Posted in Blog, Thrive in Ottawa Jul 27, 2022 1211 words | 6 minutesBy: Randy Gaudreau August officially marks a transition into the start of the second half of the year, making it a great time to start setting –…
News from across the Regional Innovation Centres
We have gathered news from all the regional innovation centres (RICs) in Ontario. Be sure to connect with your local RIC to be a part of your local ecosystem.
Preemptor AI has come a long way since its inception in 2018. What started initially as compliance software to help colleges and universities catch plagiarism in the act has morphed into innovative technology promoting a unique “culture of originality.” Launched…
Posted in Blog, Thrive in Ottawa Jul 27, 2022 1205 words | 7 minutesBy: Randy Gaudreau As vehicles of all types continue to become more and more connected, they’re also becoming increasingly vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. While the focus of…
London is well known for being a student city. Each September, new Londoners join our communities and study at our world-renowned academic institutions, bringing innovation and entrepreneurship along with them. A group of roommates, and now co-founders of Cribify, were…
Funding News
A Down Economy Means Tightening Belts and Being Strategic About How Resources are Allocated
originally published: 2022-07-27 09:00:49 For Alaric Aloor, General Partner at MATR Ventures, and CEO of Archon Security, a 9-year-old company with 19 employees, human capital is the most important to a business, even during a downturn. He alludes to this…
Cyberworks retrofits devices like wheelchairs and tow tugs to turn them into smart self-driving vehicles. Even as a child, Vivek Burhanpurkar wanted to do “the hardest thing possible.” With a love for technology inspired in part by R2-D2 in Star…
Kirtida Kitchen is a family owned & operated small business in Guelph, a unique Indian Traditional Kitchen. Guelph’s first 100% vegetarian Indian take-out, with a large vegan selection; about 95% of the menu at Kirtida is vegan. For those who…
Life Sciences and Advanced Health
eVisitNB implements FirstHx to improve efficiency and patient experience
eVisitNB is proud to announce a partnership with FirstHx. This partnership will help patients across New Brunswick to more effectively provide their medical story when booking a virtual scheduled appointment. FirstHx is a bilingual solution, being offered in both English…
How it startedEmily O’Brien of Comeback Snacks said she started her business at the worst time! “I was incarcerated in federal prison. I had smuggled narcotics into Canada,” she said. “I knew I could do better, and I wanted to…
Life Sciences and Advanced Health
Catalyst for a Cure: This company is making cancer research more efficient, reliable, and sustainable
Imagine a printer that, instead of traditional CMYK colours, uses bioinks to print human-like tissues. This may sound like science-fiction, but this is exactly what VoxCell BioInnovation is developing: Canada's first high-resolution 3D bioprinter. “We are revolutionizing tissue engineering with…
Funding News
SheBoot Investment Jumps to Almost Half a Million Dollars in the Face of the Ongoing Pandemic
Posted in News, Press Releases Jul 21, 2022 30 Women Angels Propel the Growth of Canadian Women Founders through SheBoot as the Program Expands Nationally, Gains Momentum and Fuels Success Ottawa, Ontario; July 21, 2022 – The Capital Angel Network…
I got my COVID booster last week. That’s the good news. Getting there was a bit fraught with frustration and an unnecessarily bad customer experience. When I learned that boosters would be coming available, I went online to see if…
Value Proposition
Protecting Your Startup During an Economic Slowdown: Leading US & Canadian Investors Share How to Navigate Changing Valuations
originally published: 2022-07-21 11:04:08 Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, founding partner of Hannah Grey VC and Cofounder of Women in VC, challenges founders to think two chess moves ahead: “Venture Capital and business planning is not only thinking about what valuation can I grow…
Funding News
Malgré la pandémie, le fonds d’investissement de SheBoot bondit à près d’un demi-million de dollars
Posted in News, Press Releases Jul 21, 2022 30 investisseures providentielles contribuent au succès des entrepreneures canadiennes et à l’expansion nationale d’un programme moteur de succès Ottawa, le 21 juillet 2022. – Le Capital Angel Network (CAN), un groupe d’investisseurs providentiels d’Ottawa-Gatineau, et…
Sudbury, July 21, 2022 – Verv Technologies Ltd (Verv) is proud to announce a $3.8M CAD seed round from internationally recognized biotechnology and laboratory services leader, Randox Laboratories, UK. Two out of three people want to be able to test…
Photo illustration by Monica Guan Net-zero commitments are a critical first step in the fight against climate change. But to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet, we actually have to ensure governments and business leaders live up…
Digital Media and ICT Wellness & Mental Health
Why the internet is barely usable for some people with disabilities
Despite some progress on accessibility, users still face countless frustrations online, says entrepreneur and activist Alwar Pillai. For people living with disabilities, the internet can be almost as full of annoying barriers as the real world. Poor design choices can…
Advanced Manufacturing & Materials Entrepreneur Stories
Spotlight on Portable Intelligence: An Interview with Jeff Lem
Portable Intelligence is transforming warehouses into a competitive advantage. This sounds like a big task, but with integrated solutions, Portable Intelligence makes getting complete inventory visibility and creating warehouse optimization without extra space or labour finally attainable. With a wide…
A skin printer developed by the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook hospital extrudes a “bio ink” that has been shown to help heal severe burns quicker.CREDIT: University of Toronto This week, scientists sent stem cells to the International Space Station…
MANCHESTER, N.H., July 18, 2022 – Bellwether Community Credit Union and Senso have partnered to improve the homebuying experience for existing and incoming members. With Senso's AI solution branded Bellwether HomeInsight, Bellwether can proactively identify home-buying behavior and initiate personalized…
Q: When was the moment you first knew you were meant to be an entrepreneur? My path to business ownership was less about wanting to become an entrepreneur and more about a passion for this particular business. I worked part…
Vienna Zhou was inspired to take on a career in technology and clean energy in the early aughts around the time of the dot com boom. “The idea that we could create many things to change the world was inspiring to…
The Waterloo-Toronto corridor shines brightly in the latest CBRE Scoring Tech Talent report, which ranks the top 50 tech centres in the U.S. and Canada based on competitive advantage and appeal to tech employers and talent. Waterloo Region was once…
Hiring has slowed from last years’ blistering pace, but skilled tech workers are still in demand Despite soaring inflation and rising interest rates, Canada’s job market remains tight. According to the Centre for Policy Alternatives, June’s employment numbers suggest we…
What/where do you consider your hometown? I was born and grew up in Windsor, Ontario. Do you have a talent, hobby or skill people wouldn’t expect? If so, do tell! One hobby people may not expect is that I enjoy…
Posted in Blog, Expert Series Jun 20, 2022 This blog is provided by Invest Ottawa’s proud sponsor, Smart & Biggar, as part of our Expert Series. View the full series here. Authored by: Jamie-Lynn Kraft, Associate, Smart & Biggar 5…
Education Life Sciences and Advanced Health
New Audio CARL and CARL platform released by AHead Simulations
AHead Simulations brings accessibility and affordability to education and research in hearing health care through their release of the all-new Audio CARL and a newly updated CARL platform. Based on more than four years of user feedback and requests, the…
Auto & Transportation LGBTQ+ Women
Going for a ride? Wilma’s women-driven ride hailing fleet starts driving in London this month
When an opportunity comes knocking, you call up a good friend and make a venture out of it. That’s how the saying goes, right? Inspired by a heartbreaking story to make lifechanging innovation, Terri Phipps and Mary Morrison Co-founded Wilma, Canada’s…
Jul 14, 2022 1010 words | 4 minutesBy: Tim WarlandThere is a lot of hype about 5G networks. Some carriers claim to have the fastest 5G network or the largest 5G network or 5G built right. But you probably don’t…
Advanced Manufacturing & Materials Entrepreneur Stories Featured
PEER Group employees recognized for contributions to the semiconductor industry
KITCHENER, ONT., July 13, 2022 – PEER Group, the largest supplier of innovative semiconductor factory automation software, is proud to share that two members of its engineering team have been recognized by SEMI during SEMICON West 2022 for contributions they’ve made…
Advanced Manufacturing & Materials Entrepreneur Stories
Spotlight on AutoMetrics: An Interview with Mike Mohseni
This company is building the machine brain for industrial automation. Meet AutoMetrics who, with cutting-edge technology, is bringing Inspection 4.0 to proactively monitor quality with intelligent deception. Leveraging machine learning, AI and analytics, AutoMetrics is ensuring that experienced industrial work…
ORIGINAL ARTICLE, Angela Gemmill, CBC News, July 12, 2022 When Maria and Jose Andrade arrived in Canada in January 2021 they didn’t have any credit scores in this country. That made it difficult to try to get a mortgage for a…
As the Canadian tech sector navigates some tough headwinds, health-records company PointClickCare Technologies continues to sail forward. The valuation of the privately held company – a member of Communitech’s Team True North roster – has jumped to more than US$5…
Companies Funded / Acquired Education Fintech
Transact Campus Acquires Valued Partner Hangry; Further Enhances Mobile-Centric Campus Interaction Solutions
ORIGINAL ARTICLE, July 13, 2022, businesswire.com Transact, the leader in innovative payment and mobile credential solutions for a connected campus, today announced the acquisition of the Canadian company, Hangry, an established and valued Transact partner. The acquisition of Hangry, a leading…
originally published: 2022-07-13 16:20:46 Patrick McGuire (00:00)Hey, it’s Patrick. Before we start, at the time of this recording, we went through a bit of a name rebranding from RIC Centre to Altitude Accelerator. With that in mind, we hope you…
Profound Impact is a woman-founded startup that helps educational, research and community organizations measure the impact of their programs to help inform their strategy. Sherry Shannon-Vanstone founded the startup in 2018 after she completed the sale of her previous startup,…
Illustrations by Remie Geoffroi Three years ago, a Georgia Tech study uncovered a major flaw in self-driving vehicles: they find it much harder to see darker-skinned pedestrians. The researchers were testing how accurately the vehicles’ artificial intelligence–based object detection models…
MEDIA RELEASE via WETechAlliance WINDSOR, ON (July 12, 2022) – WETechAlliance is currently accepting applications for the sixth cohort of its award-winning ScaleUP Tech Accelerator program. Now in its sixth iteration, ScaleUP, powered by Libro Credit Union in…
The Greenhouse Technology Network https://onfloriculture.com/2021/11/26/funding-opportunity-the-greenhouse-technology-network/ Powered by funding from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, GTN members help businesses de-risk innovation activities and help new and improved technologies get to greenhouse growers faster…
Entrepreneur Stories Food & Beverage Women
The Big Questions – Morgan Mitchell, Green Goddess Fromagerie
Q: When was the moment you first knew you were meant to be an entrepreneur? I’m not sure that I ever really knew that I was meant to be an entrepreneur. Green Goddess Fromagerie is the single mama side hustle…