British Columbia Innovation Council

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.

This morning in sub-zero temperatures, a press conference was held at the Vancouver Aquarium to generate buzz about the significance of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting and international conference coming to Vancouver in just one month and the role Canadian scientists will play.

The conference, taking place February 16-20, 2012, will bring 8,000 of the world's brightest scientific minds from more than 60 countries to our province and provides an incredible opportunity to showcase Canadian leadership in science. "What the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games did for athletes, the AAAS annual conference will do for scientists, athletes of the mind," said Tim Meyer, Head, Strategic Planning and Communications, TRIUMF and 2011 Business in Vancouver Top 40 Under 40.

The theme for this year's meeting is ‘Flattening the World: Building a Global Knowledge Society'. The series of symposia, seminars, workshops and poster sessions will delve into the increasing mix of science and society.

Annually, the AAAS Annual Meeting provides a powerful platform for collaboration and communication amongst all in attendance, including scientists, policymakers, international media and the public - and BCIC is making it possible for 200 lucky young scientists to attend. Through a $19,000 investment, BCIC has partnered with TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, to allocate 200 tickets to BC high school and university students in science, engineering and business. With that comes a year's membership to AAAS. The students will have the opportunity to soak in the four days of scientific discovery, discussion and demonstration while hearing from leading scientists and engineers.

Members of the public are invited to visit Family Science Days, a community science showcase featuring hands-on demonstrations and other family and kid oriented activities while shining the spotlight on researchers and science educators who are instrumental in promoting interest in science and technology.

All Family Science Days events are free to the public and will take place on Saturday and Sunday, February 18-19, 2012 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Dr. Tim Meyer, TRIUMF, introduces the panel: Andrew Petter, President, SFU; Professors Karen Bakker and Julio Montaner, UBC; Dr. John Nightingale, President, Vancouver Aquarium; Richard T. Lee, Government of BC; Wai Young, Government of Canada

Shakti Ramkumar (Kwantlen Park Secondary) and Nicholas Johnston (Semiahmoo Secondary), Canada Wide Science Fair participants, past participants of BCIC's Innovation Exploration, and recipients of 2 passports to AAAS meet and greet with the panel.

BCTIA's TechBrew is back! Don't miss out on this opportunity to mix, mingle and network with fellow BC entrepreneurs and innovators, and make new business contacts while experiencing cool technology demos.

Need another reason to purchase your ticket to TechBrew on January 26^th? Enjoy local micro-brews and BC wines at the Stanley Park Pavilion. In fact, your first drink is on BCTIA!

The following companies will be showcased at the next TechBrew:

LookeeTV (@LookeeTV)

McKesson - 2011 Technology Impact Award Finalist: Best Application of Technology

MediaCore (@getmediacore) - 2011 Finalist BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional

Pixton Comics (@Pixton) - 2011 Best in Show: Victoria Launch Party, 2011 Webby Award Honoree in the "Youth" category.

Polymer Research Technology - 2011 Winner  BCIC-New Ventures Competition

RewardLoop (@RewardLoop) - 2011 2^nd place BCIC-New Ventures Competition,  2011 Technology Impact Award Winner: Most Promising Start-up

Xomo Digital (@xomo) - 2011 Technology Impact Award Finalist: Most Promising Start-up

Register now!

For event details contact Sabrina Cercle, Events & Sponsorship, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 604.602.5241

More than 300 members of  the Okanagan's vibrant startup community kicked off the New Year in style at the Okanagan Technology Community New Year Party last Thursday at the Laurel Packinghouse in the heart of downtown Kelowna.

Members of the BCIC team attended the festivities and had the opportunity to chat with a number of the event's guests made up of key stakeholders, partners, investors, mentors, employers, service providers, suppliers and other members of the Okanagan tech and business community. Among them was Richard Taylor from rt Strategy, an Okanagan-based branding agency that played an instrumental role in execution of Accelerate Okanagan's (AO) New Year Kick Off Party and Kristin Garn and Jessika von Innerebner from Mathtoons, which is changing the way students view and learn math!

AO's Acting CEO, Jeff Keen, kicked off the evening with a very heartwarming welcome to everyone in the room.  He took special attention to extend a special ‘thank you' to BCIC for the pivotal role it has played in the success and development of Accelerate Okanogan and the eight other member councils that make up the BC Regional Science & Technology Network (BCRSTN).

Congrats to Accelerate Okanagan for a successful and sold out event!

http://www.accelerateokanagan.com/

https://twitter.com/AccelerateOK

BCIC is pleased to support the new  ‘Hot Desking' service offered by the Centre4Growth.  The service is open to technology entrepreneurs and companies from all corners of the province,  extending complimentary short-term work space and meeting rooms to assist them while conducting business in the lower mainland.

Located within the Leading Edge Technology Centre at 1188 West Georgia, entrepreneurs will have access to wireless internet, A/V, and workspace from 9am to 6pm up to 2 days per month.

Take advantage of this valuable resource the next time you travel for your startup's needs. Reservations can be made here through the online booking system.

Mary is a small business owner in Kelowna, BC. She owns a small boutique clothing store. It's a rainy Wednesday afternoon and as a result, business is slow. She logs into her StreetText account, selects 50 of her customers and sends a quick text message that says "Rainy Wednesday Promotion". Within hours, her store is busy!

Sound promising? It is. StreetText adds a layer of interactive marketing to a small business' existing marketing mix by enabling owners to deliver targeted messages and promotions direct to customers by text. StreetText incorporates SMS ‘text' technology and does not require an app to work.  Since most Canadians already know how to text, it transforms conventional marketing into interactive marketing and quickly enables potential customers to experience a variety of creative and spontaneous promotions from the business they already like.

With StreetText, it is also easier than ever to track the response and build a CRM of current and future customers.  Customers can also opt out at any time or if they enjoy receiving promotions or information from the business they can continue to do so. The application is completely free from a user's standpoint.

StreetText has advanced to the final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional. Recently, BCIC connected with Stephen Whiting for Simple Engine Media, providers of StreetText for Small Business, to learn more about the inspiration behind StreetText:

Read more

It was a packed house this morning as close to 80 members of the SFU community gathered at the Surrey Campus for the official launch of entrepreneurship@SFU, a new high-tech entrepreneurship initiative created in partnership with BCIC and Dr. Ken Spencer.

The new Ken Spencer Entrepreneur Incubator is a component of the entrepreneurship@SFU initiative in partnership with BCIC. It will unite third- and fourth-year business and applied sciences students and provide them with the skills, mentorship and resources to turn their innovative ideas into successful new ventures.

The campus was brimming with entrepreneurial spirit this morning as Dean Prelazzi, BCIC's VP of Business Development, Idea & Market Validation Stages, Dr. Ken Spencer, Daniel Shapiro, Dean of SFU's Beedie School of Business and Nimal Rajapakse, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences addressed the crowd to commemorate the launch.

Following the announcement, members of the community were invited to tour the new Product Design Studio, established in partnership with BCIC, a work and meeting space outfitted with design and prototyping equipment to help students launch new ventures.

Entrepreneurship@SFU, now in its pilot phase, will accept 20-25 students each year for seven years beginning in the fall of 2012. The program's goal is to produce six potential companies or products annually and to become an important contributor to BC's technology sector generating jobs, revenues and intellectual capital.

Learn more about entrepreneurship@SFU here.

Additional articles:
Globe and Mail Link | PDF
Surrey Leader Link | PDF
The Surrey Now Link | PDF

There's still time to submit your application to join this three-day workshop designed to help BC tech entrepreneurs analyze the value of their business idea and develop the strategies needed for a successful business model.

The sessions, lead by Mark Dance will cover the critical elements of business planning and product management from sustainable differentiation, pricing, sources of capital, market to expansion strategy.   Upon completion of the last workshop there is a final project, which forms the basis of three hours of one-on-one mentorship, where Mark will work with each company independently.

Application Deadline: Wednesday, January 18^th

CLICK HERE for more details.

What past participants have to say about the Technology Commercialization & Business Planning Workshop:

"As a startup it is easy to get caught up in the work at hand (and the building of "things") rather than the chess-moves needed to land a good customer and a solid contract. I think about strategy more often now than ever before. "
- Founder & CEO, Electric Vehicle Tech Company

"Combined with the one-on-one mentoring, this commercialization workshop strengthened our business strategy and probably advanced our market entry by 6 months."
- Founder & CEO, Clean Agricultural Systems Company

"This program was extremely valuable and very helpful to our business. Now we have a much better understanding of the challenges we are facing. I wish we could have taken this program a year earlier. I highly recommend Mark Dance's workshop."
- Founder & CEO of Battery Technology Company

"Course was excellent and very helpful in focusing on the REAL critical issues of Marketplace Economics and Key Milestones for entrepreneurs...Thanks!"
- Serial Entrepreneur & Founder of Hydrogen Fuel Company

APPLY NOW!