Startup news round-up: May 24, 2012

The C100, a non-profit organization representing accomplished Canadian entrepreneurs, has selected the companies and announced plans for the next California visit.

Valley bound businesses

The C 100 program called 48 Hours in the Valley, is designed to give promising startup companies valuable connections to mentorship, workshops, investor meetings, strategic partner visits and networking opportunities. The 20 will head to Silicon Valley on June 25 for two days of meetings and activities.

Among the companies are: Celtx (St. John’s, Newfoundland); CommunityLend ; Digital Journal; ShopLocket; SurfEasy; Verelo Inc.; Viafoura (Toronto); Wall Street Survivor; Planbox; HighScore House; Frank & Oak (Montreal); FriesenPress, Inc (Victoria .B.); Tiipz- (Squamish, B.C.); SimplyCast.com (Dartmouth, N.S.); Openera; NDstorefront (Ottawa); Hubblr (Calgary); LemonStand- (Mission, B.C.); Payfirma; and NuCaptcha Inc. (Vancouver, B.C.)

C100 is comprised of a select group of Canadians based primarily in Silicon Valley. Charter Members include startups CEOs, top executives of companies such as Apple, Cisco, EA, eBay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, and venture investors representing more than $8 billion in capital.

From Mediacaster Magazine

GrowLab keeps on growing

Vancouver-based startup accelerator GrowLab launched last May selecting five tech companies for its program.

The accelerator founded by Boris Wertz (W media ventures), Lenonard Brody (Clarity Digital), Debbie Landa (DealMaker Media), Jason Bailey (East Side Games), offers up to $25,000 in equity investment for its portfolio companies (in exchange for a 5 to 9 per cent stake), plus a $150,000 convertible loan (backed by the Business Development Bank of Canada) upon completion of its 12 week program.

Today, the accelerator announced that it has hired Canadian super angel Mike Edwards as executive director and has chose five other companies to form its second cohort:

  • BlueBat Games, the team behind BlueBox, an engine that allows game developers to easily build on social platforms
  • Cinecoup aims to disrupt how feature films have been created, financed and distributed
  • Food.ee, a new product from Invoke Media, the maker of HootSuite, Food.ee simplifies group ordering of delivery food for offices
  • Skyscrpr makes it easy for bloggers to sell ads directly to advertisers with a user friendly interface and automated media kits
  • Wantering, lets you visually browse, find and buy the latest trends from fashion blogs and curation networks

From TechCrunch

Fashionista’s got game

Toronto-based game developer XMG Studio has released a new mobile game designed by fashion lovers for fashion lovers.
Fashion Star Boutique is an is inspired by runways around the world and teaches aspiring designers how to manage their own line of apparel and their own clothing store.

The free iOS game uses a casual, cartoonish aesthetic but focuses on realistic operations: tasks include filling one’s boutique with not just pretty but also economically smart designs, forcing players to pay attention to factors such as price and time to market, not just the colour of sequins or length of skirt.

The Canadian startup says that a future update will include the integration of a Fashion Star Boutique community, which will enable designers to visit each other’s stores.

From Techvibes

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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