Three New Brunswick companies tomorrow will receive funding of more than $200,000 each as the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation will announce the winners of the 2015 Breakthru competition.
The Breakthru Awards Dinner will be held Thursday night at the Fredericton Convention Centre, and the highlight of the evening promises to be the announcement of the winner of the biennial competition. That team will go home almost $300,000 richer, but the second- and third-place teams won’t be complaining either.
Breakthru has become part of the landscape in the New Brunswick startup scene, and many of the province’s leading high-growth companies have emerged through the competition. And the gala dinner rates up there with the annual Kira awards as one of the highlights on the startup calendar.
The five companies vying for the top prize this year have all been profiled on Entrevestor, and they are:
-- AutoPulse, Sam Jesso and Kristin Killam, Fredericton. The company is designing technology that helps auto dealerships monitor their customers’ cars. (Previous article: AutoPulse Plans Launch in 2016.)
-- NB BioMatrix, Keith Brunt and Jeff Jennings, Saint John. The winner of the BioInnovation Challenge last year is using nano-technology to develop a biodegradable, anti-bacterial liquid that can remove heavy metals and other pollutants from waste water. (Previous article: NB BioMatrix Prepares for Q4 Launch.)
-- Castaway Golf, Josh Ogden and Matt Vance, Fredericton. Formerly Matt’s Got Balls, the company has developed a retrieval mechanism to fetch golf balls from water hazards and an e-commerce platform on which they can be sold. (Previous article: Matt’s Got Balls – And Great Margins.)
-- SimpTek Technologies, Keelen Gagnon, Asif Hasan, and Lionel Fernandes, Fredericton. This Launch36 alumni team is developing an automated system that helps people control the use of their household appliances with the goal of saving them money. (Previous article: SimpTek Progresses After Pivot.)
-- Smart Castle Labs, Elaheh Biglar and four co-founders, Fredericton. The team of computer science graduate students is developing a device to use sentiment analysis and other functionality to battle cyber-bullying, internet luring and other online evils. (Previous article: Smart Castle: Cyber-Security for Kids.)
The winners will receive cash and in-kind services. The first prize will receive a total of $245,000 in cash investments, and the services will bring the total value to $287,250. The second- and third-place teams will each receive $195,000 in cash, and services that bring their totals to $222,250.
In addition to the official prize, the CBC has been conducting a Viewers' Choice award. Its viewers have been voiting on which of the finalists is its favourite and the winner will be flown to Toronto to appear on Dragon's Den.
Once again, one organization that will feel a special pride regardless of the outcome is the University of New Brunswick. The university has had a hand in the development of all five finalists.
Two years ago, three of the five Breakthru finalists (CeteX, TotalPave and Black Magic) had founders that have gone through the Technology Management and Entrepreneurship program at UNB, and a fourth, RTV Group, was founded by a graduate student at UNB Saint John.
Disclaimer: Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support startup companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies and individuals are featured in this column, nor do they review columns before they are published.
