British Columbia Innovation Council

Danny Robinson, BCIC CEO; Jonathan Bowers, Memory Leaf; Kerith Perreur-Lloyd, SideStix; Sarah Doherty, SideStix; Ashley Roulston, Reef Safe Fish; and Bob de Wit, New Ventures BC Executive Director

After five months of business planning, mentoring and pitching, the three winners of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional were announced last night in Kelowna, BC. Thank you and congratulations to all the judges, mentors, sponsors and applicants for making the inaugural Competition a great success. Here are the winners:

$30,000 BCIC First prize: Reef Safe Fish (Victoria, BC)
Recent university graduates and siblings, Ashley and Robert Roulston at Reef Safe Fish have developed a closed loop waste-recycling technology that filters fish waste and then combines it with fertilizer to produce fish food onsite.

$20,000 BCIC Second prize: SideStix Ventures Inc. (Roberts Creek, BC)
As an athlete and amputee, Sarah Doherty and her team at SideStix have revolutionized the common walking crutch for the disabled, developing an ergonomic, shock-absorbing forearm crutch that significantly reduces joint compression and the secondary injuries that often arise from using crutches.

$10,000 BCIC Third prize: MemoryLeaf Media Inc. (Kamloops, BC)
MemoryLeaf's online memorial service, created by Jonathan Bowers whose family runs a local funeral home, lets users create a lasting legacy for their loved ones through photos, videos and stories. The service, arranged through local funeral service providers, also offers professionally developed resources to help answer questions about the grieving process.

Read more about the Competition in the official media release.

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