Pixton Comics has won a $30,000 grand prize in the BC Innovation Council's New Ventures regional competition, open to companies outside Metro Vancouver that have yet to secure financial backing for their innovations.
Pixton Comics creator Clive Goodinson, who lives in Parksville, developed a web-based click-n-drag application that allows anyone, from school children to advertising agencies, to create comics. (See "B.C. company hoping for more than comic relief" – issue 1164; February 14-20.)
Pixton.com allows users to customize their comics and differs from other web-based comic-making platforms in that it allows limbs and facial expressions to be articulated in a variety of poses and expressions.
"It's a huge vote of confidence for what we are doing," Goodinson said upon receiving his award at a ceremony in Kelowna February 23.
"Any entrepreneur knows you take a huge risk in pursuing your dreams, but at the same time you know inside of you that it's something that is going to happen. And this just seals the deal."
The $20,000 second prize went to Mazza Innovation Ltd. of Penticton. Mazza developed a pressurized water extraction process that removes phytochemicals from plants for use in products such as foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
MediaCore of Victoria picked up the New Ventures $10,000 third prize for the cloud-based video-learning platform that it developed for online education.
This year's New Ventures regional competition had 55 entries from across the province. The entries were narrowed down to 20 finalists in November 2011.
Winners now can advance to the BCIC-New Ventures provincial competition, which launches in March and is open to any B.C. company, including those in Metro Vancouver. Entrants are eligible for more than $300,000 in prize packages. The application deadline for the 12th annual BCIC-New Ventures competition is April 17.
Last year's provincial New Ventures competition grand prize winner was Polymer Research Technologies, which is featured in this week's issue of Business in Vancouver. (See "Polyurethane added to recycling pile" – issue 1166; February 28-March 5.)
