All updates as of September 2007
Rfind Systems Inc.
RFind, the 2006 BC Hydro first-prize winner, now has nine employees and launched its product line last October.
RFind uses active radio frequency identification (RFID) and patented software to create real-time locating systems for manufacturing and warehousing facilities and open yards. The system can locate inbound inventory, work-in-progress, finished goods, and assets.
RFind has closed one round of financing, which will finance their progress through 2007, and CEO Sharon Barnes expects to have positive cash flow by September this year.
Rocket Builders listed RFind on this year'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," says 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." www.rfind.com
Traction Technologies
Traction Technologies, the BC Hydro 2005 first-prize winner, launched its cargo tie-down safety system, Cinch, at North America's largest trucking industry trade show in Kentucky in March.
Cinch is an air-powered winch that tightens tie-down straps on flat-deck trucks and maintains a pre-set tension for the duration of a hauling trip. The system complies with impending trucking industry safety standards for securing cargo.
"Without New Ventures BC, we would not be where we are right now," says Andrew Ross, vice-president of engineering. "We were three engineers trying to build a company. By going through the competition, we learned about raising money (we raised $1.5 million in two rounds of financing) and about building a company."
He adds, "the $50 competition application fee pays for itself in gold because of the learning experience and the exposure to mentors." www.tractiontech.ca
Aquassure Bath Products
Aquassure Bath Products, the 2004 third-prize winner, launched its accessible bathtub for independent living at a trade show in Vancouver in February this year and opened a Kelowna showroom in March.
"It is the only non-institutional bathtub for the disabled that lets bathers recline," says Shari McDowell, vice-president, sales and marketing. "It's an elevated tub with a sliding door in the side that opens like a van door. Wheelchair users can transfer into the tub unassisted and it can also accommodate lifts."
The deep soaker tub features options such as lever-handled or push-button controls, air jets and/or water jets.
Aquassure is targeting both the institutional and retail markets in Canada and the U.S. and McDowell hopes to sell 2,000 units this year. The tub is manufactured in Langley.
"The New Ventures BC program really helped us refine our business concept," says Matthew Longman, president. "The mentorship, presentation panels and workshops helped to round out our venture education to give us the skills and support we needed to take our business from idea to commercialization." www.aquassure.com
AirG
Since winning the BMO Bank of Montreal first prize in the first New Ventures BC competition in 2001, AirG has become a global success story.
Recognized last year by Red Herring magazine as one of the top 100 private technology companies in North America, AirG has established the world's largest and fastest growing community on mobile phones. It has more than 10 million unique users and is interconnected to more than 85 mobile operators and media companies, including Sprint Nextel, AT&T (Cingular), Rogers, Telus, Virgin Mobile, Organe, Boost Mobile, Vodafone and MTV Asia. Every day, AirG's community users exchange 5.9 million messages on their mobile phones.
Based in Vancouver, the company also has operations in the UK, Australia, Italy, the Philippines and India and has more than 130 employees. www.airg.com
MailChannels Corporation
For the second year in a row, MailChannels, a 2004 competitor, is on the Rocket Builders' Ready to Rocket list of "Ones to Watch".
MailChannel's anti-spam software, called Traffic Control, is a carrier-grade email security solution that operates at the network edge to protect large enterprises, academic institutions and Internet service providers from 'botnets' autonomous software robots that are today's greatest Internet security threat.
MailChannels has a partnership agreement with leading anti-spam company Cloudmark to provide carrier-grade spam, virus and phishing protection to its customers, which include Cornell University, the City of Richmond and Northeastern University in Boston.
Company CEO Ken Simpson says MailChannels is in its second profitable year with annual growth of 500 percent.
GenoLogics Life Sciences Software Inc.
GenoLogics Life Sciences Software Inc., a second-place winner in the 2003 New Ventures BC competition, recently completed a second round of financing worth $5 million. It follows a $5 million round in 2005.
The Vancouver Island-based company is a leading developer of lab and scientific data management solutions and has just introduced a new product, Geneus, for a new market - genomics.
"We are really pleased that all our original investors have chosen to finance our second round," says Michael Ball, GenoLogics' CEO. "This speaks to the confidence they have in our team and the opportunity they see in the marketplace for scientific data and lab management systems in systems biology and translational research applications." He says the new funds will assist with deepening the firm's penetration in the global pharmaceutical market.
GenoLogics currently has more than 50 employees. Its customers include more than 30 North American and European pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations and academic life science laboratories involved in proteomics, genomics, systems biology and translational research.
The Company has experienced revenue growth of 125 percent per year over the last two years ('05-'06).
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