Montreal Tech Watch

I like this video:

In related news, the first meetup of MontrealPython is tomorrow thursday at Standoutjobs’s offices, 3981 bvd St-Laurent, Suite 615, starting from 6.30pm

There is a wiki if you are interested, showing now 26 potential attendees. It will gather python coders, beginners and pros alike, and other curiosities like yours truly — as I am planning to talk a few words about blitzweekend.

Mark McQueen, who heads Wellington Financial, has been collecting data and writing about the “deteriorating state” of the venture capital industry in Canada. In his latest blog post, he uses the word “crisis” to describe this industry and calls for a Canadian-wide summit where active investors and stakeholders would look aggressively for solutions.

In an earlier post, Mark suggested 5 measures that would dynamize the industry, which boils down ultimately to less taxes, and less bureaucracy, which sounds fair coming from an investor.

Calling for a summit and regrouping key organizations is a great idea; although I am not convinced this is just a money problem. It reminds me of Gulf states, which are drowning in money but have zero innovation compared to their nearby neighbor Israel which holds one of the most vibrant tech industry, even though they don’t have much natural resources. This might sounds as an heresy to a VC, but I think money is just a small (albeit necessary) part of the equation in the process.

Here in Montreal, one of the most dynamic industry is video games, with companies like Ubisoft, EA, Eidos, A2M and many other studios, small and big, pushing innovative and successful titles every month. They have now renowned international video game conferences, the Sommet Internation du Jeu Numérique, networks like Alliance NumeriQC, video game schools, and we have even events like video game music concerts going on in Montreal.

My take is that it was due initially to 3D software makers like discreet and softimage. Their success proved in a way that it was possible to actually start something here. Afterwards, we had tax credits, which allowed companies to actually hire many developers and still get a decent production budget. These tax credits are now at 37.5% and still play a big role in attracting new studios and teams in Montreal (see Eidos’s case). Third, there is always a reason quoted when executives choose Montreal over other development centres like Shangai or eastern Europe cities specialized in outsourcing, and that’s the creativity and talent found in Montreal. 

As far as it goes, I think we actually need more “role models” similar to Discreet and SoftImage. But this is the kind of thing that you only wish for. It might happen in the next few years … or not; and we actually have to make with what’s avalaible right now.

As for the summit suggested by Mark, I suggest this: it would be a good idea to offer entrepreneurship courses in high schools and in universities. Advertising Montreal or other canadian cities as an attractive technology platform in other countries is also something that can only be done and should be done by governements (say, instead of giving $750k to investors)

Roberto Rocha reports at the Gazette about Concordia University’s new wifi network, making them the first Canadian University to implement a 802.11n system.

802.11n

This is not a simple technical update. Of course, they get now more coverage thanks to longer range, better throughput, and also better data rate, but what was interesting is that the new network comes with a whole range of services. The university is planning to offer outdoor Internet access through a subscription of 9$/month. The service would be accessible to the general public, making them an Internet provider company. Also, Concordia will offer students the option to offload calls from their mobile provider’s network and use instead the Wifi network to receive AND make telephone calls, making the university a VOIP and telecom company. This is done seamlessly, with devices switching to “traditional” telecommunication infrastructure when outside Concordia’s range.

The initiative is significant, as they cater to a 40.000+ population, and have 2 campuses in Montreal. It also gives a glimpse on the future, where we wouldn’t have any distinction between IP and PSTN networks. If universities, companies, and public organizations follow the lead, it would be possible in theory to have a city-wide 802.11n network in Montreal, and citizens could then have ubiquitous Internet and voip access.

I have updated the guide about launching a technology startup in Montreal, with now Stephane Daury, rednod, and a complete list of accountants and lawyers having expertise in technology.

It’s sitll in alpha mode and you should view it as such, with a grain of salt.

Big thanks to Mark MacLeod for the help in gathering resources.

AngesQuebec announced a $750.000 funding from the Québec government which will be used to support the creation of an angel investors network in the province. Angels investors willing to invest capital and expertise in early-stage companies will be invited to join the networks as members, and they will get to review collectively potential projects.

One of their upcoming events is for instance Capital Innovation, which is a networking event gathering entrepreneurs and investors, and where “selected startups” get to present their product to a panel.

As I see it, AngesQuebec is very similar to the Maple Leaf Angels, an angel network in Toronto. StartupNorth has a whole series of articles detailing the process, which I highly recommend if you are planning to reach to angel investors.

AngesQuebec is a greatly need organisation needed in Quebec that would in theory spurr technological innovation in Montreal and throughout the province. I would love to see more transparency though coming from this organization and maybe some awareness about what other people are doing. Capital Innovation for me is just a StartupCamp combined with Founders & Funders, but with more control and without the camp spirit.

Clavardon, a web startup which launched an early release of their product late last year, announced they are now offering the service to online stores at 200$ per month. The clavardon service allows co-browsing, which means a website visitor can follow the same exact pages, the same sections of a page, and see the same highlighted words by another visitor.

In this case, Clavardon markets it as a way to replicate the experience found in real-world stores. For instance, a clerk store could use the service to “suggest” products that might be interesting for a user. For online stores owners, the promise is that they will be able to convert more users.

The commercial version of clavardon just puts clavardon in the same space as clixconnect, another new web company in montreal, which allows chats and real-time communication between website users and the owners of the website. It strikes me though that they have complimentary features sets; and a business partnership might make sense here.

Clavardon also offers social networking features for their users, which they call social shopping. I find this gimmicky, but what do you know, I am a guy, and maybe they are trying to appeal to teenagee girls people who like to shop with friends. I’ll get back to clavardon in the next few months and see if they manage to get some kind of traction for their service.

Station C is Montreal’s new coworking space, and it finally opens today. It’s located 5359 St-Laurent, #430, and offers 16 working stations for freelancers and consultants, mostly graphic designers, web entrepreneurs, coders. The space also has a meeting room, a conference room, a bar, a lounge area and various utilities like wifi and a shared printer.

The project is the brainchild of Patrick Tanguay and Daniel Mireault, who started thinking about the concept 2 years ago, and who wanted to offer a “professionnal” alternative to coffee shops for freelancers.

In practice, members can be either residents, which mean they will have full access to the space, with a permanently assigned desk, or they can also be “flex”, with a basic plan starting at 14h./week, which is charged $130.

I am currently at the place, which was just renovated, repainted in red and white, with new furniture, and it looks great. They’ve got also a nice set of sofas and bean bags. It’s definetely a better place to work than being in a coffee place/library/home. It will be interesting how the dynamics will be here in the upcoming weeks.

Evan Prodromou launched late last week Wikitravel Press, whose mission will be to publish (paper) guide books, with the content coming from wikitravel, a popular website using the wiki system to get updated information on travel destinations, that he launched in 2003, and was since then acquired by Internet Brands.

Evan writes that one of the objectives from the start was to publish books, and they are now releasing Wikitravel Chicago and Wikitravel Singapore.

Wikitravel Press is an undiscutable proof of success for Wikitravel, although there is some irony to have printed books, as the main selling point for the wiki was that it had real-time, updated, crowdsourced information. For me, it would have made much more sense in getting PDF books for devices like the iPhone/iPod touch or the Nokia N810, which can be as convenient, if not more, as a paper guide book. But I guess Evan is the expert traveller here. Congrats!

Georges Favvas, who is behind SmartHippo, the website allowing its members to get better information on financial rates through crowdsourcing, will be presenting the startup at finovateStartup conference, late April in San Francisco.

Interestingly, smarthippo was open for registration a few months ago, but it’s shown now as in “closed beta”, in invitation only mode. I guess this means George Favvas is planning a complete overhaul, and possibly a launch at the conference.

You may have noticed it: last week, quebec-city based myca launched a full-blown PR campaign to announce their new platform for telemedecine, which will be called santé sans file, to be launched in June this year in Quebec.

In practice, patients will be able to hold a virtual consultation with a doctor via the platform. However, myca present it as a full technology solution, that spans from scheduling, electronic records for patients, remote medical monitoring devices, video conferencing, and finally to online prescriptions and diagnosis.

Possible channels for interactions are via a webcam, or with mobile phones equipped with a camera phone, or even via goold ol’ phones. One consultation costs $50 for the patient, and would allow patients to get answers for small medical problems that don’t really require a face-to-face and full medical consultation. It’s also noteworthy that the consultation cost is not covered by the RAMQ, the service in charge of healthcare in Quebec.

Myca has been working on their solution as early as summer last year, and they have received lots of coverage last week from the press, TV, the governement, and the College des Médecins, a professional body for doctors in Quebec. Interestingly, they didn’t get any coverage in blogs, but I guess it’s due to the fact that they don’t cater to the social media / Internet crowd but are reaching for a mainstream audience, even though they are doing significant technology R&D for their product.

Healthcare is a well-known problematic issue in Quebec and in Canada, with a service that is not really up-to-par and this is where santé-sans-file comes. Of course, this is not limited to Quebec, as myca is also launching the platform in other regions, this time called Hello Health I will track closely what myca is doing. In Montreal, we also have yourteledoctor.com, which is playing in the same field, and presented at the last startupcampmontreal. The key for each startup is convince both potential patients and doctors that they have the best designed system for patients’ needs.