Energy Aware Technology, the 2006 BC Hydro Sustainability prize winner, licensed its PowerTab technology last fall to US-based Comverge, Inc.

The PowerTab is an in-home display that gives homeowners real-time information about power consumption, electricity rates and messages from their utility service provider.  Comverge has exclusive rights to distribute the product in North America and has re-branded it as the PowerPortal.

Lauren Kulokas, vice-president of operations, says the PowerTab will be manufactured with a Canadian contract manufacturer and will be featured in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Athletes’ Village.

“This custom version of the PowerTab, designed specifically for the Olympic Village, will give real-time feedback on energy, hot and cold water, and heating and cooling,” says Kulokas.  “We’re excited by the success we have achieved to date, and look forward to continuing to pursue further opportunities in this rapidly growing industry.”

The company has grown from three to six full-time employees and has moved to new office space in Gastown.

2006 New Ventures BC Competitor ROLLOUT just returned from New York Fashion week where they debuted their custom wallpaper in the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge. The lounge and ROLLOUT’s paper were covered by various media including Timeout NY, who raved “…it’s gorgeous prints like these that make us sad we don’t have bigger walls in these NYC apartments.”

This season the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge was designed by Eric Villency, president of furniture designer Maurice Villency. Speaking about the lounge, Eric enthused “…there are different focal points in the room, but the overall focus definitely has to be the wallpaper and it’s a very dynamic design statement, it’s a very bold colour, the unifying motif is hopefulness, we wanted to have a positive energy, the idea of an oasis”.

ROLLOUT, established in 2005, is a creative studio that designs and digitally prints custom wallpapers by the square foot. Recruiting community-based artists and designers, ROLLOUT is constantly on the hunt for exciting ideas from any inspiration. Illustration, photography, graphic design, and industrial design provide the inspiration; the walls provide the medium.

Founded by Anita Modha & Jonathan Nodrick, ROLLOUT was born out of the need for graphic expression in the interior design industry.

In a rare move, Victoria-based  2006 NVBC Competitor Oprius Software has taken the uncommon practice of posting their conversion numbers of the sales contact management software. While secrecy and confidentiality tend to be industry standard, Oprius is sharing their numbers in hopes of  persuading others to do the same, creating a more useful, transparent set of industry statistics.

Among the conversion ratios listed were:

• Web traffic to new free trial – 7%
• Free trial to paying user – 48%
• User retention – 98%

Since launching their software-as-a-service product in late January 2008, Oprius has realized surprising growth and CEO Alan Smith asserts that he is “very happy” with the 2008 numbers.

Smith goes on to mention the company has recently turned profitable – a huge milestone for any New Ventures BC past competitor. He points to strong customer support and an engaged community as key drivers of their ongoing success. With numbers and growth as strong as Oprius, it’s no wonder they’re so willing to share their conversion ratios with the world.

MovieSet, New Ventures BC competitor in 2006, continues to gain momenteum and financing. The idea behind MovieSet is to provide a platform to share movie content and information with fans throughout the production process. Combining news, pictures, and videos, movie producers can use MovieSet to engage viewers before a film is complete. Content is availible through the web or on mobile devices. In this video, watch MovieSet’s CEO Colleen Nystedt explain the service – “Like taking those behind the scenes extras that you get on a DVD, and putting them on the web.”

MovieSet has received fair recognition, including Backbone Magazine’s 2008 PICK20 list of Canadian Web 2.0 companies, RocketBuilders’ 2008 Emerging Rockets list, as a finalist in the 2007 Canadian New Media Awards, and on the 2008 OnHollywood 100 Top Private Companies list. They sent two employees to the Cannes Film Festival to promote the service, and posted pictures back to their Facebook page.

Earlier this summer, they closed an A-round of financing worth $5 Millon, with contributions from Rho Capital and the BC Discovery Fund. With a declining movie industry turning to the Internet to increase their exposure, MovieSet is primed to establish itself as a go-to property for movie fan engagement.

RFind, the 2006 BC Hydro first-prize winner, continues to innovate in the field of real time inventory tracking.

RFind uses active radio frequency identification (RFID) and patented software to create real-time locating systems for manufacturing and warehousing facilities and open yards. Instead of having to manually record inventory, an RFID reader can wirelessly scan all nearby tags instantly. It can also be used to determine the exact location of a single item within a warehouse. RFind produces unique RFID tags that are reuseable and capable of communicating between tags, reducing the need for reader infrastructure. RFID has been quickly adopted by many industries; Walmart, for one, in their constant pursuit of supply chain efficiency, is now requiring RFID tags in all it’s supplier shipments.

Rocket Builders listed RFind on 2007′s Ready to Rocket “Ones to Watch” list, which identifies companies positioned for future growth.

“I am thrilled with our participation in New Ventures BC,” said Barnes. “It has been one of the most satisfying relationships of RFind’s existence. We were able to derive a lot of value from the experience that has had a significant impact on the overall development of the organization.”

RFind is based in Kelowna, with a European office in Brussels.