When a new technology fizzles on the launch pad, it might be because that the idea, though sound, was ahead of its time. Or maybe it was right on time but had too much competition.
More often than not, though, it fails because of a lack of seed money and guidance in the critical early stages of a company.
“A lot of good ideas die on the vine,” said Carol Leacy, program director for entrepreneurship@UBC Seed Accelerator Fund, which will provide up to $100,000 in seed money for high-tech startups chosen to participate in the program.
It’s just the latest in a number of accelerators and incubators to spring up around – and in support of – Vancouver’s growing Internet and high-tech sector.
Three startups will be selected this fall to make a pitch to venture capitalists and will be eligible for between $25,000 and $100,000 in investment from a $10 million BC Innovation Council fund.
The deadline for the UBC Seed Accelerator Fund applications is September 9. UBC students, faculty and alumni are eligible to apply. The program – an initiative of the Sauder School of Business – also offers startups office space for six to 12 months.
Wavefront is another Vancouver accelerator – dedicated to helping nascent wireless companies get to the commercial stage – and the Vancouver chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization has an accelerator program for companies that are already generating $250,000 in annual revenue get past the $1 million hump.
The newest accelerator on the block is GrowLab. It got a very public launch at the August 17 to 19 Grow 2011 conference held at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
The annual conference is sponsored by DealmakerMedia. Its founder, Debbie Landa, also founded GrowLab.
Born in Saskatoon, Landa has lived in San Francisco for two decades. The idea behind GrowLab is to put five startups through a three-month boot camp for techpreneurs before shipping them off to Silicon Valley for a month to fight for venture capital. While the funding they receive is important, Landa said the networking and mentoring they get from successful high-tech executives is equally vital.
“If you haven’t done it three or four times, you haven’t made all the mistakes,” Landa said. “Just because you have a good idea, does that mean you know how to go out and build it?”
The Grow 2011 conference drew 600 people, including startups from across Canada, Silicon Valley venture capitalists and dozens of high-tech executives from companies like Google, LinkedIn and Research In Motion.
“It’s absolutely heating up here,” Landa said of Vancouver’s high-tech sector. “I can’t believe the level of enthusiasm and excitement that is happening in this town and the amount of interest we are getting from the Valley.”
Modelled on San Francisco’s Y Combinator, which has helped foster numerous high-tech companies, GrowLab is designed to help startups with funding and mentoring.
There will be two programs a year, running four months each. The first is just getting underway, with two startups from Vancouver, one from Toronto, one from Philadelphia and one from Bucharest chosen from more than 300 applicants. Participants get between $20,000 and $25,000 each and spend three months in Vancouver and one month in San Francisco.
During that time, they get help with issues like product development, marketing, financing and legal advice from established high-tech entrepreneurs. At the end of the program, they’ll receive $150,000, which is provided by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDBC).
“We want to make sure that the companies have adequate runway and have some bridge financing to get their companies moved to the next stage,” said GrowLab executive director Michael Tippett.
The two Vancouver startups accepted into the GrowLab incubator program are Matygo, which develops software used in post-secondary institutions, and Placeling, a website that will allow people to share experiences about their favourite places in the world to visit.
Starting an Internet-based company is relatively easy; turning it into the next YouTube is an entirely different story.
“Even though, to the outside observer it may look like web startups happen overnight, they really don’t,” said Matygo co-founder Paul Matygo. “The money is essential so we can do the experimentation.”
Even those startups that didn’t make it into the GrowLab accelerator program got some valuable exposure during the recent conference. Several made important connections with venture capitalists, and there was at least one acquisition.
Overinteractive Media Inc. (dimeRocker) bought a startup called Mentionmapp at the conference, and Tiipz.com got some important exposure when it was selected to make a pitch to a panel of venture capitalists.
“This Grow conference has just catapulted us forward,” said Tiipz founder Jason Cyr. “One of the guys on the panel was from Google Ventures. The first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Wow, I really like this idea.’ I turned to the audience and said, ‘Please, somebody tweet that.’” •
