New Ventures BC

News about the New Ventures BC competition and seminar series

2003 Competition

2003 Competitor GenoLogics raises $1 Million

2003 NVBC competition 2nd Place finisher GenoLogics has raised $1 Million of equity financing out of a round that could be worth $1.5 million.

The private Victoria-based company develops and markets lab and scientific data-management software to academic institutions, medical centres and pharmaceutical and biotechnology research facilities across North America and Europe.

GenoLogics entered the 2003 competition with two full-time employees and six co-op students. Today, the company has 67 employees worldwide and expects to hire an additional six to seven employees this year.

GenoLogics has raised a total of  $18 million in venture capital since inception.

Where are they now? 2003 first-prize winner Resonance Technology ready to take off

Creating and marketing a disruptive technology is no easy feat. Matthew Janes, CEO of Resonance Technology, has been working towards commercializing his innovative “resonant hammer” since winning the BMO Bank of Montreal first prize in the 2003 competition.

The hammer, which uses sonic vibrations to drive foundation pilings into the earth quickly and quietly, is destined to replace traditional pile-driving machinery.

Since winning the competition, Janes has been refining his prototype. To date, he has sold one hammer and expects 2010 to be a break-through year for selling his B.C.-manufactured technology in worldwide markets.

Janes has grown the company to four employees and expects to hire four more this year. To date, he has raised $700,000 and is in the midst of a commercialisation round seeking approximately $1.5 million.

The company has also built a resonant drill, which a Canadian distributor is now using for field demonstrations to potential clients.

“A resonant drill will tune the vibration to the natural frequency of the drill string, allowing for increased production and capacity while eliminating ground vibration,” explains Janes. “This is a significant leap beyond conventional technology or the sonic drilling techniques available today.”

Where are they now? GenoLogics Life Sciences Software Inc. – 2003 2nd prize winner

GenoLogics a worldwide success

GenoLogics Life Sciences Software took second place in the 2003 NVBC competition and has since raised $18 million in venture capital.

The private Victoria, B.C. company develops and markets lab and scientific data-management software to academic institutions, medical centres and pharmaceutical and biotechnology research facilities across North America and Europe.

GenoLogics entered the 2003 competition with two full-time employees and six co-op students. Today, the company has 67 employees worldwide and expects to hire an additional six to seven employees this year.

Etalim picks up Best Early Stage Cleantech Award

The  2010 Canadian Financing Forum took place today at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver and four previous New Ventures BC Competitors were chosen to present the Venture Capitalist audience.

The Forum wrapped up tonight with a reception to announce the Forum Favorites and Best Early Stage award winners. Iain Black, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development, was in attendance and presented the Best Early Stage Cleantech award to Burnaby’s Etalim.

Etalim’s new solar-power technology inexpensively converts the sun’s heat into emission-free electricity. This new technology uniquely combines thermodynamics, high-amplitude acoustics, mechanical resonance and material science to generate electricity not only from the sun, but from any heat source. An Etalim power plant can capture the sunlight falling on an area of land the size of a football field to power 500 homes without creating any CO2 emissions.

Etalim was founded and incorporated in March 2006. Former Creo CEO Amos Michelson is Etalim’s Chairman and experienced tech entrepreneur Ron Klopfer was named CEO in June 2009.

NVBC Alumni named to Ready to Rocket 25

Vancouver’s Rocket Builders announced their eighth annual Ready to Rocket 25 list yesterday naming 25 privately held BC companies that are “best positioned to capitalize on the 2010 technology sector trends that will lead them to faster growth than their peers”. The annual Ready to Rocket 25 list aims to predict the companies that will likely experience significant revenue growth, venture capital investment or acquisition by a major player in the coming year.

19 of the companies on the 2010 list are repeat Ready to Rocket recipients with 6 new companies being tagged as “Ready to Rocket” for the first time. Two former New Ventures BC Competitors made the list. 2003 2nd Place Finisher  Genologics Life Sciences Software was named to the Ready to Rocket list for the second time and 2008 2nd Place Finisher Pulse Energy, Inc (formerly Small Energy Group) was named for the first time.

In addition to the Ready to Rocket 25, Rocket Builders also announced its 2010 lists of “Emerging Rockets” which includes a number of New Ventures BC past competitors:

NVBC Alumni to present at Canadian Financing Forum

The Canadian Financing Forum is next week in Vancouver and the final list of presenting companies is now online.

Among the line-up of presenters that are pitching to the Venture Capital audience are a number of former NVBC competitors including 2003 2nd place winner Genologics Life Sciences Software and 2009 Top 10 finalist Rapid Electric Vehicles.

In addition to these companies, ten startups have been selected to participate in the Bootup Demo Days session during the Financing Forum and 2009 Top 10 finalist Mobify is one of them. As part of Bootup Demo Days. Mobify will give a 10 minute investment presentation in front of angel and early stage investors during the afternoon breakout session and then again at a special event at the Plug and Play Tech Centre in Silicon Valley on February 3rd.

Genologics profiled by Seattle Tech Blog

2003 New Ventures BC competitor Genologics was profiled on Xconomy Seattle today.

National Biotechnology Editor Luke Timmerman got an update on Genologics progress from CEO Michael Ball and was impressed by what he heard.

A little company on Vancouver Island has its sights set on one of the big challenges of the day in healthcare software. It is trying to piece together the vast puzzle of data on human health—everything from patient medical records, tissue or blood sample readings from the lab, and genomic data—and package it all in a coherent way so biologists see patterns they might otherwise never see.

The company, Victoria, BC-based GenoLogics, has been on my list to check on since February, when it raised $5 million in venture capital from Kirkland, WA-based OVP Venture Partners and a pair of Vancouver, BC-based firms—GrowthWorks Capital and Yaletown Venture Partners. I got an update on the company’s progress over the phone from CEO Michael Ball.

Be sure to read the whole post.

Where are they now? Resonance Technology

resonanceResonance Technology International Inc., winner of the 2003 Bank of Montreal first prize, has sold two of its revolutionary resonant hammers, with expectations to sell four more this year and twice as many next year. The resonant hammer uses sonic vibrations to drive foundation pilings into the earth quickly, with no ground vibration.

It has been a long journey to refine the technology and deal with market acceptance issues, but president Matthew Janes says a new trend towards legislation demanding zero ground vibration during pile driving will help his company to move forward.

The poor economy, particularly in the construction sector, initially put a damper on expectations for 2009 but Janes reports that the company has had several promising inquiries this year and is currently working on designs for two European clients.

Resonance currently has three full-time and two half-time employees, and uses B.C. subcontractors to manufacture the resonant hammer.

Where are they now? GenoLogics Life Sciences

Since placing second in the 2003 New Ventures BC competition, GenoLogics Life Sciences Software has sold its lab and scientific data management software to academic institutions, medical centres and pharmaceutical and biotechnology research facilities across North America and Europe.

Major clients include Pfizer, which signed a three-year global agreement last November to use Genologics’ informatic solutions software in its research labs.

In February this year, Genologics completed a $5 million round of financing to continue with ongoing expansion plans. This is the company’s third round of financing.

The company currently has more than 75 employees and has experienced strong growth, recently posting 65 percent first-quarter 2009 revenue growth over the same period in 2008.

The privately held company is headquartered in Victoria, B.C. Key investors include OVP Venture Partners of Seattle, Growthworks and Yaletown Venture Partners.

GenoLogics Teams with Applied Biosystems

2003 New Ventures BC competitor GenoLogics announced today that it is teaming with Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies Corporation, to provide an integrated lab and data management solution for their next generation advanced genomic analysis platform, the SOLiD™ System.

As a member of the SOLiD™ Software Development Community, the nature of the relationship between Applied Biosystems and GenoLogics spans both technical and joint marketing initiatives. By making SOLiD™ technology customers aware of the unique strengths of Geneus, they will see a clear path as to how they can accelerate their next generation sequencing results with a fully integrated lab and data management solution.

“We are pleased that Applied Biosystems found Geneus to be a uniquely qualified lab and data management solution for their next generation sequencing platform,” said Sal Sanci, VP Product Management for GenoLogics. “Our relationship will provide SOLiD™ System users with a single data management solution from sample submissions to results not only for their next generation sequencing projects, but also for their other genomics research.”

GenoLogics is the leading provider of informatics solutions for translational research, spanning both the discovery and biomedical research domains.