With new tech startups sprouting up in B.C.’s vibrant tech community on weekly basis, Angie Schick there’s one sure-fire way to gain credibility: win the BCIC-New Ventures competition.
Now in its 15th year, the annual showdown between early stage tech ventures can serve as both a launching point and benchmark for entrepreneurs, according to the program’s manager.
“We really are kind of the best filter for startup ventures in the province,” Schick said, adding a placement in the top 25 serves as great way to grab the attention of investors who can’t necessarily comb through each of the 130 applicants.
“And then, of course, what everyone goes into it for is the $300,000 in cash and prizes. But we structure the competition along the way so you’re getting mentorship.”
Schick said judges are looking at both the market potential behind the products or services the tech startup is developing, as well as the credibility of the team. The goal, she said, is to ensure these startups are successful when presenting themselves to investors down the road.
“If you have a really great company (as an investor) but you don’t necessarily think the CEO is the right fit, they actually may be at more of a disadvantageous than, say, a team they really like.”
Last year, DarkVision Technologies earned the first-place prize of $100,000 for developing imaging technology that can see through opaque fluids and provide high-resolution images of oil and gas wells.
Aspect Biosystems, meanwhile, won the $55,000 second-place prize after creating 3D bio-printing techniques for human tissue.
Applications close midnight, April 15.
