British Columbia Innovation Council

BC Business Magazine's list of 20 Most Innovative Companies from BC is out and four past BCIC-New Ventures Competitors made the list. Included on the list are:

• Saltworks Technologies - 2008 Winner
• Awesense Wireless - 2011 Top 10 and BC Hydro Sustainability Winner
• Wifarer - 2011 Top 10
• HiretheWorld - 2010 Winner

The list recognizes the most creative organizations in British Columbia which are shaping the future of the province with their cutting-edge ideas.

Some notable companies in BC from previous iterations of the Top 20 Innovators lists include HootSuite, Lululemon Athletica, AbeBooks, VanCity, and NowPublic.

This week, the biggest names in the global mobile market are congregating in Barcelona, Spain at the 2012 Mobile World Congress (MWC).  With the future of mobile evolving so rapidly, MWC has positioned itself as the ‘global epicenter' of the development and evolution of the mobile media space as it continues to redefine how we work and live.

Among the 60,000 expected to be in attendance is BC's Tutela Technologies Ltd., the second company to emerge from BCIC's entrepreneurship@UVic program.  The Tutela team was invited to attend the ICT industry's largest and most important conference as special guests of Amdocs,  providers of software and services for billing, customer relationship management, and operations support to more than 150 service providers world-wide.

Tutela has teamed up with Amdocs to produce their latest offering, the data experience solution (DES). DES enables consumers to interact with their service plans, browse plan changes, and select innovative upgrades directly from their phones. This week, members of the Tutela team can be found at the Amdocs booth, supporting the demo of DES.

Last month, BCIC shared the successes of YUPIQ, the first company to emerge from the entrepreneurship@UVic program, developed by BCIC in partnership with the University of Victoria, premier investment group Wesley Clover and the Alacrity Foundation, with the support of Western Economic Diversification Canada.  Stay tuned for more exciting news from BCIC's program participants!

When Scott Foubister graduated from the physics program at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in 2010, he turned down a full graduate scholarship at the University of Waterloo in order to start his company vocaba.com - a web application he developed to help people learn vocabulary and terminology online.

He came up with the idea while studying for his Spanish elective while at TRU. To aid his efforts, Scott created a computer program that could quiz him on the all new words and terms he was learning. After seeing the excitement of his university professors when he shared the secret to his success, Vocaba was born.

Vocaba was officially launched September 2011 at TRU.  Students in Spanish, French, Japanese, ESL, linguistics and botany classes have since been benefiting from using Vocaba to learn new vocabulary and terminology. For the January-April 2012 semester, Vocaba is being used by 20 TRU courses in modern languages, ESL and sciences.

The feedback from students and teachers has been great and the plan is to offer Vocaba in other programs at TRU and other BC universities in the fall of 2012.

The Kamloops startup is also eyeing partnerships with textbook publishers to expand distribution across Canada and the US over the next couple of years.

How does it work?

Vocaba gives students access to all the vocabulary they need to learn for their classes.  It allows students to study from any computer and watch their progress as it is tracked automatically. Teachers can also see how much students are studying and what they are having the most trouble with.

"I love having the opportunity to help people learn more effectively," said Scott. "I have a strong desire to understand how to best use technology to achieve this goal."

Scott began working with mentor Dr. Lincoln Smith from the University-Industry Liaison Office at TRU while still a student.  After graduation he moved into the newly created Kamloops Innovation Centre, also supported by BCIC, and has continued to receive invaluable support and mentorship from the Kamloops tech community.

In January, TRU signed an agreement of cooperation with Kamloops Innovation Centre.  "Our relationship with KIC will support entrepreneurial activities amongst our students and faculty," said Dr. Smith. "We want to foster a culture on campus where innovative services and products are identified, evaluated, and turned into new ventures."

"Having access to these BCIC-supported programs and resources in Kamloops has helped me follow my entrepreneurial dream. I am looking forward to passing on this support and mentorship to future TRU students and alumni coming to KIC and seeing them follow their dreams." adds Scott.

CLICK HERE for video interview with Scott.

The company is now competing for a piece of $60,000 in cash prizes in the third and final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional. The winners will be announced February 23, 2012 in Kelowna.

Good luck Vocaba!

www.vocaba.com

SoKap isn't just a fundraising platform. It's a social utility created to accelerate project finance. SoKap helps creative entrepreneurs incubate ideas, raise funds, build markets and sell products and services online. It is a simple, transparent payment program that is completely set up and controlled by each user.

While there are many crowdfunding websites available, SoKap is the only one to allow both the project owner and the supporter to benefit financially.

The Okanagan-based company started out to fix a problem in film finance as a result of piracy on the web that was affecting global sales of films.  Increased downloading and file sharing activity have created a significant risk for investment, further limiting the advance distribution of projects.

Foreign buyers were no longer buying large territorial licenses in advance to help fund the films. To David Geertz and Murray Swales, cofounders of SoKap, the solution was obvious - make the size of the licenses bite-sized and give hyper local influencers a significant stake in the success of the product instead.  Make the fans the studio. This notion was the impetus for the development of the SoKap system.

SoKap :

• Assists creative entrepreneurs in raising funds and building markets
• Provides connectors with income opportunities from emerging businesses
• Connects consumers to new and exciting projects and products from the best independent content producers.

What's been the most valuable part of the competition for this startup so far?

"The feedback from the judges has been valuable in helping us really focus our messaging," said Murray,.

"The competition has been valuable in connecting us with other members of BC's startup community.  We've learned a lot throughout the entire process," adds David.

In November, the Okanagan-based startup was named a finalist in the 2^nd annual BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional and is now preparing its final pitch in hopes of winning one of three cash prizes totaling $60,000. The winners will be announced February 23, 2012 in Kelowna.

Good luck SoKap!

Thanks to MediaCore, educational institutions and organizations can deliver a fully customizable video learning experience that educators can use to engage students and staff, increase retention and facilitate faster learning.

MediaCore is a cloud-based, online video learning platform specifically optimized for post-secondary institutions, K-12 institutions, corporations, conferences and training institutions that share the common need of educating students or staff online. It allows an organization to launch and control their own educational video experience that can be shared publicly or privately across desktop and mobile devices.

The Victoria-based startup has advanced to the third and final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional and is preparing its final pitch in hopes of taking home one of three cash prizes totaling $60,000.

Last month, BCIC caught up with Stuart Bowness, Founder of MediaCore, to learn more about the startup:

What's unique or innovative about your technology?
There are a lot of video platforms out there that provide video hosting, encoding and analytics for organizations. MediaCore is an all-in-one solution for educational institutions. We're working on making it possible to upload videos of classroom lectures and conference seminars to the MediaCore cloud where they can be easily accessed by those wanting to review content later.

When you upload a video to MediaCore, it is automatically encoded for both desktop browsers and mobile devices. Then when you hit publish, we take care of the thumbnail generation, storage and delivery of the video and we provide you with a fully customizable website that displays your video content in a simple and beautiful way. If an educational institution were to undertake this on their own, there would be significant development costs and the end result wouldn't be nearly as organized, searchable or browseable as the tools we provide by default.

What has been your focus over the past year?
This year, with the explosion of video into the mobile market on iPhones and Android devices, we received a large number of requests to make the video browsing experience work really well for mobile users. Last June, we responded to this request by launching a complete mobile web app experience that compliments the full desktop browsing experience that every MediaCore powered site has.

Over the past couple of months, we've been working hard to provide organizations with the ability to distribute video and audio content securely. Organizations are now able to use MediaCore as a private video site by email inviting users to their site and then controlling what those users are able to view.

In the next few months, you can except to see some big things from MediaCore. Stay tuned!

What has been the most valuable part of the competition so far?
Honestly, the pitch critiques have been terrific and we've learned a lot from them. We revise and hone our pitch after each round and it just keeps getting better and better. It's true, practice really does make perfect.

Good luck to Stuart and his team at MediaCore!  Winners of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional will be announced on February 23, 2012 in Kelowna, BC.

Twitter: @getmediacore

It only took 172 years but the excavating industry is about to change thanks to the latest innovation of Kelowna-based entrepreneur Lea Sirr.

Sirr Excavator Hands Inc.'s XHAND^TM is a novel multi-function attachment that can excavate and screen aggregate. It's a "Swiss Army Knife" for an excavator that integrates the functions of an Excavator, Cat, Shovel loader and Screener in one unit. For contractors in the excavating, demolition, forestry, pipeline and disaster relief efforts that involve a variety of excavating and screening services, the XHAND can significantly improve equipment or operator productivity and job profitability.

In 1998, Lea patented the XHAND and has spent years developing his technology and company, Sirr Excavator Hands Inc.  After hearing about the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional, Lea seized the opportunity learn from workshops and networking opportunities offered by the competition and has successfully advanced to the final round of the competition and has the opportunity to take home one of three prizes totaling $60,000.

"The most valuable part of this Competition so far has been the professional consulting that has been provided. They helped move my company in a positive direction and taught me much needed business and communication skills. These experienced leaders have provided encouragement, ideas and offered to connect me to those who can help move my business forward," said Lea.

Lea is currently in contract negotiations with a major U.S. heavy equipment attachment manufacturer.

Congratulations and good luck to Lea 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.

Votari is an easy to use, real-time question and response web application that allows teachers and presenters to ask their audience questions and instantly collect responses submitted over their smart phone devices. The company's real-time communication technology and highly usable interface make responding even easier than the traditional methods of raised hands or individual whiteboards.

With Votari, teachers can very quickly determine the general understanding of a topic and adapt the class accordingly. As a hosted service delivered over touch devices, school staff and students are not burdened with setup and proximity issues. Students can participate remotely and enjoy the same real time access as a student sitting in the class.

Jonathan Bowers, founder of Votari, came up with this unique approach using touch devices in response to their prevalence inside today's classrooms. Why not capitalize on the technology already in place to reduce the need to set things up ahead of time and save the precious resource of time? While the application lends itself nicely to the classroom, the startup is exploring non-education based uses as well. Stay tuned...

Votari has advanced to the final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional. The winners will be announced February 23, 2012 in Kelowna. Good luck Votari!

votari.com

twitter: @votariapp

Talk to any golfer or tennis player and they will tell you that having the right grip is key to a good swing.   Often, residue left on the hands after a sunscreen application can hinder a player's performance.   To address this problem, West Kelowna's Richard Martindale founded TanMan Sun Control Product Ltd., manufacturers of a sunscreen that can actually improve grip for better performance while protecting the individual from harmful UV rays.

Offering a full spectrum of protection, TanMan's grip-improving SPF 30+ product provides 97% effective protection against UVA and UVB rays.  Need another reason to like TanMan? We'll give you two! TanMan's products have ten times the shelf life of comparable products on the market and business card-size packaging makes it easy to take with you anywhere.

TanMan was recently named to the top 20 finalists of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional.  For the next month, Richard will benefit from the final business workshops and mentoring opportunities offered by the competition as he prepares his final pitch in hopes to taking home one of three cash prizes totaling $60,000.

"The most valuable part of the competition so far is the encouraging words and comments from those ‘in the know'," said Richard. "The judges have been supportive and it seems we've captured some positive attention as we've made it this far. Encouragement is always good."

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

What the Fast (WTFast) is growing fast and furiously.  After taking home first place at Accelerate Okanagan's first ever Jump:Start:Challenge in November 2011, this startup has advanced to the third and final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional and is competing  to win one of three cash prizes worth a total of $60,000.

For Rob Bartlett, founder of the WTFast, his passion for gaming began at the young age of six with his Commodore 64 and has since led him to his dream job.  Since 2009, Rob has worked persistently to start and grow WTFast, an online game accelerator service which reduces the latency in popular MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games such as World of Warcraft. WTFast's software allows users to effectively optimize the game data to experience increased connection speeds by 60-90%.

"Successful video games motivate users by giving them a good mix of challenges and rewards.  Generally the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward," said Rob.  "I see WTFast as my real-life video game.  Building WTFast is a much bigger challenge than any video game I have ever played, but it also offers a much bigger reward."

Motivated to build WTFast into a successful company, Rob is doing all he can to ensure he has the skills and resources to do it.  Thanks to the training and mentorship he has received from Accelerate Okanagan, WTFast came out on top at this year's Jump:Start:Challenge - and now a top 20 finalist in the regional venture competition operated by New Ventures BC Society, in partnership with BCIC.   As Rob credits, "this is clearly an indication Accelerate Okanagan is doing a great job."

Over the next month, Rob will absorb all he can from the final mentoring sessions, workshops, pitch practices and networking opportunities offered by the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional.  Best of luck to Rob in the last round of the competition! Winners of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional will be announced on February 23, 2012 in Kelowna, BC.

Twitter: @WTFast

North America's tap water is among the best in the world. Virtually free of harmful microorganisms, it doesn't make sense to Tim and Patricia Phelan, founders of Waterpac, that an incredible quantity of single serving plastic bottled water is transported throughout North America each year. In fact, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the volume of bottled water rose by 13% to over 2 billion litres nationally in 2006 alone.

With this in mind, the Phelans have developed their own sustainable solution to combat this growing burden to the environment. Waterpac makes a portable, tea-bag style water purifier for removing chlorine from a personal-sized container of tap water. It is 100% biodegradable and meets NSF standards.

Waterpac is unique because the filter allows consistently good results and is environmentally friendly.

"What motivates us in this project is ultimately to fund projects supporting those who don't have access to drinkable water in the world and to lessen the impact of plastic water bottles thrown away," says Patricia. "We want to provide a new, sustainable option for removing chlorine and disinfection byproducts and improving the purity and taste of municipal water."

What's been the most valuable part of the competition for the Phelans so far?

"For us, the most valuable part of the competition has been the incredible advice we've received by world class mentors - right here in Trail - who apply their experiences from their successful careers to our business case," she adds.

Following the 2nd annual BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional, the Trail-based startup intends to put its business plan into motion and make the transition from R & D to sales.

This Trail-based startup is now competing for a piece of $60,000 in cash prizes in the third and final round of the BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional. The winners of the BCIC- New Ventures Competition: Regional will be announced February 23, 2012 in Kelowna. Click here to register to attend the awards ceremony.

Good luck Waterpac, we look forward to seeing you on the shelves soon!