The Propel ICT finished off its local Demo Days on Thursday with presentations in Halifax and St. John’s.
Twelve of the companies in the current cohort, including seven from the advanced Build program, will present at the regional Demo Day on June 21.
We were unable to be at the event in St. John’s, but here are the companies that pitched in Halifax:
This member of the Build program has developed an online marketplace to help woodlot owners bring their timber to market at the best price possible. CEO Alastair Jarvis explained that 65 percent of the woodlots in Nova Scotia are small, privately owned sites, and they are now being inherited by a generation of people who don’t fully understand the timber market. WoodsCamp helps to connect the buyers and sellers in the timber market so the seller gets the best price possible. “Since launching, we’re already unlocking a source of sustainable timber supply that was unavailable before,” said Jarvis.
B-Line uses GPS tracking on smartphones to gather data on commuter patterns. Currently, governments gather commuter data through phone surveys, but that just records how people think they travel rather than how they actually travel. The proper data is needed because congestion is becoming such a huge problem in big cities. B-Line – which tracks how people travel in all modes of transport, including walking -- has already conducted a project in Toronto. It hopes to be the leading consultancy on gathering data on commuter patterns.
Dugo
Dugo provides intelligent remote-site battery and power management to the wireless industry. Cell towers, which are often situated in remote locations, sometimes suffer from power interruptions, in which case they are powered by batteries. But these batteries degrade over time and have to be monitored regularly. Dugo is developing a Software-as-a-Service platform that helps the process of testing the battery, centralizing the work and presenting the results.
Efficiency Properties helps homeowners to highlight the sustainable features of their property when listing it on a major real estate website. The problem it addresses is that realty sites, like MLS, don’t highlight a home’s performance in energy conservation or other green features. Efficiency Homes can fit over an existing site and help to gain sales in sustainable housing -- a fast-growing segment of the housing market. The company has already had a soft launch and several brokers are using the product.
REP
Formerly known as Athlyst Inc., the company is producing an app that helps amateur sport coaches communicate with athletes and their families. REP is meant for the 32 million young people who participate in minor sports in North America. The app can help coaches communicate easily with families, and find and distribute content to aid in the coaching of young people. REP plans to distribute the product by working with established sports organizations.
Shed is an on-demand household services platform, which means people can use the website to contact a range of service-providers to, for example, shovel snow, mow lawns or do home repairs. The company began last winter in Moncton with a snow removal function. It is now targeting three cities with 20 service providers. The site is designed with ease-of-use in mind, so homeowners can find a service provider within three minutes, seeing the price and customer reviews.
Swell bills itself as AirBnB for moorings, docks and wharves. The company is developing an app that allows people with docks or mooring sites to connect with boaters looking to tie up their boat for a short period. CEO Iaian Archibald said the company will run a trial with the product with Waterfront Development Corporation in Halifax this summer, and it plans to have a province-wide service this year. In the winter, he plans to work with the product in the southern U.S. Whereas some competitors target major yacht clubs, Swell plans to work with small- and medium-sized locations.
