Innovation + Job News

It's the single largest ever private donation to cancer research in Canada: $50 million to Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital. The gift comes from Canadian philanthropists Emmanuelle Gattuso and Allan Slaight, who will be making their donation over the next ten years.

It's a personal commitment for them: Gattuso was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and treated at Princess Margaret.

Paul Alofs, president and CEO of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, announced the donation earlier this month at a press conference. He was joined by Gattuso and Dr. Bob Bell, president of the University Health Network, who said that, "This donation is going to add significant momentum to Princess Margaret Cancer Centre's global leadership in advancing personalized cancer medicine."

The money will go to creating a "superfund" for recruiting researchers in, and accelerating the development of, personalized cancer medicine. Personalized cancer medicine is based on genetic analysis of individual tumours in order to allow for the development of customized treatment plans that target the specificities of any given patient's disease.

The hospital's work in this area includes precision genomics, advanced tumour biology, immune therapy, and molecular imaging, explained research director Benjamin Neel. "We've probably learned more about the basic biology of cancer in the last year than in all of human history before that," he says. Researchers are now learning how to treat cancer far more precisely. Current therapies like chemotherapy provide only blunt tools by comparison.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Princess Margaret Hospital

It's not the most pressing medical issue, but it's one that affects almost all of us at some point in our lives: post-surgical scarring. It's not just an aesthetic concern -- though in cases like the treatment of burns, the disfiguring effects of scarring can be life-altering -- since scarring can be painful and, depending on its location on the body, also inhibit movement. A local startup called ScarX Therapeutics is working on commercializing a new treatment for post-surgical scarring, and it's just received a $250,000 cash infusion to help things along.

The investment comes courtesy of the Ontario Centres of Excellence, a non-profit research accelerator funded by the provincial government. It's the first award distributed through Ontario's recently expanded market readiness program. It will allow ScarX to begin clinical trials later this year.

The topical treatment, a cream patients would apply themselves, emerged from research done by Hospital for Sick Children scientist Dr. Benjamin Alman. His work (which has also been supported by MaRS Innovation) actually focused on a rare type of tumour originally, until he realized that a pain-relief treatment he'd come across in the course of that research had the effect of diminishing scar formation. He's still hoping that after the scar treatment, which could serve a much wider group of patients, is finished, the molecule in question can be developed into a treatment for that tumour as well.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ontario Centres of Excellence

Entrepreneurs are, by definition, people with new ideas they want to bring forward in the marketplace. Knowing what you want to create and sell, however, doesn't necessarily mean you know how to go about selling it.

Enter a new partnership between MaRS Discovery District’s information technology, communications and entertainment practice (ICE) and e-commerce agency Demac Media. Last month, they launched a new advisory service to help startups handle e-commerce effectively.

The goal, says ICE's go-to-market lead Nathan Monk, is "to close the gap between what we're seeing developed and what is coming to market." That is, right now e-commerce's capacities often outstrip the uses to which new companies put it. "A lot of the time," he explains, no matter how great their products or ideas are, startups "haven't actually done the customer development. They need the methodology to reduce the risk of failure."

"Canadians will almost double their mobile spent…by the end of this year," Monk says, but many startups aren't well positioned to offer their customers an optimal e-commerce experience.

The new advisory services (many of which are exclusive to MaRS clients) include office hours for clients to discuss potential strategies with Demac Media experts, workshops for tackling topics such as e-commerce interfaces, and public discussions on broader subjects like email and seasonal marketing. A meet-up group is now online for those interested in the latter.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Nathan Monk, Go-to-Market Lead, ICE practice, MaRS Discovery District

Globalive founder Anthony Lacavera announed recently that he'll be stepping down as chairman and CEO of WIND Mobile, one of that company's key holdings, and will focus his energy on a new venture capital project, Globalive Capital.

WIND Mobile was launched by Globalive in 2008, with financial backing from Orascom Telecom, and reports that it currently has more than 600,000 subscribers across Canada, making it the fourth-largest mobile provider in Canada after "big three," Rogers, Telus, and Bell.

“As an entrepreneur, my vision was to ignite change across the wireless landscape in Canada, bringing more competition, better prices and superior service to Canadians...[a]nd that is exactly what we did,” Lacavera said in a press statement, explaining his reasons for leaving now.

The financial details haven't been made public, but Orascom will purchase Lacavela's shares from him, pending regulatory approval. Orascom is an Egyptian company, but recent changes to legislation allow foreign ownership of telecoms with less than 10 per cent of the market.

A timeline hasn't been announced yet, but Globalive Capital will launch in "early 2013," the company says. It will focus specifically on "entrepreneurs developing early-stage technology, media, and telecom companies." Further details are so far scarce, but more are promised soon.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Globalive

The presence and capacity of mobile devices have outstripped the services available on them, according to a new report from OCAD University, but dealing with this problem could provide ample opportunity for Ontario, including job creation. 

The Taking Ontario Mobile report examines, "how to engage mobility in order to better realize the full potential of all of Ontario's residents, bring significant increases in productivity, create and retain jobs in the knowledge industries, allow inclusion and engagement, and build on Ontario's extant leadership in the broadcast of mobile industries."

The goal is to lay out some courses Ontario should be charting in order to become more productive, create more jobs, and and increase engagement with the development of new mobile strategies.

In general terms, the report argues that "public services can be delivered in a more cost-effective and efficient manner" with the help of mobile technology -- important at a time where deficit-fighting is the government's prevailing concern. More specifically, the report considers mobile opportunities in five key sectors (some governmental and some commercial).

1) Education, including applications in primary and secondary classrooms, at the post-secondary level, and in retraining to create a more flexible workforce. 

2) Health, for instance providing more efficient care to seniors with remote monitoring.

3) Government services, where a large range of efficiencies may be found by managing data more effectively and making it available more quickly, and where mobile may be an invaluable tool for offering necessary services to rural and remote populations.

4) Cultural industries, where we already have a strong talent pool, can be made even stronger by using mobile to create larger audiences for the work we produce.

5) Commerce, especially significant given that Ontario is home to most of Canada's banks and financial institutions. "The face of m-commerce is still undeveloped," the report finds, "and the area is ripe for design, creating opportunities for the traditional finance sector and for new players."

"Failing to act now," the report warns, "will disadvantage Ontario in numerous ways."

The full text of the report is available online [PDF].

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: "Taking Ontario Mobile" (OCAD)

The Conference Board of Canada has announced it will host an innovation summit in Toronto in February. The summit is part of the board's plan to support businesses in their efforts to become more innovative. The Innovation for the Corporation summit is a two-day event that will seek to better understand why Canada isn't as strong a leader in innovation as many think we could and should be.

"We've seen the report cards that put us in a declining space...our innovation performance is ranked 21st," explained Bruce Good, executive director of CBC's Centre for Business Innovation, in a video announcing the summit. As several indices all show that same slip in our comparative success in innovation, Good goes on, "the time for change is now."

He believes infrastructure, stable government, sound fiscal management capabilities, and a lot of latent energy and enthusiasm are raw resources ready to be tapped. The summit will focus on four key areas to help the business community make the most of those strengths, and understand specific areas where we're falling behind: funding mechanisms, people and skills, business strategies, and what has to change for us to do better. Speakers range from the presidents of several major corporations -- IBM, Cisco, and GE, for instance --to researchers and the leads at young startups who are finding success in their own innovative smaller businesses.

The Innovation for the Corporation summit takes place on February 19-20 at the Fairmont Royal York. Online registration is now open and early bird fees available until January 18.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Conference Board of Canada

The Ontario government created a non-partisan advisory body called the Jobs and Prosperity Council in early 2012 to help develop strategies for long-term productivity and growth. In December, that 14-member council issued its report [PDF], which included a series of recommendations for supporting and enhancing Ontario's productivity. Of particular interest was recommendation number six: that the government "accelerate the commercialization of new products, ideas and services in Ontario that can compete globally."

To that end, and following a specific action proposed by the council, Ontario recently announed that it will be testing out a Commercialization and Innovation Voucher system. The voucher will, according to a press statement issued by Minister of Economic Development and Innovation Brad Duguid, "provide eligible small and medium-sized enterprises with resources to work with research institutions to address challenges and improve their productivity, performance and competitiveness."

Though details aren't yet available, the pilot project is meant to facilitate collaboration between academics and smaller companies through the creation of a marketplace of sorts, a mechanism by which those smaller companies can "access [the] innovation, productivity and commercialization services" that a growing number of research institutions are developing.

The minister's office was unable to provide us with information about the program's specifics, but existing voucher programs in Nova Scotia and Alberta may provide some insight into what the Ontario government has in mind. In those provinces, vouchers range in value from $15,000 to $50,000 each, and businesses with fewer than 51 employees in Alberta, or 100 in Nova Scotia, are eligible to apply.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Office of Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Innovation

It's a distinctly modern annoyance when cellphones run out of juice. Today we rely so heavily on our mobiles that a dead battery can scupper meetings, disrupt dinner plans, and overturn after-school carpool arrangements.

Toronto startup DanTeb Enterprises aims to help the battery-drained by installing mobile charging stations at select locations across Toronto in the coming months.

The idea came about, co-founder Laura Miller explains, in the most ordinary of ways. She was on the phone with her father, who was telling her a story about a friend of his who had come across a mobile charging station while travelling in Mexico -- and as he was telling her that story, her own phone ran out of power.

DanTeb officially launched with a pilot this past summer with stations at the CNE. Things ran smooth enough between visitors to the Ex and convention attendees, Miller says, that they've quickly moved on to their next phase: installing five or six stations in the PATH underground mall downtown, and a total of 20-25 stations across Toronto this quarter.

The stations use MicroPulse charging technology, which allows for fast charging. The point isn't to charge a phone back to full battery, explains Miller, but to give it enough power in a short time to allow users to make a few calls and survive on standby until they're back at home or work. Users can access the phone while it charges or check out the station's touchscreen, which will come with some apps and advertisements. Those ads will provide revenue for the startup.

DanTeb is currently supported by the Ryerson Digital Media Zone and the university's new urban energy business incubator, i-CUE. Miller says the two-person operation will hopefully ramp up to about a dozen staff within the next six months. In addition to a strong sales team, she'll be looking to bring on engineers and technical experts. She hopes that soon the charging stations, which right now are imported from Spain, will soon be built locally.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Laura Miller, Co-founder, DanTeb Enterprises

Technology news site Techvibes has just unveiled the finalists for 2012's Canadian Startup Awards with Toronto startups snagging more spots than any other city. 

The finalists this year were selected from "well over 1,200 nominees," writes Techvibes president Rob Lewis in a blog post announcing the shortlist. It's a list, happily, that features many Toronto startups, and includes several you might have learned about here on Yonge Street.

Among them are photo sharing site 500px, which has seen exponential growth in its staff over the past year, and also made its first acquisition, Algo Anywhere, in 2012; Wave, which makes cloud-based apps for small businesses; and data sharing platform Hubba, which helps retailers and brands tell their stories more effectively.

Techvibes introduced the awards, in conjunction with consulting firm KPMG, just last year. Toronto-based e-reading company Wattpad won that inaugural award, after more than 11,000 votes were cast.

You have until midnight on Friday, January 25 to cast your ballot.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Techvibes

It was nearly two years ago that Yonge Street first told you about B2B marketing company Influitive. The company was just getting ready for the beta launch of its advocacy-based platform, and like all startups, nobody was quite sure how things would go.

Very well, it turns out. Just before the holidays, the company announced that it has closed $7.3 million in Series A financing. The funding is coming from Hummer Winblad and Relay Ventures, along with some support from existing investors, and will go towards further development of the company's platform. They are also hiring: at 18 staff members now, Influitive currently has four positions they are trying to fill, and anticipate further hiring later this year.

Influitive, headquartered in both Toronto and San Francisco, is making its name with AdvocateHub, a marketing platform which relies on customer reviews, referrals, and engagement. Companies encourage their best customers to sign up; those participants then become advocates for the companies and brands they like, and in return those advocates receive benefits from the companies they've recommended. The idea is that these recommendations can be especially trusted because the advocates are motivated by receiving services from the very companies they are endorsing -- and why would you go to the trouble if you didn't think those services were valuable?

The company is clearly on a roll: as the Financial Post reports, they closed an earlier round of funding—$3.75 million—just four months ago.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Influitive

Canadians pride themselves on being hardy—and especially on being able to withstand weather extremes. We compare notes on the depth of our snowfalls, then go out and play hockey when it's -20 degrees.

The homes we live in aren't quite that immune to the cold though.

According to the National Research Council of Canada, up to 60 per cent of our residential energy use goes to heating our homes—a number that is often so high because much of the heat that's generated rapidly escapes. In an effort to retain more of that heat, and cut energy use, some Toronto researchers and architects are now piloting a nested thermal envelope home design: essentially creating a home within your home, to facilitate heat retention.

Ryerson professor Russell Richman is the co-principal investigator exploring the design. He's working with a colleague from the University of Toronto, Kim Pressnail, as well architecture firm ERA. The idea arose soon after Richman had a baby, he says, and his family had to go from a cooler house to one that was constantly heated to keep the baby comfortable. This got him wondering "Why can't I warm just one little zone?" So that's what Richman then proceeded to do, by installing a space heater. But it also got him thinking about how that effect could be recreated in a larger living space.

The nested design works by creating two zones within a home: a main, fully heated zone at the centre of your house where you do most of your living, and a perimeter buffer zone, which is kept at five degrees. The temperature difference between the zones reduces heat loss off the bat, and then a heat pump installed between the core and the perimeter pumps heat back into the central core of the house before it escapes entirely.

Richman and his colleagues are piloting their concept at a house owned by the University of Toronto, which will provide them with some information about the viability of the nested design as a retrofit for existing homes. That's the harder case. Future investigations will look at how the zone model can be incorporated into new construction from the outset.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Russell Richman, Professor of Architectural Science, Ryerson University

The Association of University Technology Managers, among other things, monitors academic technology transfer data. That is, it looks at the rate at which technological innovations that start out in universities and colleges make it out into the wider world. It's an important indicator, as it helps us understand how effectively and often research gets applied—the rate at which innovations have a chance at actually improving our lives and contributing to our economy.

Recently AUTM released their 2011 Canadian Licensing Activity Survey, and their findings are encouraging. Writing on behalf of the organization, assistant vice-president Gina Funicelli said the survey shows "increased activity between institutions and industry." Moreover, says Funicelli, "a greater focus on industry engagement by Canadian institutions is returning dividends in the form of increased income and institutional equity."

One particularly strong result, according to the survey: "The number of startups created by Canadian institutions increased by 36 per cent" in 2011. (This is perhaps especially significant given that research expenditures were actually down.) And those startups are staying close to home: 100 per cent of them are in the home province of their licensing institution.

For those interested in Toronto's position in all this, here's a number that's certainly startling: of the 68 startups described above, a whopping 34 per cent, or 23 startups, formed from a single institution—the University of Toronto.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: The Association of University Technology Managers Canadian Licensing Activity Survey (2011)

In a bid to ease some of the growing pains media companies face as they adapt to a rapidly changing digital world, earlier this month Polar Mobile launch MediaEverywhere, a development platform for mobile sites (in the future it will also include mobile apps). Among the Canadian publishers signed up: Toronto Star, Canadian Living, Hockey News and Elle Canada.

The plaform "enables media companies to build better custom mobile sites and apps faster and easier than tradi­tional custom devel­opment," wrote Polar CEO Kunal Gupta in a blog post introducing MediaEverywhere. Essentially, it's a tool that aims to streamline the process of making publications mobile friendly, which reduce costs for publishers in the process.

"Media companies are going through a second revolution,"  Rob Begg, VP of marketing for MediaEverywhere, told us over the phone. The first was the move from print to digital, and this second one is the shift specifically to mobile. Media companies of all types report that mobile is by far their fastest growing type of traffic, but developing sites and apps in the mobile market is tough, says Begg, due to the proliferation of platforms.

MediaEverywhere saves companies from having to put money into iOS, Android and other platforms separately—or worse, only having the money to develop in one at a time. Begg describes the approach as "mobile-centric rather than device-specific."

The total investment in Polar Mobile to date is $9 million; $6 million of that went towards building this platform. Currently they have 40 staff and are hiring enthusiastically, says Begg.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Rob Begg, VP of Marketing, MediaEverywhere

It's nearly the end of the year, and a good time for reflecting on the major developments, trends, and successes of the last 12 months.

In that spirit, the Digi Awards were held last week, to celebrate the best of digital media in Canada. Marked with a ceremony at the Carlu, the awards night acknowledged the work of nominees in more than 20 categories in 2012.

The hometown team did Toronto proud, scooping up awards in many key categories. Among the local winners:

Best Use of Social Media: Juniper Park
The agency helped Pearson International Airport run its Tweet-a-Carol program, in which you can tweet a request to have a loved one travelling through the airport be greeted by carollers during the holiday season.

Best in Mobile Applications: Smokebomb Entertainment
Smokebomb is a digital production company. They were recognized for creating Totally Amp'd, an interactive app-based interactive TV-style series geared to teenagers.

Best in Tablet Applications: Aux Magazine for iPad
The monthly digital music magazine melds traditional coverage (such as interviews and reviews) with video and interactive features that allow readers to engage more fully with the music and artists Aux covers. It is produced by Aux TV and Blue Ant Media.

Canada’s Most Promising Digital Media Company: Juice Mobile
Specifically dedicated to mobile advertising, Juice's clients range from Apple to Live Nation. It was founded in 2010.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Digi Awards

"I've always been an entrepreneur my entire life," says Donny Ouyang, "I started when I was 12."

Like many young entrepreneurs, he quickly found himself more intrigued by his extracurricular activities than anything in the classroom. "Because of that I didn't spend a lot of time learning," Ouyang says. And then, after a pause: "School... wasn't my thing."

It's perhaps especially fitting then that Ouyang has just launched what he describes as the world's first market-driven tutoring platform, called Rayku. He's hoping not only to find success with his startup, but to help students like him who have had bad experiences both at school and with traditional tutoring.

Rayku's idea is simple: tutors sign up to provide online assistance to students via the site's whiteboard and other digitial services, and are rated by their students as they go. The higher they rank—in theory, the more effective they are—the more they can charge.

Currently Rayku is focused on high school and first year univerisity students who need help with math. Ouyang plans to expand in a number of directions: first to other areas of the curriculum (science, essay writing), then to other levels of complexity, and then to a broader range of subjects—everything from standardized test preparation services to financial advising.

The startup has raised $400,000 of investment so far, and is "hiring aggressively," says Ouyang. He hopes to add two business development positions and two engineers to Rayku's staff by January.
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Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Donny Ouyang, Founder & CEO, Rayku