MentorCamp took place in Charlottetown on Monday, bringing together seven companies for an intense day with 28 mentors from Atlantic Canada and other parts of the world.
Launched in Halifax in 2011 by investor and consultant Permjot Valia, MentorCamp assembles promising companies and schedules rotating meetings throughout one day with about two dozen mentors, who meet the entrepreneurs in groups of three or four.
The international mentors included: Jane Galsworthy of the Oxford Centre for Innovation in the U.K.; Jeff Amerine, who heads the consulting group StartUp Junkie in Arkansas; and Joseph T. Wright, Head of the Entrepreneurship office at the South Dakota University of Mines and Technology.
“The whole goal here today is to get all those experiences into the brains of all the founders gathered here – that is the main thing,” Joshua Green, CEO of St. John’s-based Mysa Smart Thermostat, told the mentee companies as the program opened. His company went through MentorCamp a few years ago and he served as a mentor on Monday.
“You don’t need to agree with it all. You don’t need to disagree with it all. You just need to be a sponge for the next eight hours and collect as much as you can,” he continued.
Said Mike Fraietta, the CEO of Kidfolio, one of the presenting companies: “This was extremely helpful. We found out so much work we have to do that we almost left halfway through to get to work on it.”
Here's a list of the companies that attended MentorCamp 2019:
Cribcut, Halifax – Led by CEO David Howe, Cribcut assigns groups of hair stylists to large offices to cut people’s hair, providing convenience for the customers and reducing stylists’ costs.
Easy Golf Tour, Sydney – Headed by CEO Todd Chant, Easy Golf Tour has developed software that helps golf courses administer the tournaments they hold several times each season.
Eyesover, Fredericton – Eyesover’s opinion-tracking software uses artificial intelligence to analyze media and uncover new issues or discussions of importance to the user. The company is headed by CEO Craig Leonard.
Onset Communication, Charlottetown – Onset has developed The Visual Assistant, a visual communication tool that reduces miscommunication, delays and mistakes on film production sets. It is led by CEO Brian Sharp.
Septic Sitter, Charlottetown – Septic Sitter places sensors in a septic tank and drainfield, the underground area that catches the runoff from the tank. The sensors send readings to a sensor hub in the house, which can assess whether there is unusually high runoff and keep a record of effluent levels and temperatures in the septic system. The CEO is engineer Kelly Galloway.
Kidfolio, New York – Led by CEO Mike Fraietta, Kidfolio is a platform that helps parents build savings accounts for their children by letting friends and family make contributions.
TurboPlay, Fredericton –TurboPlay, led by CEO Vince McMullin, is building a personalized video game marketplace for indie gamers and game developers, allowing them to sell their digital games and related downloadable content.
“I think it’s impressive how the quality of companies keeps improving and that helps me keep attracting top flight mentors to Atlantic Canada,” said Valia.