian funding of $150,000”.

    Danny was giving me a hard time the other night because I have not signed or blogged about the StartupVisa.ca efforts (unlike Mark MacLeod, Financial Post, HackerNews, NextMontreal, TechVibes and others). I agree with the efforts in principle. I think changing the immigration policy to be more entrepreneur friendly would help Canada. My issues centre around the wording of the proposed changes. I am not policy writer, I am not a policy wonk. But it feels like the proposed changes do not meet the requirements of good policy. This is where the proposed US legislation feels more robust and complete. The provisions of the existing Entrepreneur program are great and include:

    • You must control at least one-third of the equity and actively manage a qualifying Canadian business for at least one year after becoming a permanent resident.
    • The business must have created the equivalent of at least one full-time job (1,950 hours of paid employment) for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (other than yourself and your dependants)

    I would like to see provisions that include:

    • a better definition of “qualified Canadian funding” – we’ve seen attempts at this in the past including FedDev efforts for Southern Ontario, the goal is to specify funding sources to avoid potential immigration challenges of related to regulating potential groups of investors
    • further clarification about immigrant equity ownership as related to the investment dollars. Currently the criteria includes a definition of ownership of a Qualifying Canadian business as defined by meeting any 2 of the 4 presented criteria around ownership, net assets, sales, income or jobs. It is unclear how the impact of pre- and post- money valuations potentially have on the ownership requirement. My concern is that including further investment could dilute the entrepreneur and make them ineligible according to the sales or ownership criteria already defined in the immigration policy.

    I was also curious at the substantive change from $300,000 to $150,000. This reduction is fairly significant. The only reason I can think is that the proposed changes are about investment per person and not corporate investment. My guess is that this requirement is reduced given anecdotal evidence of current entrepreneurs and investment levels in their company from a single angel investor, i.e., this is the investment amount in the company divided by the number entrepreneurs to get $150,000. It’s just unclear how this number was derived.

    So I agree with the efforts of StartupVisa.ca crew even if I think their proposal is a little too simplistic to actually function and requires the support of policy and immigration wonks (of which I am neither). What can you do? Read the Open Letter Regarding Startup Visa Canada and if you agree endorse the petition.

    Endorse Startup Visa Canada Petition »

  • Payroll for startups

    Bank Robber

    The joys of starting a company and setting up the basics, you know things like finding a lawyer, getting articles of incorporation, shareholders agreement, business registration, employment agreements and setting up payroll for employees. It turns out that it has been since 2005 since I thought about the logistics of running payroll in Canada in any detail (BTW if some asks if you want to be in charge of running payroll, the answer is “<expletive /> NO”). The great news is that there is a solution for startups in Canada and it’s inexpensive. Well technically it’s free for companies with <5 employees and only $18/month for >6 employees.

    Payment EvolutionThe company is PaymentEvolution. It’s run by my friend Sam Vassa (@samvassa) and they were recently featured in the Financial Post. Despite the web presence that looks like it was last updated a decade ago, this is a new startup that is up and running and able to help Canadian small businesses with payroll.

    Hallelujah, and it’s inexpensive

    This is a great solution for startups. Basically the deal is there are no fees for the service, however, there are electronic banking fees are passed through to you as a user.

    PaymentEvolution provides no cost payroll processing for smalls businesses with 5 or fewer employees. We’re serious – we don’t want payroll processing costs to encumber the growth of great small businesses. We’re small-business friendly and just want to provide a great service that allows these businesses to focus on what they do best. Like all our plans, we don’t charge extra for updates, the number of pay runs, or silly things like standard reports. We also give these firms the flexibility to pay their employees how they want – traditional cheques, direct deposit or even electronic funds transfer (fees may be incurred by the company’s financial institution).

    This is just what startups need to process payroll and it’s cheap to boot.

  • Conspiracy theories and hockey talent

    Photo by Kenny Louie http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/4398396665/
    Photo by kennymatic

    The brain drain. Canadian actors in Hollywood. This was a common thread for a in Canadian media outlets. But there is something new going on in tech north of the border. International corporations have been snapping up Canadian startups and talent. Foreign investors (think US Venture Capitalists) are looking north of the 49th parallel to actively deploy capital in high growth, scalable companies. Just look at the recent track record of activity in the past 9 months.

    Recent Exits

    • Layerboom acquired by Joyent.
    • Plan9 acquired by Apple.
    • Sysomos acquired by MarketWire.
    • SmallThought acquired by Twitter.
    • Opalis acquired by Microsoft.
    • Bumptop acquired by Google.
    • Sitemasher was acquired by Salesforce.
    • CoverItLive was acquired by Demand Media.

    Recent Foreign-led Investments

    • Highland Capital Partners invests in Montreal-based Beyond the Rack.
    • Bridgescale Venture Partners invests in Toronto-based Dayforce.
    • Bridgescale Venture Partners invests in Toronto-based Bluecat Networks.
    • FTV Capital invests $35M in Toronto-based Varicent.
    • Altos Ventures invests $4.5M in Toronto & SF-based Kontagent.
    • Metamorphic Ventures invests $1.5M in Toronto-based Chango.
    • Grandbanks Capital invests in Toronto-based iLoveRewards.
    • Grandbanks Capital invests in Toronto-based xkoto.
    • Panorama Capital invests $8M in Calgary-based Tynt.

    So just what is going on. Why the sudden interest and opportunity?

    1. A History Lower Valuations, Less Capital & More Traction
      When you look at the historical news archive from the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) about the state of venture capital in Canada you begin to see a common thread. Canadian companies generally raise less money than their US counterparts at each stage of growth. This leads to lower valuations and more traction from local investors and has created a generation of Canadian entrepreneurs that are used to funding growth from profits. In 2009, the US market saw US$18 billion invested through venture capital. Canada startups only raised approximately US$1 billion representing 5.5% of the US number (source: Wellington Fund blog). The challenge is that the Canadian economy is approximatley 12.5% of the US economy and this leaves a significant gap in the amount of potential capital being deployed to Canadian startups. There is a gap in the level of investment and the overall economic performance in Canada. This leaves a huge opportunity for other funding sources.
    2. Strong Local Communities
      When you look across Canada entrepreneurs are using the web, events and models developed locally and internationally to connect each other, share information and build successful startups. There are examples ranging from government funded initatives like the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, WavefrontAC in Vancouver, the RIC Centre, MaRS, Lead to Win in Ottawa, and Communitech (there are a ton more). There are grassroots movements like DemoCamp, MontrealNewTech, StartupCamp and LaunchParty happening across the country. There are an emerging set of incubators and early investors like BootupLabs, Extreme Ventures, Montreal StartUp/Founder Fuel, and Mantella VP. These communities provide entrepreneurs opportunities to connect with other entrepreneurs and seed investors to share methods, pursue informed development and find mentorship and funding.
    3. Close Proximity
      As soon as you decide to get on a plane, the game has changed. It’s not about can I drive to a board meeting in less than 45 minutes. It’s about can I make return travel in the same day. Flights to Vancouver from San Francisco are only minutes longer than flights to Seattle. If you’re leaving the comforts of Silicon Valley to travel to Seattle, Boulder, or other destinations than you should consider Vancouver. Toronto and Montreal in the same geographical proximity to Boston, New York and Chicago. The decision for most investors has less to do with travel and more to do with finding great companies whose growth can be accelerated. Having an international border throws a couple of new complications (see the next section Taxation Reforms) into the mix but it should not prevent investment or acquisition. There might be taxation and immigration impact on
    4. Taxation Reforms
      Charley Lax at Grandbanks Capital was a vocal critic of Section 116 of the Canada Tax Act. However, on March 4, 2010 Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced amendments to the Act that excluded shares of Canadian private companies. Basically, this removed a major tax barrier to foreign investment opportunities. A few of the deals listed above where completed before the changes to Section 116, significantly more seed and early-stage deals involving capital from US investors can be seen.

    The times are a changin’

    Grow 2010

    Conspiracy theories of Canadians infiltrating American companies are mostly true. But the brain drain is a thing of the past. Silicon Valley is heading north to find new deals, new talent, and new opportunities. Grow Conference in Vancouver is a prime example of the exploration north of the border. Elite investors like Rob Hayes of First Round Capital, Dave McClure of FoundersFund, Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC are heading across the border to engage with Canadian entrepreneurs and startups. The Canadian Tech Mafia, sorry the C100, continues to show a strong presence with Rob Chaplinsky from Bridgescale, Chris Albinson of Panorama and others.

  • StartupDrinks – YYZ, YUL, YYT, YQM, YYC, YHZ, YFC, YSJ

    StartupDrinks LogoFriendly neighbourhood reminder that tomorrow, June 30, 2010, is StartupDrinks (well tonight in Saskatoon & Regina). On June 30, 2010 you can join entrepretreneurs in:

    Jevon is going to be hanging out in Halifax. Ray is going to be in Montreal. Jonas, Bryan and I are planning on being at Grace O’Malleys (aka Granuaile), 14 Duncan St, Toronto, ON.

    It’s a great opportunity to get out of the office. To be social. To connect with others that are struggling building companies like you. What will we be talking about? We’ll be talking about “How to grow your traffic from 1k to 35k on $0” and other things. What do you want to talk about?

    Here’s

  • The best laid 15 year plans

    Southern Alberta Railroad Tracks
    Photo by ecstaticist

    OMERS and ABP announced the launch of INKEF Capital, a € 200 million venture fund that is focused on deploying € 100 million in Canada in 5 years.

    “In the first five years, € 100 million is anticipated to be invested in start-ups in each of the territories, the Netherlands and Canada. The initial portfolio will naturally be weighted towards early stage companies which will mature over the fifteen year term. Deal flow will come from various sources, including technology transfer offices of universities, informal investors, regional funds and from spin-offs of new technologies by existing companies.” 

    This is great. It’s nice to see new capital getting ready to be deployed to Canadian entrepreneurs. What’s interesting is the reason that INKEF believes it is differentiated than other capital:

    “INKEF Capital distinguishes itself from other investors by its long term investment horizon and active mentoring of the start-ups.”

    Makes me wonder what the other firms have been doing? Passive mentoring? It will be interesting to gather more details as content becomes available (Currently http://inkefcapital.com/ is not active and the WHOIS record returns a registrar and intellectual property firm in the Netherlands). This looks it is a direct investment vehicle for OMERS & ABP,  “programs for direct investment as a promising new strategic option”.  I can’t wait to hear Mark McQueen’s take on this, but given we’re in Day 9 of his hunger strike I suspect that you’re stuck with my limited insight.

  • Mantella Venture Partners Launches

    Mantella VP & Basecamp Labs

    Mantella Venture Partners launched today. It’s a $20MM early stage technology fund based in Toronto.

    “Unlike most venture funds that are supported by institutional investors, this one is backed by Mantella Corporation, a family owned commercial and residential real estate developer who has been entrenched in the GTA market since 1946. The fund is also focused on the concept of ‘hands-on capital’, ensuring that early-stage entrepreneurs get the hands-on support they need at every stage of a company’s creation and growth to help facilitate”

    The main investment partners are Robin Axon and Duncan Hill. Robin is ex-Ventures West and Ducan was an EiR at Ventures West and previously had founded Think Dynamics (acquired by IBM back in 2003). They also run Basecamp Partners/Labs where they have been incubating PushLife, Chango and a couple of other startups.

    It’s interesting to see an emerging breed of Canadian incubators and small funds like Mantella VP, Extreme VP/Xtreme Labs, Bootup Labs, Flow Ventures, Montreal Startup, Wesley Clover, LeadtoWin, and others. All of these have very different models and motivations. But they exhibit the need many startups have in both getting to Product/Market Fit and then the business development and go-to-market efforts. Both of these efforts require capital, and it’s great to see VCs that traditionally don’t get their hands dirty with operational details down in the weeds.

    Full press release below.

    TORONTO—March 2, 2010—Mantella Venture Partners announced today the formation and launch of a $20M investment fund to support early stage technology ventures in Ontario. Mantella Venture Partners is a collaboration between Basecamp Labs, a private early stage technology accelerator, and Mantella Corporation, an established family-owned commercial and residential real estate developer in the Greater Toronto Area.

    Mantella Venture Partners will invest in entrepreneurs who are building early stage mobile and Internet software companies, helping them to get their ideas from conception to market. Through the Basecamp Labs accelerator, Mantella Venture Partners will provide hands-on support at every stage of a company’s creation and growth – from business development and marketing to financing and team development – to help facilitate early market traction.

    Mantella Venture Partners is managed by Robin Axon and Duncan Hill, the founding partners of Basecamp Labs, experienced venture investors and company creators who have been involved in multiple successful venture exits to companies like IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Siemens.

    “For the past few years, we’ve seen a steady decline in Canadian venture capital deal flow, the number of VC-backed firms, and the average investment size,” says Axon.  “In fact, according to a recent CVCA report on the industry, investment levels in 2009 were the lowest they’ve been in 13 years.”

    “But innovation is still thriving,” says Hill. “With the venture market in such a state of flux, the timing could not be better for the launch of a new fund that is focused on both early-stage investing and providing the hands-on support entrepreneurs need to ensure market success.”

    The existing Basecamp Labs portfolio includes two companies: Chango, an ad buying platform for direct response advertisers; and Pushlife, a mobile entertainment platform for mobile operators.

    “The value of combining capital with guidance and support from a team with extensive experience building companies, can be seen in the progress of our first portfolio companies,” says Robert Mantella, president and CEO of Mantella Corporation. “Robin and Duncan are experienced investors and entrepreneurs who are passionate about technology and know what it takes for a start-up to succeed. Together we can breathe new life into a changing venture industry.”

    Duncan Hill was the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Think Dynamics, a developer of data centre automation software that was acquired by IBM in May 2003. He spent two years at IBM driving strategy for early enterprise cloud computing. Most recently, Hill served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Ventures West; was an independent director for RapidMind (acq. by Intel August ’09); and was executive advisor to Opalis (acq. by Microsoft December ’09). He currently serves on the Chango board of directors and on executive advisory boards at Pushlife, ServiceMesh, Cirba, Embotics, and the Velocity program at the University of Waterloo.

    Prior to founding Basecamp Labs with Duncan Hill, Robin Axon was a partner at Ventures West on the IT and communications team. Before that, Axon was at MD Robotics (formerly Spar Aerospace) and the Canadian Space Agency, where he helped to prepare the Canadarm2 for installation onto the International Space Station. Axon has served on the boards of a number of technology companies including: QuickPlay Media, RapidMind (acq. by Intel August ’09), AudienceView, Fortiva (acq. by Proofpoint ‘08), Chantry Networks (acq. by Seimens ‘03), Belair Networks and Instrumar.

    About Mantella Venture Partners
    Mantella Venture Partners is a $20M early stage investment fund with a hands-on approach to building technology companies in high growth markets.  The fund invests in founders focused on creating market-altering mobile and Internet software businesses, and surrounds them with an ecosystem of passionate, experienced operators that drive early market engagement into sustainable business success. Mantella Venture Partners will invest up to $500k at inception with the ability to support subsequent rounds as required. It is managed by Robin Axon and Duncan Hill, experienced venture investors and company creators who’ve been involved in multiple successful venture exits to companies like IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Siemens. Additional information is available at http://mantellavp.com/.

  • 10 Things Happening on the Canadian Tech Scene

    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.

    10 Things Happening on NYC Tech Scene in ’10

    View more presentations from lockloct.

    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

    9. Existing Players aka the Big Guys

    8. Open Data

    7. Social Analytics

    6. Social Gaming

    5. Social Media Channels and Advertising Networks

    4. Real-time data and analysis

    3. Mobile

    2. Blogs

    1. Social Places

  • We have maple syrup and beer

    I was reading Anil Dash’s New York City is the Future of the Web post over the weekend, and there is a great list of startups (and funders) based in NYC. The list is pretty impressive starting with the money folks including Union Square Ventures and Fred Wilson to Founders Collective and Chris Dixon. The startups Foursquare, Hunch, Etsy, Kickstarter, and 20×200. I was starting to think that the grass might be greener in NYC. But I was reminded of the great things going on in Canada when I was redirected to the 2009 Canadian New Media Awards finalists.

    cnma-finalists-announced

    There is a great list of companies that are finalists for the CNMA. You can round this list out with the great list of companies announced as part of the CIX Top 20.  There are a lot of great Canadian startups that continue to execute, find customers, and raise their profiles internationally.

    These companies show the breadth of solution and corporate development of the Canadian startups. The startups are spread across the country, but entrepreneurs in Canada are building great things. Feeling good about the state of startups, hoping that Canadian funding scene continues to evolve, and that these companies continue to have the opportunities to change the world.

  • Compared to others

    “With the proper level of ambition, talent, and opportunity, even a small, islolated company can turn the world into its market” – Michael Cusumano, Dealing with the Venture Capital Crisis

    I’m reading Michael Cusumano’s Dealing with the Venture Capital Crisis in the October 2009 issue of Communications of the ACM, I’m struck by the idea that our geographical proximity to the US, advanced economy, good universities and strong intellectual property rights might be the spawning ground for new ventures, sources of wealth, social welfare and employment. The article proposed 4 markets that meet these requirements including:

    • Israel
      Estimated 2009 Population: 7.4 million
      2008 Venture: 483 investments totaling US$2.08B, $780M from local VCs (Cdn$2.54B/Cdn$904.84M)  (IVA) 
      Investment-to-GDP: 0.0125/0.0045
    • Finland
      Estimated 2009 Population: 5.3 million
      2008 Venture: 406 investments totaling 360M euros (Cdn$620.55M) (FVCA)
      Investment-to-GDP: 0.0032
    • Ireland
      Estimated 2009 Population: 4.9 million
      2008 Venture: 160 investments totaling 243M euros (Cdn$418.87M) (IVCA)
      Investment-to-GDP: 0.0022
    • New Zealand
      Estimated 2009 Population: 4.3 million
      2008 Venture: 52 investments totaling NZ$66.1M (Cdn$46.81M) (NZVCA)
      Investment-to-GDP: 0.0004

    Well these are great numbers, how does this compare to Canada?

    • Canada
      Estimated 2009 Population: 33.8 million
      2008 Venture: 371 investments totaling Cdn$1.3B (CVCA)
      Investment-to-GDP: 0.001

    When compared to the US and Israel, Canada looks like a poor third cousin. What is the appropriate measure here? Investment as a percentage of GDP? Well we fall somewhere between New Zealand and Ireland. Maybe things aren’t as bad as we’d like to think. We have more venture money than New Zealand. We’re closer to a larger market. Maybe we should start to look at the positive factors and exploit the constraints to build opportunities.

    • Advanced economies
    • Sophisticated customers
    • Good universities
    • Strong intellectual property rights
    • Favorable tax laws
    • Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures

    What’s an entrepreneur to do?

    In my opinion, there are only 2 items on the above list that are directly impacted and influenced by entrepreneurs: Sophisticated customers; and Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures. Sure, the net result of a more positive entrepreneurial environment is a advanced economy that produces good universities. We can lobby politicians for strong intellectual property rights (and consumer freedoms) and favorable tax laws. But there are advocacy groups like the National Angel Capital Organization and the Canadian Venture Capital Association that more directly benefit and are better funded to act on the behalf of entrepreneurial financing. This is not some that necessarily deserve any additional attention than you currently dedicate to the political process. I’m arguing the entrepreneurs should build companies and leave this to the pundits, advocates, policy wonks and politicians.

    Sophisticated customers

    For entrepreneurs,we need to work on helping develop sophisticated customers. Often these customers are located near where the entrepreneur is building their product or service offering. However, this is not a requirement. Entrepreneur should look for sophisticated customers around the globe. Including customers in your product design and development process is key to creating products that meet customer needs and to develop more sophisticated customers. Steve Blank and Eric Reis have proposed the Customer Development Manifesto and Lean Startup as ways for founders to engage customers in the earliest work. All startups should read these posts.

    Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures

    Isn’t this what we’re trying to do? Read our thoughts on:

    Part of the reason that we are luck enough to have Dave McClure in Toronto (and he had a great time). First Round Capital had office hours with Chris Fralic and Phin Barnes. We continue to see folks from Atlas Ventures, General Catalyst, and Microsoft (Don Dodge presented at StartupEmpire and will be presenting at CIX). This is a result of your participation. Canadian cities have a lot of buzz and attention based on the things that are going on.

    It’s cumulative!

    It is the force of a thousands of butterflies flapping their wings. All of the blogging, twittering, attending conferences, showing up to events, participating online. It’s about the DemoCamps, Launch Parties, StartupDrinks, Social Media Breakfasts, Third Tuesdays, Founders & Funders, NEWTECH, SproutUps, Meshes, and everything else.  It is a cumulative effect. It doesn’t take a lot of extra effort, but it adds up to the rest of the world paying attention to the noise.

    We have great spokespersons like Saul Colt, Mathew Ingram, Mike Lee, Michael McDerment, Leila Boujnane, Brian Sharwood, Sarah Prevette, Pema Hagen, Bryan Watson, Anand Agarawala and others running around the world telling their stories of being a startup and the reasons they are doing it in Toronto. In Vancouver there’s Robert Scales, Kris Krug, Boris Mann, BootupLabs, Boris Wertz, Andre Charland, amd others. In Montreal it’s Austin Hill, Heri Rakotomalala, John Stokes, George Favvas, Ben Yoskovitz, Fred Ngo, Pinny Gniwisch, Ray Luk and others. Let’s not forget Social Media Breakfast, StartupOttawa, Scott Lake, Allan Isfan, Jacqui Murphy, and everyone that I’ve missed (it’s on purpose, because I don’t like you any more and I hate your startups).

    But it is up to us to make noise. It’s up to us to build successful companies. It’s up to us to make Canada a better place for startups. No one is going to walk in and make it easier. We all have to participate and build a vibrant entrepreneurial culture. We need to talk about entrepreneurship as a career path. We need to talk to politicians about policy decisions.

    So the first rule of being an entrepreneur is to reach out. Invite a friend. Make a connection. Tell a customer. Most of all, do the things that make the ecosystem better for you.

  • Rogers Ventures

    rogers-logo So what’s the story with Rogers Ventures?

    Mic Berman announced StartupCampWaterloo(Serious Edition) happening on October 20, 2009 in Waterloo, ON. Jesse Rodgers provided a little more detail about the event on the BarCampWaterloo Google Group:

    “Rogers Ventures has started an early stage/seed round investment group. They are looking to make several investments before the end of this year and they have  a strong commitment to fund and support entrepreneurs or post doc researchers who have great ideas and/or innovative technology.

    If are looking for funding and would like to pitch the Rogers’ team (Mike Lee, Nyla Ahmad or Jason Zan) and a few other local funders such as Tech Capital.”

    We’ve worked with Mike Lee to host DemoCamp Toronto 21 & 22 (an Evening with Yossi Vardi). Rogers Ventures has already demonstrated their ability and willingness to engage with the community. Rogers Ventures continues to reach out and engage with entrepreneurs across the country.

    Press Release

    Rogers Ventures publically launches on October 15, 2009. Here are the details provided by the consultants and public relations individuals helping Rogers Ventures engage the development community. 

    What is Rogers Ventures?

    Rogers Ventures is a new source of early stage seed level investment for technology start-ups. We find great talent with powerful ideas and we invest in their business success. We invest our money, leverage, experience and other strategic contributions to get our portfolio companies on the path of accelerated development and market growth.  Another part of the Rogers Ventures’ mandate is supporting the innovation ecosystem by providing direct funding to community programs that help create innovation momentum in this country. 

    Is Rogers Ventures a venture capital firm?

    We operate a venture-style funding mechanism (we approve investments on a case-by-case basis) but that’s where the similarities end. Our long-term objective is to develop a portfolio of high potential companies that capture the value created through wireline and wireless broadband networks. 

    Why was Rogers Ventures created?

    We’re living at a time when technology innovation, new online services and shifts in consumer behaviour are being adopted faster than any other time in history. We want to be part of this innovation and the opportunity presenting themselves but realize that we cannot achieve success, as effectively, on our own. Rogers Ventures is our way of looking beyond the walls of Rogers for outside talent and ideas to fund. We believe that this will broaden our innovation horizons and keep us closer to the forefront of next-generation technology. 

    How will Rogers Ventures support the high-tech community?

    While we see a significant amount of energy and activity within the Canadian innovation landscape, we feel that there are opportunities for support for the Canadian ecosystem to accelerate momentum. We have been working to identify community-level programs or initiatives that require support – either money, a space large enough to hold events, someone to pay for pizza, participation in mentorship, contribution as a speaker, whatever – and we try to make that support happen. We know that our effort is not the total solution. We are contributing our part to build the necessary momentum and are committed to engage.

    Who runs Rogers Ventures?

    Melinda Rogers, senior vice-president, strategy and development with Rogers Communications, is the executive in charge of Rogers Ventures. On a day-to-day basis, the portfolio is run by Mike Lee, vice-president with Rogers Ventures, and Nyla Ahmad, vice-president, Rogers Ventures Operations.

    What are Rogers Ventures portfolio companies?

    There are currently three companies within the Rogers Ventures portfolio: Zoocasa,  a vertical search product focused on real estate; Thoora, a next generation news discovery service; and GridCentric, a solution for grid computing. We don’t discuss publically investment levels.

    Is Rogers Ventures a part of Rogers Communications?

    Rogers Ventures falls within Rogers’ corporate strategy and development group and it is legally part of Rogers Communications Inc. However, it operates as a separate entity on a day-to-day basis.

    Additional Team Details

    So who are Mike Lee, Nyla Ahmad and Jason Zan and others. We can start to piece together the players from web searches, management profiles of their portfolio companies, and social media tools.

    “Mike Lee, Chief Strategy Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.

    Michael (Mike) Lee is Chief Strategy Officer for Rogers Communications Inc. Mike is responsible for strategy development, new venture development, and strategic partner management for the Rogers Communications’ group of companies which include Rogers Cable, Rogers Wireless and Rogers Media. Previously, he held the role of Vice President, Strategy and Development for Rogers Cable.” Cable Congress 2009

    “Nyla Ahmad, Senior Director, Strategic Partners for Rogers Communications Inc.

    Nyla Ahmad is responsible for overseeing and managing key cross-company relationships. This includes managing the Rogers Yahoo! strategic alliance across the entire Rogers group of companies. Previously within Rogers, Ms. Ahmad held roles within Rogers Cable and the Internet division of Rogers Media. As Senior Director of Electronic Channels for Rogers Cable Communications Inc. she was responsible for the product development, online services strategy and customer experience for Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet. As Vice President of Excite Canada, she oversaw the development of consumer online content and services across broadband, narrowband and wireless platforms.” 3rd Annual C-COR Global IP Summit – Executive Interviews

    “Jason Zan, Co-founder and adviser

    Jason was a Sr. Director of Business Development at Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RG), the largest wireless carrier in Canada. Prior to that Jason was Director of Venture Investments at Rogers where he was responsible for managing the company’s private equity investment portfolio. Jason has a HBA from Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Canada.” Tokia > About Management

    The team at Rogers also includes for former PlanetEye CEO Butch Langlois, who announced in Jun3 2009 that he was joining Rogers Ventures. Butch has a strong histo

    ry with Rogers serving as VP, Finance and Corporate Development in the old Rogers New Media group.

    The team has a very strong Rogers flavour. It will be interesting to see if they are able to break free from the corporate culture that tends to lead to “The Innovator’s Dilemma” to identify opportunities. Their current investments in Zoocasa, Thoora and GridCentric show a desire to commercialize research efforts, both Thoora and GridCentric are commercialized out of the University of Toronto projects and teams. Rogers Ventures seems to be making an effort to move beyond their traditional boundaries.