The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation has named the five finalists for its biennial Breakthru competition, in which early stage companies will vie for $406,000 in prizes.
The finalists -- Black Magic, CeteX, Store-it Squirrel, TotalPave and RTV – will now be entered into the Viewer’s Choice award, in which the CBC broadcasts features on each company, and viewers select their favourites.
NBIF and the law firm Cox & Palmer will announce the winner and two runners up of Breakthru as well as the Viewer’s Choice award at the Breakthru Awards Dinner at the Delta Fredericton Hotel on March 20. The dinner will feature a keynote address by Peter Brown, co-author of The Power of the Best. The Breakthru winner will receive $192,000 in cash and services, while the first runner up will get $137,000 and the second runner-up $77,000.
I’ve met four of the finalists, and done full profiles of three of them. But one thought that came to mind is there are some entrants with great prospects that did not make the final five. There are a few entrepreneurs in New Brunswick waiting to break out in the near future.
Here’s a quick look at the five finalists, who we will feature more fully as we get closer to the awards dinner:
BLACK MAGIC
Fredericton
Greg Bailey, Steven Likely, Garrett Nelson
Most heavy-duty hand cleaners are toxic, and have abrasives that basically scrape the dirt from your hands. Black Magic’s two-step, non-toxic solution will take any oil-based substance off of your skin, even dried spray paint.
Fredericton
Gregory and Nathan Armstrong
CeteX is developing a small, on-site wastewater treatment system, which supplies enough residual biogas to make the treatment energy neutral.
Saint John
James Stewart
RTV Group has developed a technology that analyzes police data sources for specific patterns to identify repeat drunk drivers. Together with the profiles of known impaired drivers, Repeat Target Vehicle profiles are created.
Saint John
Mikeal Abramoff
Store-It Squirrel is an online service that connects people who need storage space to people who have it— all at prices that are advantageous to both parties.
Fredericton
Drew and Coady Cameron
TotalPave’s smartphone app allows engineers to acquire and wirelessly report the Pavement Conditions Index and International Roughness Index. Its price, speed and updatability will save governments thousands of dollars.
