Invest Ottawa is a one stop shop for start ups through emerging knowledge-based growth companies looking for programs and services to guide entrepreneurs. We are entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs. Since 2007 the team has provided services to over 750 companies, and helped to leverage over $100 million of investments. Invest Ottawa has now named 10 Portfolio Rising Stars, just some of the “ones to watch”.
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Omniglobe Solutions
Omniglobe Solutions aims for $10 million in revenue in year three with communications products for defense, air traffic and safety markets
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Established in 2010, Omniglobe Solutions designs and engineers software-based communications products for three major markets: public safety (including e-health applications), military air traffi c control management and C4I defense systems (command, control, communications, computers, and military intelligence). Omniglobe launched two innovative product lines – Omni-COM and OMNI-Collaborate – in the autumn of 2011.
Omni-COM software allows for the collection, processing and mixing of voice, video and data on a single computer. Users organize information at one Graphical User Interface (GUI), on a static computer or strategic command centre, or a mobile operational centre. Omni-Collaborate is a software-based peerto-peer or collaborative solution that enables people to share information in real-time — as a secure Skype-like service. The Omniglobe management team has extensive experience in defense and security markets plus software development. President Siva Kumar held Vice-president positions with both Solacom Technologies, Inc. and Alcatel-Lucent and was also with General Dynamics Canada.
Read more about the 2011 Portfolio Rising Star – Omniglobe Solutions
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Giatec Scientific Inc.
Giatec Scientific revolutionizes the inspection process for crumbling concrete structures
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The collapse of a concrete section of a Montreal bridge in the summer of 2011 sparked debate on infrastructure repair. The need for accurate inspection is more vital than ever. The founders of Giatec Scientific Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario, have developed a breakthrough high-tech sensor that could have informed Montreal inspectors in seconds about the level of risk.
Giatec’s device is a hand-held unit that determines how fast the support steel inside a concrete structure, is corroding. Steel corrosion destroys concrete from the inside out. When the rate and degree of corrosion is determined, prioritizing the need for repair or replacement is easier. The technology was developed at Dr. Burkan Isgor’s research lab at Carleton University. CEO Dr. Aali Alizadeh, a uOttawa graduate has studied concrete for over a decade. He co-founded Giatec with Dr. Pouria Ghods, the President of Giatec and an expert in corrosion and concrete structures. In 2011 the Ottawa Centre for Regional Innovation, named them “student researcher” and “student entrepreneur” of the year. Giatec’s device will go to market early in 2012.
Read more about the 2011 Portfolio Rising Star – Giatec Scientific Inc.
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Impakt Protective Inc.
Impakt Protective helmet sensors send alerts to smart phones — a superior response to the problem of sports concussions
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Many people don’t realize that helmets prevent skull fractures, not concussions, which are brain injuries. Impakt Protective Inc., a high technology sensor company, develops and sells a range of ShockBoxTM Sensors to alert parents or coaches that an “at-risk” hit has occurred, so concussion checks and protocols start as early as possible.
ShockBox is an innovative, miniature helmet impact sensor for contact sports: hockey, football, lacrosse and skiing. ShockBox offers an immediate LED visual alert — or sends a wireless alert via Bluetooth, from up to 100 meters away, to a smart phone — that the player has experienced a head impact. ShockBox takes away much of the guesswork around concussions and allows a player to seek and get medical advice immediately, if that’s what’s needed.
Read more about the 2011 Portfolio Rising Star – Impakt Protective Inc.
Press for Impakt
Rising Stars to Watch (OBJ)
A video game developer and a concussion detection device maker are two of the city’s innovative companies to keep an eye on, according to Ottawa’s lead economic development agency.
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BlackCherry
Attracting a $300,000 investment, BlackCherry scores big in video game design
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Canada has overtaken the UK as the world’s third largest video games producer. Growth is forecasted at 17 per cent for each of the next two years. BlackCherry Digital Media Inc. is focused on original design and game production, after five years as a creative services company.
“2011 was an incredible transition year,” says founder and CEO John Mark Seck. The company’s key project was the original design and creation of educational games for toddlers for the VINCI Tab, a child friendly tablet-sized computer. Launched in August of 2011 in the U.S market, the product will rollout in Asia in 2012.
Read more about the 2011 Portfolio Rising Star – BlackCherry
Press for BlackCherry
Rising Stars to Watch (OBJ)
A video game developer and a concussion detection device maker are two of the city’s innovative companies to keep an eye on, according to Ottawa’s lead economic development agency.
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Gazaro
Gazaro provides money-making pricing intelligence for the retail industry
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In 2009 Gazaro Inc. launched a deal-finding online service that finds, checks and delivers price comparison data to save consumers time and money. In 2011 Gazaro added a software-as-aservice for retailers using the same cloud-based engine that crawls, extracts, stores and analyzes retail-pricing data.
Gazaro’s price intelligence platform delivers continuous reporting on millions of product price points for an unprecedented level of pricing transparency that provides retailers a strategic competitive advantage. Retailers who use Gazaro’s price intelligence platform report a significant increase in sales and market share through optimized pricing.
Read more about the 2011 Portfolio Rising Star – Gazaro
Press for Gazaro
Price-tracking technology earns praise for Gazaro (Ottawa Citizen)
A company that bills itself as the leader in competitive price intelligence and analytics will be applauded during Ottawa’s first-ever Entrepreneur Week, Nov. 14 to 20.
Having increased its revenues nearly 10-fold this year, Gazaro Inc. is spreading the news of how it can benefit not only customers who are looking for great deals on price, but also retailers and manufacturers who want to remain serious competitors.
The concept of competitor analysis or competitive intelligence is barely a generation old, but today’s smartphone technology is taking it to a new level, says Gazaro’s chief executive officer, Alexander Rink.
