British Columbia Innovation Council

BCIC recently caught up with Jonathan Bowers, CEO of MemoryLeaf, who took home third place at the 2011 BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional. MemoryLeaf is an online memorial service where users can create a lasting legacy for their loved ones through photos, videos and stories posted in an engaging and elegant virtual environment. How has MemoryLeaf evolved since the competition just a few months ago? How has the prize money helped kick-start his company?

"We have really moved forward on our business plan - taking what we learned from the competition into many parts of our decisions," said Bowers. "We have since moved into the new accelerator at the Kamloops Innovation Centre recently launched by WD, ISIC and BCIC." The Kamloops Innovation Centre is a full service accelerator which provides office, meeting and laboratory spaces for new and expanding tech entrepreneurs.

When asked if he would recommend BCIC-New Ventures Competition to other tech startups, the answer was an "absolutely."
"The competition is a great experience when you're very early-stage," said Bowers. "It forces you to be accountable and meet deadlines you might not otherwise have." His goal going into the competition was to gain a mentor to help him refine the business. Matched with Gregg Murray of Venture Kamloops and Geordie Henderson of Vancouver's Metalogix Software, Bowers was given some great feedback on the business, ideas and strategies as he refined his pitch.

Jonathan Bowers (centre), MemoryLeaf CEO, with Danny Robinson, BCIC CEO and Bob de Wit, BCIC-New Ventures Competition Executive Director

Also, the jury process was more helpful than he had anticipated. "I had expected to learn some things that I could use to improve the pitch and presentation, but I was pleasantly surprised when we ended up strategizing and throwing new ideas around during the judging," said Bowers. "It was a very encouraging experience to know that the jury was genuinely interested in seeing success."

For more information on MemoryLeaf, visit their website at www.memoryleaf.net and follow them on Twitter @memoryleaf. The BCIC-New Ventures Competition is now underway and the top 40 companies will be announced on May 31st, 2011. Find out more about the BCIC-New Ventures Competition here.

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