Burnaby’s GR Green Building Materials Inc. has developed a proprietary process for producing ‘green’, carbon positive, roofing and siding materials that don’t crack when nailed, look remarkably like real cedar and slate, are fire-proof, impact-resistant and cost a fraction of the real thing.

By ensuring nothing is wasted and considering the impact of a product’s life cycle on the environment and people’s lives, GR goes beyond sustainability, to environmental responsibility in manufacturing. GR’s ‘GreenBuilding’ Cedar and Slate products are non-toxic, carbon positive and 100% recyclable, after 50 years of use.

Owners Geoff Wensel and Robert Suggitt are engineers and know plastics, construction, and manufacturing. In 2005, using a regular oven and a rolling pin, they invented a process that produces ‘green’ roofing and siding materials like nothing else on the market. Three and a half years later, they’re ready to launch full-scale production in the spring of 2009.

Squamish’s Echoflex Solutions offers unique solutions for today’s retrofit and energy conservation challenges by allowing building owners, managers, and tenants an option to retrofit incrementally with wireless and self-powered switches and sensors.

Using EnOcean technology (a spin-off of Siemens AG), Echoflex switches and sensors reduce energy consumption for lighting, HVAC and process control. EnOcean, the inventor of self-powered radio modems, couples micro power generators with ultra-low power radio modules. EnOcean modules operate inside self-powered wireless sensors and switches.

Retrofit projects with the quickest payback can be addressed first and further upgrades can be done as easily as the original installation because each space thinks for itself. Change of plans? Echoflex’s switches and sensors are easily moved if the use of the space changes. The technology is also interoperable with building automation systems providing wireless extensions through interfaces and gateways. successful applications for Echoflex technology range from family homes to cubicle farms.

Via BCTIA’s opportunities section, the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco is inviting companies to the first Plug and Play Tech Centre Workshop at their Sunnyvale campus in Silicon Valley on October 20th. Plug and Play is a successful high-tech incubator in the heart of Silicon Valley where over 150 technology start-ups from over 20 countries work closely together to build innovative companies.

The focus of the workshop will be to exchange best practices between top technology centres and incubators from around the world and explore opportunities for collaboration. It may also provide an opportunity for start-up companies to meet with potential partners and investors. Plug and Play’s ultimate goal is to help 1,000 start-ups from around the world secure funding and go from idea to reality in the coming years.

If you’re interested, let The Consulate General know at your earliest convenience as they are providing financial support to selected Canadian start-up companies attending this workshop.

For more information and registration, please contact:

Guillaume Parent
Trade Commissioner
Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco l Silicon Valley
Tel.: 415-652-8650
Guillaume.Parent@international.gc.ca

By aggregating the management of building-level energy consumption and production, West Vancouver’s Small Energy Group delivers economic benefits to building managers by reducing energy use and demand charges. In turn, by making better use of existing infrastructure, the Small Energy Group helps to avoid the construction of unnecessary generation and transmission capacity, saving money for utilities and helping the environment.

Small Energy Group’s Energy Management Software communicates with a large number of building automation and metering systems to collect, archive, analyze and communicate energy information. Whether it’s saving money by quickly identifying and resolving inefficient energy use or helping building occupants to learn how their buildings perform, the Small Energy Group’s software helps owners and operators of commercial and institutional buildings to save money and reduce emissions.

Small Energy Group isn’t new to award finals – the were a finalist for BCTIA’s 2008 Technology Impact Awards in May in the Most Promising Start-Up category.

Check out Global TV’s coverage of Earth Hour which includes an interview with Small Energy Group Co-founder David Helliwell interview below.

The 24th Angel Forum is coming up November 17, 2008 and offers a great access to a large group of investors.

Angel Forum is 30+ pre-screened technology, service and manufacturing companies seeking equity funding up to $1.5 million, present to 70+ pre-screened private equity investors (nearly 100 registered for last Forum). This unique event has been held since 1997 and includes companies exhibiting their products during networking breaks and at the closing wine reception. It is the largest and oldest angel group in Canada with 100+ investors and it’s sponsors include leading companies and industry associations in BC.

The Forum is offering a special price to New Ventures BC participants. Use coupon code NewVentures to save $100+ on the Forum and / or 10% on the workshop. You have until a week before the event to submit your company profile for consideration.

This Thursday Launch Party Vancouver 5 (LPV5) will include a cool start-up contest co-sponsored by Bootup Labs and Fasken Martineau. While the video contest is only open to the seven companies demoing at the Launch Party event, two 2008 New Ventures BC contestants have made the cut and could win the Grand Prize of $1,000 for being the “Most Likely to Succeed”.

All it takes is an entrepreneur + Macbook/webcam, clearly communicating what their start-up does and how far they will go to make their company succeed in a 90 second or less video clip. The videos will be judged, not for their production value or the quality of their pitch but on whether or not the panel of experts believes the idea has the legs to go the long haul.

Round 2 qualifier Clarity Accounting and round 3 qualifier PeerFX will both be on the ballot, so drop by the LPV5 contest site to view the videos on Thursday morning and to cast your vote.

We’ve linked to the NVBC presenter Mike Volker before, whose site has some good resources for entrepreneurs. Angie pointed me to a great list Mike has compiled of ~80 links to different funding sources with a western Canadian focus. The Money Links list has a clever colouring scheme:

Money comes in three basic colors: GREEN, GOLD and RED. Green money comes from patient, equity-oriented investors including private, institutional and even public investors. It is green because it allows companies to grow and prosper without being impeded by repayment obligations. Gold money is as good as gold. It comes from government and quasi-government organizations that are part of the infra-structure support system paid for by our tax dollars. Usually this money is in the form of grants, interest-free loans, and other forms of assistance. Red money comes from debt-oriented lenders. This includes banks, factoring houses, leasing companies, and other lenders. It is red because this is the color lenders see when the debt is not serviced — and because you should see this as a red warning light!

VEF Momentum is a new program of the Vancouver Enterprise Forum to “connect, mentor and inspire young and aspiring entrepreneurs”. They’re running their first event September 30 at Tunnel Lounge (622 West Pender St) featuring Geordie Rose, CTO of D-Wave, the UBC spinoff that has created the world’s first commercial quantum computer.

The night will begin with icebreakers and introductions, followed by an invigorating presentation by Geordie Rose, the founder and Chief Technology Officer of D-Wave Systems. Geordie founded D-Wave out of UBC in 1999 and has been instrumental in building D-Wave into a successful Quantum Computing company. He will be offering his experience in starting his business, getting financing and navigating his way through Vancouver’s entrepreneurship scene. He’ll close with his insights on how Vancouver has transitioned over the last several years into a technology entrepreneurship hub. The night will conclude with a question-answer period followed by networking and drinks. Refreshments will be served.

Who You Can Expect to See: 

• Student entrepreneurs from universities and colleges across the Lower Mainland
• Young aspiring entrepreneurs representing 15 entrepreneurial organizations across the city
• First-time entrepreneurs representing their start-ups from across Vancouver
• Established technology entrepeneurs
• Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors
• Professional Mentors

Some free early bird tickets are still available. Register at the VEF Momentum site.

After five months of competition, I’m pleased to announce the 2008 top 10 companies!

Competition was fierce this year and it should be an interesting finish.

Next, the top 10 will give an oral business presentation to a jury of 15 angels, financiers, and entrepreneurs. The jury will then choose the winners for the 2008 competition and all will be announced at the awards ceremony on September 25th.

Please help me congratulate the top ten companies moving on to Round 4 (in alphabetical order):

If you’d like to contact any of these companies, email contact[at]newventuresbc.com for details.

1. Charge It! Payment Solutions
This Victoria company has developed a suite of faster, ultra-reliable and affordable data-encryption products certified to meet international Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance standards. Created by a software team with a military technology background, Charge It! is one of the first companies to develop PCI-compliant products that are also affordable for smaller businesses concerned about data security.

2. Echoflex Solutions
Echoflex Solutions has developed products and solutions using wireless, self-powered (no batteries, ever!) switches and sensors. Used in new and retrofit construction these solutions create smart spaces. These easily installed and commissioned products, optimize energy consumption through needs based lighting and space specific temperature control and provide for a very flexible and sustainable future for the building. www.echoflexsolutions.com

3. GR Building Materials
GR Building Materials Inc. has developed a proprietary process for producing ‘green’, carbon positive, roofing and siding materials that don’t crack when nailed, look remarkably like real cedar and slate, are fire-proof, impact-resistant and cost a fraction of the real thing. By ensuring nothing is wasted and considering the impact of a product’s life cycle on the environment and people’s lives, GR goes beyond sustainability, to environmental responsibility in manufacturing. GR Cedar and Slate are non-toxic, carbon positive and 100% recyclable, after 50 years of use.

4. Primisyn
Primisyn’s new Simplus software for financial institutions takes the guesswork and the risk out of product, loan and mortgage pricing. The system can review an institution’s entire relationship with a client, then calculate how an individual deal will affect institutional profitability—before the deal is made.

5. Pure Lignin Environmental Technology
Kelowna-based Pure Lignin Environmental Technology has patented a simple, efficient process for turning waste vegetation, such as beetle-killed pine trees and sugar cane waste, into three profitable products: pure lignin (used in many industries, including bio-degradable plastics), commercial cellulose and carbons for bio-fuels and protein. The company’s portable plant combines chemicals in a unique, low-pressure closed-loop steam process that transforms the waste into usable products without emitting pollutants or toxins. http://www.purelignin.com

6. Saltworks Technologies
Saltworks Technologies Inc. has developed a patent-pending solar process for desalination that offers significant electrical energy savings. The desalination market is estimated to grow by $56 billion over the next seven years and energy efficiency remains its greatest challenge.

7. Singular Software
Video professionals who currently spend hours and days setting up to edit video footage shot with multiple cameras can now do it instantly using Singular Software’s new synchronization plug-in for commercially available editing programs. With the touch of a button, Singular’s plug-in automatically synchronizes multiple camera and audio clips of the same event in just a few minutes.

8. Small Energy Group
Small Energy Group’s Energy Management Software communicates with a large number of building automation and metering systems to collect, archive, analyze and communicate energy information.
The system helps building owners and operators to quickly identify and resolve inefficient energy use, helps occupants learn how their buildings perform and ultimately helps to save money and reduce emissions.

9. SoundofMotion Technologies Inc.
Cyclists who load SoundofMotion’s VeloComputer software onto their cell phone, coupled with a wireless sensor attached to their bicycle wheel, can transform their cell phone into an advanced cycling computer. The highly accurate sensor transmits precise motion data to the software, which then displays spot speed, acceleration, time and distance traveled on the cell phone’s display. The data can also be downloaded to a computer for training analysis.

10. TeraTek
TeraTek is developing new imaging technology that uses Teraherz (THz) frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum to see through non-conductive objects. The technology creates better-than-x-ray imaging for various characteristics such as density, moisture content and strength. The Prince George company plans to initially use its imaging system and software in lumber mills to analyze fiber structures and characteristics that can’t be seen using x-rays or microwaves.

Angel Forum will be running a workshop on Company Valuation and Equity Term Sheets – October 27 at SFU Harbour Centre.

How to value your company and understand the investment conditions of an equity investor

Why attend? If you are planning to raise serious private equity in the next 12 months, ask yourself:

1) With US and International public equity markets down 15+ %, how do you correctly value your private company?

2) Do you have a good overview of the language and ramifications of a term sheet that will be offered by an investor?

3) Are you familiar with how angel and VC investors value companies, dilution impact and valuation negotiations?

4) Network with local investor panelists; Basil Peters, Paul Geyer and Geoff Catherwood during breaks, lunch and reception.

Content by the US Angel Capital Association with help by angel experts, these workshops are ranked 4.5 or better out of 5.0. 200+ people attended first four workshops. No comparable content offered in Canada. “Great info, must have to complete a deal”

Seminar Leader is Bill Payne who is an active private investor, board member and advisor to entrepreneurs. He is an involved member of San Diego’s Tech Coast Angels, Vegas Valley Angels and Aztec Venture Network and has successfully founded or invested in 41 start-up companies. “Bill Payne has a particular knack of delivering his great knowledge of angel investing, worth the price of admission.”

Who should attend: Only experienced CEOs or CFOs of investor centered companies that are growing quickly and are seriously looking for multiple angel or VC investors.  You should already have a basic understanding of venture capital finance having raised some equity before or through attending our Investor Ready™ or similar seminars. 

New Ventures BC contacts can get 10% off registration, and you can save $50 by registering before Sept 20. Space is limited, you can register at Angel Forum.