Jeff Slipp is heading to Anaheim, Calif., next month with the hope  of finding a manufacturer that  will be able to  produce the enhanced-expression-effects pedals for electric guitars that Slipp is developing in Sydney.

Slipp, the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Stomp Labs, will soon launch a patent application for his  product, which can enhance the range of sounds and feeling of the music produced by an electric guitar. He is also in the process of raising $155,000 in private equity capital, which he hopes to leverage into additional money from Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

“We have an innovative take on effects pedals,” said Slipp in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’ve shown it to a few people and the feedback that I’m getting is really good.”

Late in January, Stomp Labs will attend the NAMM Show 2013, the National Association of Music Merchants’ annual conference, a cornerstone event for the musical instrument industry in the U.S. Slipp hopes to link up with a manufacturer interested in licensing his technology at NAMM. If not, he is prepared to start off manufacturing limited numbers of the pedals until he’s able to find a larger manufacturer.

Just a year old, Stomp Labs is part of a growing trend in innovation on Cape Breton, especially in Greater Sydney. The city has an unappreciated innovation community, and a key component is companies that have grown out of the island’s musical community. Billdidit makes products for drummers, while Marcato Digital makes a Software-as-a-Service administrative product for music festivals and musicians.

Stomp Labs was launched with $50,000 in funding from Slipp himself, and he has attracted a further $127,000 from various government agencies. These include a total of $64,000 from the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program and $30,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Slipp is also working with Acadia University to develop a free iPhone app that will mirror the capability of the pedal the company is developing. That means musicians can download the app and learn about the features of the product before deciding whether they want to purchase the pedal. Slipp said the company hopes it will help with the marketing of the product.

Slipp has other plans for Stomp Labs. Just as  his neighbor Joe Menchefski, CEO of Billdidit, is doing with drum gear, Slipp can envisage his company  making a range of products for  the $375-million a year guitar market.

Stomp Labs is now searching for a technical developer with a specialty in embedded systems.