Back about seven years ago, Shawn van Drecht and his former partners developed a measurement tool for oil wells,  a patented machine that accurately measured the length of rod heading down into an oil or natural gas well. It was a nice piece of machinery. Count-Rite currently leases the technology out to a 3rd party. But like all technologies, Count-Rite’s tool as it stood could be improved. “I needed to make Count-Rite’s G3 Wear Tool  more versatile,” says Shawn, who bought out his partners in the interim. “Continuous rod is inserted into a well through tubing. The rod is subject to wear and tear within the tubing as it spins. “When rig workers are removing the rod from a well, somebody has to hold a wrench along the rod as it passes. That’s the standard means at this point to measure the thickness of the rod when removed from a well.   If the rod is getting thinner, it reduces the amount of torque the rod can take. Eventually it wil ...

The Funding Roadshow, a joint presentation of TEC Edmonton and Fundica, arrives in Edmonton on May 30, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at TEC Edmonton, fourth floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton. The roadshow is an opportunity for up to 25 Canadian entrepreneurs with start up and small-to-medium companies to seek investment capital.  Those chosen will have five minutes to present their business pitch to a panel of private and public funders, followed by a 10 minute question and answer session. The day will conclude with networking at the nearby The Hat on Jasper pub. Accepted entrepreneurs will be notified of their time slots in advanace of the event.  To be eligible to present, the company must have a strong technology development component, be seeking strong revenue growth of 20% in the coming year.  The cost is $25 per entrepreneur team. Funders in attendance include  Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF), VA Angels, Enhanced Capital Recovery (SRE&a ...

  ‘Regulatory Services’ is not the first thing an inventor thinks of when he or she arrives at TEC Edmonton’s door, seeking TEC’s help in taking a prototype to a successful business. “Usually it hits them like a brick wall,” says TEC Edmonton’s  John Simon, head of TEC Edmonton's regulatory services and quality assurance team. “Investors of medical devices, or natural health products, drugs or diagnostics don’t realize that the government’s job is to protect the general health of the population, to ensure that any claims made about the product are true and are backed up by clinical data.” Here’s the inventor, up to his/her eyeballs in marketing, in raising investment money, in putting together a business plan. And here’s the regulatory affairs team from TEC Edmonton telling them they have to think about the requirements of Health Canada or the American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) from the very beginning of ...

  The 2013 VenturePrize Awards will be remembered for its multitude of firsts: The first time a Student VenturePrize Award winner, Calgary’s Orpyx Medical Technologies, has gone on to win the VenturePrize Fast Growth overall business plan award. First time a female CEO, Orpyx founder and president Dr. Breanne Everett, has won the Fast Growth prize. First time a Calgary company has won VenturePrize, Alberta’s best-known awards honouring innovative, technology-driven startup companies in the province. First time that three of the four awards went to Calgary companies. Joining Orpyx in the winners’ circle was Surface Medical for the People’s Choice Award (see below) and the Screeners’ Award of Merit (SAM) went to Calgary’s StrokeLink. Way to go, Calgary! First time VenturePrize, in a most rewarding partnership with the Edmonton Journal, has had a People’s Choice Award:  The Journal developed, ran and publicized an online system for the general public to v ...

Treasury Board President and Government of Canada cabinet minister Tony Clement visited TEC Edmonton on April 3, 2013, and liked what he saw. “I’m not as involved in business assistance models as I was as Minister of Industry,” the minister said in a brief interview following a tour of the TEC Centre in Enterprise Square. “But with Treasury Board, you have your fingers in many different pies. This is an interest of mine.” Two weeks earlier, the minister was at a meeting in his Ontario home riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka, to discuss setting up a business incubator/accelerator in Huntsville. He took in a presentation on TEC Edmonton by TEC Edmonton Chief Operating Officer Pamela Freeman. “Pamela talked about TEC Edmonton and its success to date. She was truly inspirational.” Since the minister was coming to Edmonton, he asked to tour TEC Edmonton. In addition to an informal lunch with TEC Edmonton representatives, he visited the labs of livestock genomics service pro ...

It’s a Catch 22 which every new entrepreneur experiences. The new company demands 200% of his or her time. But revenues, to date, are minimal. There’s no money for extra staff, no time for anything beyond tomorrow. Above all, the entrepreneur is painfully aware of his or her shortcomings. What’s a business plan anyway? How do I advertise my product? How do I interest investors? What about regulations? Take a deep breath. Pause the panic button. Help is on its way. Business Basics for Innovators (BBFI) is a two-day business education “crash-course” offered to working entrepreneurs by TEC Edmonton. Most are conveniently offered on weekends Business Basics for Innovators   is customized to each entrepreneur’s individual needs, emphasizing strengths, finding solutions to immediate issues, assisting in priorizing and focusing on opportunities. As their needs are quite different, weekend workshops are geared either to working professional business people or to ...

Are you a student graduating with a science, engineering or technology degree, looking for the right fit with an Edmonton-area  technology company? Could you be a recent Canadian immigrant, with an advanced degree, looking for work that would use your considerable skills? Having made the decision to be a full-time parent years ago, with your kids now growing up,  are you ready to dust off your science-related degree and re-enter the work force in a job with a company willing to help you catch up? Then come along on Wednesday April 24, 2013, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at  the BESTT / TEC Edmonton Career and Networking Event. Full details on the event and registration ($10 including snacks and refreshment) can be found on the website. Join us at the TEC Edmonton Centre, 4th floor, 10230 Jasper Avenue, to meet innovative entrepreneurial companies that are taking new technologies to market – and who are looking for additional employees and partners to get there. Job-seekers and anyone who is ...

  The stage is set for what promises to be the most exciting TEC VenturePrize Awards night, at The Westin Edmonton Hotel on April 17, 2013,  since the start-up company competition first saw the light of day 11 years ago.  From a record 26 entries in the business plan fast-growth competition, the preliminary judges have whittled the selection down to three promising, made-in-Alberta, high-tech start-ups. This year LoginRadius of Edmonton is an Internet company that could make user names and passwords a thing of the past. Calgary’s Surface Medical has developed a surface repair technology that can restore hospital surfaces to original states of cleanliness. Orpyx of Calgary creates tactile sensory substitution systems for individuals experiencing loss of sensation and feelings in their extremities, primarily due to diabetes. The three will make final presentations and show their marketing videos to the judges and audience at VenturePrize. Finding out their fate is the finale of the even ...

The art of the pitch: Greater Edmonton start-up company incubator and accelerator TEC Edmonton, with the help of facilitator  and *VA Angels President Randy Thompson, is offering The Pursuit of Financing workshop weekend for up to 20 innovative start-up companies, to learn angel investor presentation skills. The program takes place from the evening of Friday, April 19, to Monday, April 22, 2013, at the Can Tech Hub, TEC Centre, 4th floor Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta. The Pursuit of Financing immerses entrepreneurs in the fundamentals of angel investment. Participants will practice “telling it and selling it” in a supportive environment, receiving feedback from qualified peers, facilitators and seasoned, serial entrepreneurs.  On Monday April 22nd, participants deemed ready will be invited to pitch in front of a real live angel investor pilot in a bid to secure a deal. The weekend begins with a TEC-Edmonton hosted evening reception ...

TEC Edmonton is very pleased to partner with the Edmonton Journal in producing a "People's Choice" Award for the TEC VenturePrize Fast Growth competition geared to tech based start-up companies.   From 26 entries for the all-Alberta competition, the judges have now picked three finalists – software company LoginRadius of Edmonton, Calgary's Surface Medical, and last year's student competition winner, Orpyx of Calgary.   The Journal is inviting its readers and the general public to vote for their favourite finalist, right up until 7 p.m. on the evening of the TEC VenturePrize Awards event, Wednesday, April 17.  The results will be quickly tabulated. Edmonton Journal Publisher John Connolly, with representatives of the accounting firm PWC, will present the "People's Choice" award to one of the three finalists.   TEC Edmonton thanks The Edmonton Journal for its interest in, and encouragement of promising, new knowledge-based businesses in Albert ...