The Techvibes 20, October 2014 Edition – Powered by GoToMeeting

 

The Techvibes 20 is a bi-monthly list of the hottest and most promising tech startups across Canada. The list is carefully curated by Techvibes editorial staff and reflects who’s making waves in our nation’s tech ecosystem right now.

Check out the August edition of the Techvibes 20 after the jump.

CareGuideToronto – CareGuide runs local service marketplaces including Sitter.com and Housekeeper.com. The Toronto startup has enjoyed double-digit monthly traffic and revenue growth since launching and recently closed 50 investor strong $1.3 million seed round that crashed Angel List.

 

Control MobileVancouver – Referred to as the HootSuite of payments, Control is a mobile app developed for merchants running an online business. Platform-agnostic Control has had immediate success as a transaction reporting, analytics and management app for Stripe merchants and the future looks bright.

 

PetroFeedCalgary – PetroFeed is bringing the power of mobile to the oil patch. One of the most downloaded business apps in Canada, PetroFeed enables anyone to see all current drilling rig locations, statuses and operators in a map view in real time. The Calgary startup raised $3 million in 2013.

 

MojioVancouver – Last year Mojio (pronounced MO-jee-oh) closed a $2.3 million seed financing round led by Relay Ventures. Last month the connected car startup entered into an agreement with TELUS to launch across Canada on their coast-to-coast wireless network later this year.

 

DarkVisionNorth Vancouver – DarkVision is developing downhole imaging technologies that deliver high resolution images inside oil and gas wells. The Vancouver startup recently won $100,000 for the the top prize in the 2014 BCIC New Ventures Competition.

 

QimpleMonctonLaunch36 grad Qimple optimizes, distributes, and gets maximum exposure for your job ads based on budget, geography, and industry. Coupled with their Applicant Tracking System, users can track the most qualified candidates all in one place.

 

PicaticVancouverSettling on Vancouver, event registration startup Picatic just launched a pro, white-label product that enables companies to custom-brand their event listings, we as well e-tickets and emails to attendees. Check it out in action for our upcoming Tech Fest in Vancouver.

 

VarageSaleToronto – A product of Codified, VarageSale is the most stealthy company on this list. VarageSale is an app for buying and selling stuff. The startup has raised an undisclosed sum from Real Ventures and this summer entrepreneur Ben Yoskovitz left Salesforce (GoInstant) to head up product development.

 

VitalsinesVancouver – Recently named to CIX’s Top 20 for 2014, Vitalsines develops technology that turns biological data into information anyone can use to manage their health or performance. Their first product iHeart measures the arterial pulse to determine a user’s physiological age. 

 

WealthSimpleToronto – Online investment management platforms are exploding and Wealthsimple is leading the way. WealthSimple was just named to CIX’s20 Most Innovative Companies list and had raised $1.9 million from Dan Debow, David Ossip, and Impression Ventures.

 

Just Be FriendsKelowna – This interactive social education platform in the sunny Okanagan raised a $650K seed round from a “handful of private investors” last summer. Founder Janice Taylor has choosen BC as their home over Silicon Valley and recently landed the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks as a client.

 

OMsignalMontreal – OMsignal announced a $10 million Series A investment led by Bessemer Venture Partners this summer. OMsignal’s biometric smartwear was center court at the US Open this year on ballboys donning Ralph Lauren “Polo Tech” shirts.

 

TeachMeEdmonton – TeachMe’s founders were previously behind Addicting Games and Hallpass Media which were both acquired by US companies. The gaming startup is currently part of the Imagine K-12 edtech accelerator in San Francisco.

 

Decisive FarmingIrricana, AB – Decisive Farming is helping growers make better decisions about precision agronomics, risk management, and farm information technologies. The Alberta startup just received the 2014 ASTech award for Innovation in Agricultural Science.

 

LanternLondon – Incubated by Inner Geek and angel funded, Lantern tracks customer behaviour in-store and in-app, giving retailers a better understanding of how their customers shop in their stores. Lantern provides this deep insight using the iBeacon analytics and marketing platform it developed.

 

BlitzenWaterloo – Communitech Velocity Garage and AngelPad NYC accelerator graduate Blitzen has just been chosen to be Canada’s only representative at Startup Nations 2014 in Seoul. Blitzen empowers business professionals to automate their own workflows and tasks without writing a single line of code.

 

Division FurtiveMontreal – Division Furtive is a Montreal-based maker of timepieces that says its watches are “not wearable technology, but a technological art form.” The company’s latest crowdfunding campaign for its newest watch design beat its goal of $50,000 with a week to spare.

 

SeamlessMDTorontoDisrupting health care with photos, this Next 36 grad offers personalized surgery recovery instructions based on patients photographing wounds daily. Algorithms provide immediate feedback to help patients manage minor problems and enables doctors to catch serious problems remotely.

 

DiplyLondon – Developed by GoViral, Diply.com is Canada’s BuzzFeed. Diply is an “oddities and wonders discovery network dedicated to showcasing the world’s most creative ideas, projects and people”. Diply is one of the top 200 most popular websites worldwide according to Alexa.

 

BreatherMontreal– Last month Breather announced a $6 million Series A round to expand their network of “for-rent, amazingly designed, affordably priced, 24/7-accessible private spaces, in which busy urbanites can work, meet, relax in personal oasis of peace and quiet.” Breather is active in NYC, SF, and Montreal.

The Techvibes 20, August 2014 Edition – Powered by GoToMeeting

 

 

 

The Techvibes 20 is a bi-monthly list of the hottest and most promising tech startups across Canada. The list is carefully curated by Techvibes editorial staff and reflects who’s making waves in our nation’s tech ecosystem right now.

Check out the August edition of the Techvibes 20 after the jump.

 

Algolux, Montreal – Algolux recently raised a $2.6 million Series A round led by Real Ventures. The Montreal-based startup specializes in computational optics and building deblurring software. Algolux is focusing its efforts on smartphones and tablets.

 

bazinga!, Vancouver – bazinga! is a private social network for residential communities and they just landed a partnership with Canada’s largest high-rise condominium developer. They have raised a total of $11 million to date.

 

BitAccess, Ottawa – Founded in November 2013, BitAccess produces Bitcoin Teller Machines (BTMs), allowing anyone with a mobile phone to buy or sell bitcoin in under a minute.

 

Blynk, Toronto – Next36 alumni Blynk won the $100,000 Investment Prize at Startup Fest earlier this summer. Tagged as Tinder for Fashion, this Toronto-based startup has created an app that provides personalized fashion recommendations via a Tinder-like interface.

 

BusBud, Montreal – BusBud announced last month the close of a $9 million Series A funding round co-led by OMERS Ventures. Self-described as the Kayak for bus travel, Busbud is the only platform that helps travelers search, compare and book bus trips online for 10,500 cities in 89 countries.

 

Dash Hudson, Halifax – This Atlantic-Canada born mobile app uses personal stylists to assess customer preferences and build modern, flexible wardrobes with selections from several different retailers. Dash Hudson recently announced it raised a $400,000 seed round which included former Groupon CTO Paul Gauthier.

 

Dejero, Waterloo – Dejero solutions enable traditional, online and cross-platform broadcasters to transmit, manage and distribute live video captured from a variety of mobile devices. Toronto’s BEST Funds is big on mobile newsgathering and recently invested $4.5 million into Dejero.

 

ezrobot, Calgary – Founded by DJ Sures, ezrobot is a software platform that allows anyone to build a robot. Their robot controller connects to your computer over Bluetooth and with their software you can control your own robot. Add cameras, joysticks, distance sensors, LEDs, digital displays, and more.

 

FinanceIt, Toronto– Financeit raised a $13 million Series A round in November 2013. The Toronto-based company has built a platform that enables small businesses to offer consumer financing and is aggressively expanding thanks to $40 million in new loan facilities from Pacific & Western Bank of Canada.

 

GuestDriven, Montreal – GuestDriven helps hospitality brands build guest engagement, loyalty and drive advocacy through a Guest Relationship Management platform. Earlier this year PlazaCorp, Real Ventures and Structure Capital checked-in with a $3 million Series A round.

 

Gymtrack, Ottawa – This 500 Startups company has built a system for gyms that allows their members to automatically track their workouts. Gymtrack’s system installs aftermarket onto any existing piece of gym equipment and allows gym members track their workout on their existing smart watches.

 

Hyper Hippo, Kelowna – Hyper Hippo is a game development studio founded by Lance Priebe. Before establishing Hyper Hippo, Lance co-founded Club Penguin with Lane Merrifield and Dave Krysko. Club Penguin became the world’s most popular children’s MMO and was acquired by Disney in 2007 for $350 million.
 

 

Postach.io, Nanaimo – Last year Postach.io won the Evernote Devcup 2013 Gold Award. With initial investment from Full Stack Ventures, a roadmap driven by the community, and visibility from Evernote, the blossoming startup is looking for a big year ahead.

 

Provender, Montreal – Founded in 2013, Provender has raised an $800,000 seed round from Real Ventures, the BDC, Freshii, Kinetic Café and private angels. Equipped with a fresh injection of capital, the Montreal-born startup says it is expanding to the Toronto market.

 

TinyMob Games, Victoria – Last fall this mobile gaming startup raised $2 million in seed funding from local angel investors including the Pereira brothers. Earlier this year they were named VIATEC’s startup of the year. Look out for the company’s first game called Tiny Realms, an iOS mobile strategy game.

 

Uplette, Toronto – An Extreme Startups company, Uplette automates, consolidates, and optimizes the mobile advertising experience through the delivery of smart post‐ad content.  Uplette was recently selected for Dave McClure’s 500 Startups Accelerator program.

 

Vanhawks, Toronto – Vanhawks’ bike has been a crowdfunding phenom. Last month they won Best Pitch at Startup Fest and this month they hired a Cervelo Cycles veteran as Chief of Design.  The Valour connects to iOS, Android and Pebble through Bluetooth and tracks rider stats in real-time.

 

Vantage Analytics, Toronto – One of two Canadian companies selected to participate in The World Cup Tech Challenge, Vantage Analytics just announced a $1.1 million over-subscribed round—$500,000 from Real Ventures and $600,000 raised from ecommerce, mobile commerce, and loyalty experts.

 

Visual Spection, Winnipeg – The first Winnipeg startup to be named to the Techvibes 20. VisualSpection is site assessment software that enables front line energy sectors workers in remote areas with critical information using wearable technology such as Google Glass.

 

PayrollHero, Whistler – With offices in the Philippines and Whistler this two-year-old startup is built for the needs of the Southeast Asian market. It’s a time, attendance, scheduling, analytics and payroll platform whose latest client is Subway.