B-Line, a cleantech Software-as-a-Service company based out of Halifax and Toronto, has received a US$50,000 investment as it takes part in the Flywheel New Ventures Challenge accelerator in North Carolina.  

In early June, five companies were selected for the 12-week program and B-Line is the first company from outside the U.S. to take part in the challenge, which is in its third year.

“We’re down here to make as many friends as possible and navigate their system and figure out if we could sustain an office in the U.S.,” said B-Line Co-Founder Aaron Short in an interview.

B-Line provides a mobile app for organizations and building owners to collect data on occupants' mobility patterns. To earn their green building certification, building owners have to provide data on the commute patterns of the people who work in the property. Rather than asking people to fill out surveys (which are bothersome and often inaccurate), B-Line can track them using their cell phones, saving time and money.

But on Day 1 of the accelerator, Short saw a whole new application of B-Line’s app for American markets.

“We collect a lot of environmental data but also health data,” said Short. “People here, they get (our app) because there is also a lot of incentives to get people to exercise because of their private health care system.”

B-Line demonstrated how they can get people moving with its app (called B-Line) during Halifax Bike Week. Participants of the Bike Week Challenge helped the company capture around 200,000 data points from 12,000 hours of travel data.

Short said 317 Halifax cyclists recorded 3,712 trips using B-Line, traveling a total of 12,500 kilometres. He said partners like Patagonia and Mountain Equipment Company provided incentives and prizes for the cyclists using the app.

“So people are encouraged to participate out of the gamification but we also get to collect valuable data to enhance connectivity in the city afterwards,” said Short. “The key to our success right now is partnering with organizations and them giving out the incentives.”

And in early July, B-Line will take on its first client. Porpoise, a startup in Moncton, will adopt B-Line’s software to achieve green-building compliance for its new office building.

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Short founded B-Line after working as an urban planner. He saw how “primitive” transportation data  is collected and thus B-Line Analytics was born.

With funding and support from Innovacorp, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Propel ICT and now the New Ventures Challenge, Short is looking to start piloting the app in Toronto.

“(Toronto) has been a hotbed for smart cities,” said Short.  “When we explain to people what we do there they get it immediately. Toronto has been very very good to us.”

B-Line currently works with small to medium-sized organizations. Short said this makes more sense because it’s easier to implement and the efficiencies they identify have a bigger impact.

“The ROI [return on investment] for using our software as a developer or builder is huge,” said Short. If B-Line’s data analysis is able to help a small-scale development avoid building even 10 parking spots, for example, the cost savings are significant. 

Short summed up what the company has to offer and said: “We’re taking something that’s boring, like surveys, and turning it into something fun and useful.”