British Columbia Innovation Council

For most small businesses, landing a new client is a good, actually, a great thing. But what do you do when you suddenly acquire 700 at once?

Three years ago, Robert and Mary Ducharme of Kelowna's Ducharme Landscapes faced that challenge when they took over another company. Tasked with the administrative nightmare of trying to schedule service calls to winterize the irrigation systems of all 700 new clients in the month of October, the husband and wife team didn't buckle under the pressure, rather, they gave up their Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

That year, the Ducharmes dedicated their holiday weekend to emailing and calling customers, dispatching workers and manually creating efficient service routes each day. Determined to avoid the same scenario year after year, the entrepreneurial-minded duo put on their thinking hats and came up with a solution - a web-based geographic scheduling system.

The Ducharmes found existing scheduling systems too focused on CRM or accounting.  The solution developed by the Ducharme's has proven to enhance service efficiency, reduce administrative workload and increase revenues. In fact, two years later, 200 of Ducharme's winterization customers were able to book themselves online and Robert and Mary enjoyed a deserving four-day Thanksgiving weekend.

Ducharme Landscapes has advanced to the final round of the 2^nd annual BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional for its innovative scheduling solution.

Late last year, the startup was named a top five finalist in the Accelerate Okanagan Jump:Start:Challenge.

Click here for more about Ducharme Landscapes Inc. and Accelerate Okanagan's Jump:Start:Challenge on their website, blog and BCIC's blog.

Good luck to the Ducharme Landscape! Winners of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional will be announced on February 23, 2012 in Kelowna, BC.

www.ducharmelandscapes.com

In November, we announced the 20 finalists of the 2^nd annual BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional. The startups are now preparing their final pitch to win one of three cash prizes worth a total of $60,000.

For many years, Dr. Ramon Lawrence worked as a consultant helping companies build expensive data solutions that could create valuable reports to aid business decisions.  In 2011, Ramon created UnityJDBC, software that allows companies to query, translate, report and compare data from multiple data sources in real time, enabling rapid decision-making.

"Companies have data in many databases, and it is slow and expensive to combine them for management and reporting," said Ramon, currently Associate Professor in Computer Science at UBC Okanagan. "UnityJDBC integrates data sources without the need to invest in expensive infrastructure.  Customers can deploy reports in less than a day at limited cost."

The software works with any Java-enabled platform and is currently benefiting clients in system development, health informatics and banking.

The finalists in the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional are matched with mentors who provide advice and guidance as entrepreneurs develop their business plans and also help them prepare for their final pitch. For Ramon, the mentorship from leaders in the industry has been the most valuable aspect of the competition.  "Learning from experts with experience and skills in a variety of areas is much more effective that trying to discover everything on your own."

Winners of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional will be announced on February 23, 2012 in Kelowna, BC.   Regardless of the outcome of the competition, Ramon plans to proceed with developing his technology and hopes to forge new partnerships for distribution and deployment.

"I plan to use the advice and experience from the competition to implement a strategy for long-term growth and success."

Congratulations to Ramon and best of luck in the final round of the competition. For more information about the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional, click here.

Only six short months out of BCIC's entrepreneurship@UVic program, Victoria-based YUPIQ has a lot to talk about.

Late last year, the company announced a partnership with prairieFyre Software, a global leader in delivering business communication solutions for enterprise telephony, call center and business process automation. YUPIQ's suite of social media tools is making it easy for prairieFyre contact centre agents to manage their company's social media presence and respond to customers directly using Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels.

The startup has also entered the exciting world of entertainment, having successfully managed the online promotion and resulting sales of Canadian recording artist Jann Arden's new book ‘Falling Backward'.  The goal of the campaign was to engage members of Jann's online fan base - through Facebook and Twitter - to share the first chapter of her book with their network and friends. Once 10 invitations were accepted and the chapter read, the individual who did the inviting earned a signed copy of the book.

The campaign reached more than double its target on the first day and achieved 24 times higher than normal engagement for a community of Jann Arden's size. The success of this campaign has opened the door to work with other internationally recognized performers from Canada and the United States.

Learn more about Yupiq here.

www.yupiq.com

www.twitter.com/YupiqTech

Last October, Aeos Biomedical Inc. was selected the winner of the BCIC entrepreneurship@UBC Seed Accelerator fund competition, an investment fund created in partnership between UBC, UBC alumni and the Province of British Columbia through BCIC to support early-stage companies from the UBC community.

Today, UBC announced that the startup will receive a $50,000 equity investment from the fund for its product Target Tape ^TM, a medical adhesive tape that allows doctors to make more precise incisions during surgery.

How does it work?

• TheTarget Tape surgical aid is a disposable, adhesive sticker with grid or ruler markings on it that appear in medical scans.
• It is immediately removed and leaves behind an ink imprint of the pattern on the skin.
• The surgeon correlates their target site to the guide pattern on the medical scan, and then reference this point on the patient's skin during the operation.

"Starting a company out of university can seem very daunting," says Aeos Biomedical co-founder Nick Seto. "Programs like entrepreneurship@UBC provide invaluable assistance with their connections and resources. Aeos Biomedical is grateful for UBC's continued support with this investment, and we hope that many other student-founded companies continue to benefit from this program."

Congratulations to Aeos!

http://aeosbiomedical.com/

Last summer, like many parents, James and Josie DeGreef of Victoria, BC were looking for summer programs for their two young kids while they were at their full time jobs.  This proved to be a frustrating experience, with very little reliable information available to base decisions on. The process motivated the DeGreef's to create ChatterBlock, a comprehensive website that offers busy parents a simple way to find activities and resources for children and families in their own community.

ChatterBlock provides parents a protected social network environment with intuitive city-based content. It is a one-stop shop of information with listing of special events, activities, programs and camps, as well as the drop-in schedules for major recreation centres.

"Today's parents have a lot to juggle.  They are time constrained and over committed, yet their child's development remains a top priority," said James.  "There are more activities, entertainment and education choices for families than ever before.  ChatterBlock effectively manages this information, synthesizing the city-based information in an intuitive and accessible way."

ChatterBlock is now in the final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional.  "The feedback from the judges is really important," said James. "They are always good on shedding new light on something that we may not have thought of yet and how we can continue to improve upon our product offering, business model or go-to-market strategy."

The startup also advanced to the top 20 in last year's competition.  For James, the experience a second time around has helped him further develop his company.  "I think it is the fact that we continue to grow and become more and more confident about the product.  It really helps us build upon the value we believe our product offers."

Congratulations to ChatterBlock and good luck in the final round of the competition!  Winners of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional will be announced on February 23, 2012 in Kelowna, BC.

Twitter: @GoChatterBlock

Accelerate Okanagan is accepting applications for BCIC's entrepreneurship@AO, a comprehensive 12-month program designed to support and nurture early-stage technology companies from product concept to market entry, created in partnership with BCIC.

Not based in the Okanagan? Not a problem if you're willing to locate your technology-focused startup in one of the beautiful cities of Kelowna or Penticton for one year!

In its first year, the program will provide support for up to 15 successful applicants.  Each company accepted into the program will receive:

• One-year's enrolment in Accelerate Okanagan's flagship Venture Acceleration Program, offering high-growth technology companies support from a dedicated venture advisor and a wide range of proven entrepreneurs and technology sector experts; access to bi-weekly business clinics; participation in workshops, seminars and other structured educational and skills development programs; and critical connections provincially, nationally and internationally
• Free access to shared office space at the organization's Innovation Centres in Kelowna and Penticton
• Participation in the BCIC Mentor Program, a province-wide development program that matches technology start-up founders with seasoned entrepreneurs. Mentors provide support that is critical for successful growth of the start-up.

The application deadline is February 15, 2012. Companies will be able to pitch to a panel of judges in either Kelowna or Vancouver. The selected applicants will be announced on February 23, 2012, with the Program set to launch March 1, 2012.

entrepreneurship@AO is one of six entrepreneurship@ program developed by BCIC to launch and grow new, sustainable technology companies in BC.

Learn more about entrepreneurship@AO here.

Wavefront's mPower week is coming to Vancouver February 7-9^th.

What is mPower Week?
A unique three-day series of North American conferences bringing together enterprise industry leaders, wireless and M2M solution providers, and mobile operators to:

• Identify critical industry issues and challenges
• Discuss wireless / M2M technology solutions to improve enterprise operations
• Share market trends, best practices and proven strategies
• Promote collaboration and create new relationships between participants

Kicking off the weekend will be the mPower M2M summit. This one day event will attract over 250 technology developers and global business leaders from around the world to create ideas, opportunities, and innovation for solving industry-specific challenges with Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technologies.  International leaders such as Philippe Guillemette, Sierra Wireless, Markus Breitbach, Deutsche Telekom, Mansell Nelson, Vice President M2M Rogers, and Steve Pazol, President nPhase will share  lessons learned and/or technology challenges and trends impacting future development during case study presentations.

BCIC is proud to support the attendance of 20 companies from  the regions across British Columbia in the weekend events:

Feb 7 mPower M2M - Machine-to-Machine technologies are changing the way we do business. Learn from the top players in the M2M ecosystem at this marquee event.
Feb 8 mPower Connections - Pitch your company to global wireless companies in one-on-one business partnering meetings. Open only to conference attendees.
Feb 9 mPower Business - Wireless technologies are completely changing how we engage with customers and employees and drive productivity. Learn from the leaders in the space how to cut the cord on your business and stay ahead of the competition.

Are you a full time student in BC with an interest in science and business?  Here's your opportunity to become a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for one year, and to attend the AAAS Annual Conference held in Vancouver from February 16-20th, 2012.

BCIC has partnered with TRIUMF to extend this exciting opportunity to 200 BC high school and university students in science, engineering and business. The AAAS Annual Meeting will feature extensive career activities for students and professionals, with nearly 20 career development workshops focused on career enhancement, communication, management resources and personal development.

Hear  from world leaders on topics from education, unlocking biology's potential, climate change, culture and health, just to name a few! AAAS features an incredible line up of experts and scientists including  James Hansen of  NASA, Steve MacLean, of the Canadian Space Agency, Rick Hansen, Canada's Man in Motion  and many more.

Tickets are to be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and are expected to go quickly!

Register now!

Follow the conference along on twitter.
Read about the press conference here.

Via Techvibes Newsdesk

Rank		Company	Alexa Rank
1		RackForce	232,423
2		Acro Media Inc.	246,474
3		HuStream Technologies	581,513
4		iRok2 Media Inc	1,305,412
5(2)		Vineyard Networks	1,929,776
6(-1)		VeriCorder	1,939,179
7(-1)		Wedful	2,516,912
8		RFind Systems Inc	9,000,931

Via Techvibes Newsdesk

Rank		Company	Alexa Rank
1		HootSuite Media, Inc.	222
2		PlentyofFish Media	294
3(1)		FetLife	4,099
4(1)		Summify	6,491
5(1)		Fotki.com	7,225
6(1)		Unbounce	8,356
7(1)		Hushmail.com	9,205
8(2)		TradableBits Media Inc.	19,331
9		Pointstreak.com, Inc.	20,103
10(1)		everystockphoto	23,319
11(2)		CityMax.com	31,024
12		Tiny Speck	31,157
13(1)		BuildDirect	32,938
14(1)		Mobify	40,558
15(1)		Playerize	46,135
16		Strutta	51,695
17		Indochino Apparel Inc.	62,353
18		LingQ	63,692
19		My Yoga Online	67,849
20(1)		Rouxbe	75,438
21(4)		mydealbag	78,410
22		Cargoh.com	82,410
23(-3)		Rezgo.com	82,731
24(-1)		MyTripJournal	88,259
25(1)		Clio	88,770
26(1)		Wishpond	102,756
27(-3)		LemonStand	106,729
28		Mentionmapp	118,611
29		A Thinking Ape Inc.	120,087
30(1)		MakeFive	150,962
31(-1)		Orato	154,976
32(3)		Strangeloop	162,666
33(-1)		East Side Games	162,860
34(-1)		ethicalDeal	163,572
35(-1)		Kashoo, Inc.	164,875
36(4)		Payfirma Corporation	165,719
37(-1)		Noomii	179,527
38(-1)		Grooster	207,447
39(3)		RentGeek	207,698
40(-1)		CakeDeals	215,095
41(-3)		TeamPages	228,990
42(-1)		Wonton	254,407
43(1)		NUCAPTCHA	268,695
44(2)		Sillysoft Games	288,144
45(3)		Pulsetracer	290,605
46(-1)		ResponseTek	294,057
47(2)		Vitamin Daily	353,919
48(2)		Contractually	359,610
49(4)		OpenCal	386,630
50(1)		Food.ee	415,415
51(3)		HiretheWorld	416,225
52(3)		Your Tribute	424,601
53(-10)		Offeron Media Corp	433,603
54(-2)		Ubertor	439,764
55(-8)		Geotoko	439,951
56		FundRazr	445,622
57		PayrollHero	484,644
58(-1)		Hoseanna	486,515
59		Upside Wireless	526,441
60(-1)		Partnerpedia	532,091
61(2)		locazU	573,744
62(-1)		Vivity Labs	578,383
63(-3)		Trusted Tenant	595,534
64(-6)		QuickMobile	620,927
65		Livecast	650,912
66(-2)		Tasktop	709,145
67(26)		Finger Food Studios	728,512
68(-6)		NetHooks	744,739
69(-3)		Gym Technik	783,255
70(2)		Weddingful	813,698
71(5)		Memelabs	844,759
72(10)		Odijoo	849,711
73(-5)		Protagonize	912,247
74(-1)		middlespot.com	917,875
75(-4)		Left of the Dot Media Inc	935,126
76(-7)		Nightbat Entertainment	970,708
77(-3)		ThoughtFarmer	972,971
78(-3)		AdHack	973,203
79		Roam Mobility	999,188
80(12)		Breadcrumbs	1,002,523
81(51)		Shirtify.fm	1,020,134
82(-3)		Renter's Den	1,023,646
83(11)		Asterisq	1,035,571
84(-6)		RewardStream	1,046,274
85(14)		Matygo	1,069,983
86(12)		Tagga Media	1,080,252
87(14)		Foodtree	1,084,874
88(-8)		VideoClix	1,104,009
89(-2)		SilkStart Technology Inc.	1,139,301
90(-9)		Vintage Pixels	1,187,936
91(-14)		Wantsa	1,241,607
92(-3)		Indicee Inc.	1,245,660
93(-3)		Krunchd.com	1,247,291
94(3)		Alpha-Score.com	1,255,325
95(18)		ForTwoPlease	1,259,523
96(-12)		Visier Inc.	1,313,323
97(-1)		DreamBank	1,327,117
98(-15)		Allocadia	1,371,003
99(-13)		Tweetizen	1,376,074
100(-15)		MailSlayer.com	1,379,288