Montreal Tech Watch

Codefest is a weekend-long event targeted at php programmers, but also any other developers programming in other languages, planned from May 1st to May3rd. Come over if you want to meet other developers, and co-work on current & open source projects

Event website

Here is a report of a previous Codefest

Another report

Proposed Projects in 3.0:

• MediaWiki
• Drupal
• WordPress
• TikiWiki CMS/Groupware
• BeWelcome
• Habari
• Anne G. wikigraphe
• PHP Unit Tests
• PHP Quebec Employment section
• Laconica sera présent (ideas)
• sux0r.org
• Validation Testing Framework
• Your project! (Contact us contact@codefest.ws)

As a sidenote, Evan Prodromou worked on the first lines of identi.ca at Codefest 2.0. Organizers are also looking for additional sponsors.

There’s an “analysis” on TechCrunch on the StartupWeekend series, and the general conclusion is that it failed.

Since we’ve done Blitzweekend and there are discussions on holding another one, I have to take issue.

I don’t think StartupWeekends (or Blitzweekend) claimed at one point or another to build companies for every team that participates, in the same way that Y combinator, TechStars or Bolidea ambitions to.

They should be seen as a educational opportunity, and an opportunity to jump-start a new idea and team, get up to speed with what you’ve got to know when launching a new technology project, etc.

If at one point, a quarter of the participating teams got actually to get investment $ and/or launch a product, then that’s really more than everyone should expect.

We’ve had students, “9-to-5ers”, people in existing companies and startups, entrepreneurs, open-minded people who were curious in trying things out at Blitzweekend, and who would have never the opportunity to try out otherwise what would be the atmospehere and intensity when creating a product. That’s what Blitzweekend has to offer, and for the best and most motivated of them, it will be the first step for a company. Our role in this was to create the most favourable environment and support ecosystem for them to flourish and if possible, orient in the right direction.

Also, another interesting post related to this is John Stokes at Montrealstartup “Seedcamp mentoring“. There’s one interesting line co-opetition, which is also what one of first objectives.

So I have to conclude that TechCrunch doesn’t know what they are talking about or they haven’t actually participated in any StartupWeekend event at all, and it’s sad since they have titled the post “Analysis”

PS: And there’s StartupDrinks this afternoon from 5.30pm at Brutopia.

A brand new fund has been announced in Québec today, named Teralys fund. It’s an initiative of the Caisse de Dépôt ($250m), the Solidarity Fund FQL ($250m), the Québec Government ($200m) and also private investors and institutions ($125m)

It’s the biggest fund of this size to date in Québec, and in Canada. Another surprising point is the relatively short period of time between the launch of Teralys and the budget announced by the QC government (see previous post by Chris Arsenault). If there were any doubts (see comments) left about potential bureaucracy, then today’s announcement crushed all of those doubts.

From the $825m announced for Teralys, half of it is planned to be dedicated for technology, while the balance will be shared between biotech and clean tech.

See a post by Chris Arsenault (iNovia Capital) commenting the creation of this fund of funds.

See Press Release by La Caisse (PDF Document). A quote for instance from the excerpt:

The strategy not only attracts foreign capital to Québec, but also enables Québec companies to develop business relations with foreign companies. Our financial ecosystem has all the attributes to anchor Québec in the components of the knowledge economy: from education to R&D, product development and marketing. With the creation of the Teralys Capital Fund, we are starting the second phase of the strategy, and this stage will be instrumental in ensuring the success of our entrepreneurs.

Since it appears that they had indeed a plan from the start, I’m curious to know what was meant behind those words, especially the first part. Apart from that, things are getting very interesting now. The people behind this wrapped up everything in a record time; the government chose to bet on private Venture Capital instead of bail-outs; and there’s a strong focus on everything tech.

If you are interested in entrepreneurship, NOW is the ideal time to work on it and get to do something serious. In a few months’s time, new funds targeting new entrepreneurs and startups will be announced, with funds pouring in from Teralys, and they’ll be looking actively for new deals. Better get to work on those prototypes, demos and business plans already.

Things have been busy, but there’s now a new feature:

Technology Map of Montreal [@techentreprise]

This map is replacing the map found on MontrealTechWatch here. It was a popular feature for MTW, but as a google map, it required manual updating, a time-consuming and opaque process. John Beales helped by providing a more interactive map, but I always wished companies, venture funds, consultants, and anyone else would add themselves to the map, and change details.

All of this is now possible at TechEntreprise. If you want to be on the map, and want to be seen by entrepreneurs, startups, developers, designers, angel investors, VCs, incubators, add your project / company / organization to the map.

And as a sidenote, it also allows me to know about new ventures, such as David Usher’s deqq or challengeyourworld which were discovered somehow weeks [unfortunately] after their launch.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Philippe K. Chrun, an entrepreneur, a MBA student, and consultant at the Consultant at Concordia Small Business Consulting Bureau. The guest post is published here in order to bridge the tech community in Montreal with what’s being done in universities, and also because it’s potentially interesting for any tech entrepreneur in Montreal. Philippe can be contacted at p_chrun@jmsb.concordia.ca or 514-991-2875

A lot of entrepreneurs call us at the Concordia Small Business Consulting Bureau because they want us to write their business plan. The first question I ask them is: what are you going to be using your business plan for? 90% of them say they need a business plan to present to investors so that they can raise money (a “money” business plan). 10% of them say they need a business plan that they can actually follow to generate cash from operations (a “plan” business plan). Our opinion at the CSBCB is that a “plan” business plan is incorrectly undervalued in the eyes of most entrepreneurs, but the since the client is king, let me show you the money.

Below is a simple list of Montreal investors. We are currently building a more detailed list at the CSBCB which we use to target investors for our clients. Of course, if anyone knows of investors which we missed, we would love for you to add it in the comments section.

In terms of investment targets, angels look to invest in start-ups, banks look to invest in revenue-generating companies with liquid assets (e.g. A/R and inventories), government funds look to invest in local entrepreneurs, private equity looks to invest in multi-million $ companies that can be restructured and/or refinanced, and venture capitalists look to invest in innovative companies in growing industries (e.g. software, health care, life sciences, energy).

One final thought (and plug), if young entrepreneurs like yourselves decided to hire the CSBCB to write your business plan or feasibility study (great idea!), it’s possible for you to get reimbursed up to 75% of our consulting fees (usually less than 5,000$) by the Jeunes Promoteurs program administered by your local CDEC and CLD. This means you essentially get a professionally-written business plan or feasibility study at 25% of the price.
Thank you to my buddy Heri for allowing me to guest post on his blog. As an ex-entrepreneur myself (most people know my old story or can read it here ), I’m happy to help out the community and hopefully offer entrepreneurs something of value.

See ya,

This is late news (as in 11 days ago), but a few readers might have missed it so here are the (good) news: Tribal Nova received $3 million from iNovia Capital and ID Capital

Tribal Nova produces multimedia games (similar to Flash games on web browsers, but with more elaborate environments), made for kids. The games are done in partnership with different media groups such as CBS, the CBC or printing media groups, who would use Tribal Nova’s expertise to engage kids and offer them a world to discover. You can see products in this page.

I’m thinking about the video games industry in Montreal and in Québec, and Tribal Nova with its new funding could have the opportunity to crystalize world-class video game talent, creativity, and expertise found in Montreal.

One could think for instance of Club Penguin, maker of a virtual world for kids, a Canadian startup acquired just last year by Disney for $700 million… I’m not stating that Tribal Nova should go play into that market, but if there are looking for the moment, it’s certainly now to do the turn.

On a sidenote, it’s noteworthy to see iNovia Capital on a funding spree for the past month. There’s Tribal Nova, on Apr.13th Collective Media got $20 million, CoolIT Systems had $6.2m in March 24th, Tynt Multimedia was funded ($5m series A) march 2nd, Airborne Entertainement had $2m Jan 20th. It’s a striking difference compared to last year, even more striking when remembering the current economic conditions.

Congrats to teams at Tribal Nova, iNovia Capital and ID Capital.

StartupDrinks gather Montrealers interested in building technology companies; where students, developers, marketing experts, designers, consultants, gurus, entrepreneurs, CEOs of tech companies, etc. are all welcomed to get a drink and share about their projects. 

StartupDrinks is organized by TechEntreprise/MTW and FlowVentures (@rayluk) and will be at Brutopia, 1219 Crescent Street, next wednesday from 5.30pm

The topic this time is how to bring Montréal to the next level. See this post on montrealtechwatch. Currently, VC funds such as iNovia, angel investors, incubators, entrepreneurs, universities are involved in the ecosystem, and StartupDrinks will be an opportunity to talk, buzz, and gather everyone around the subject. 

There are also rumours about another Blitzweekend coming in. It might be too early to announce a date or a place, nevertheless, if you know about the energy we’ve gathered at the last Blitzweekend, come over at StartupDrinks, ask us questions about the idea, and tell us what you’d like to get from the event, and what you’d be ready to do. 

StartupCampMontreal edition 4 is also coming right around the corner, with 400 entrepreneurs and gurus expected at the SAT. Another topic for conversation. 

For those new to the concept, view a report of the last startupdrinks.

If you are interested, you have to register here. Registration is free and allows us to print name tags for everyone (plus many nifty things such as this, but it’s another story)

If you’re an user experience specialist, here’s a chance in a lifetime: Akoha, the social gaming startup, is actively looking now for one.

The video explains it very well:

We’re looking for a key User Experience guru to help the passionate team at Akoha take our design skills to the next level. For the right candidate this is the opportunity of a lifetime to join a well-funded, experienced team with a killer idea on the brink of a break-out success. We believe that creating incredible product design expertise throughout the company will be a key component of Akoha’s success and we’ll stop at nothing to ensure we find the right person to lead the charge.

You know you’re the right candidate if you’re a self-proclaimed design-freak. You notice great design everywhere and anywhere. From the simple pen that writes perfectly to the five-star hotel that provides your every whim before you’re even aware of it, designing these experiences makes you as giddy as a schoolgirl. You have a great combination of practical, theoretical and team management experience and has demonstrated the ability to instill a world-class internal design culture.

For more details (job description, compensation, required skills, perks, etc.), see full listings

There has been a lot of great chatter going on the last few days regarding the best way to turn the ignition on Canada’s Startup engine. So much so that it has prompted me to dive in with a guest post here on MTW.

I’ve heard similar ideas spreading at local events, private meetings, and captured in Heri’s post a few months back (A plan for digital creativity) Here are a few thoughts:

• Newbie’s need a lot of hand holding and support to be…
• Promising players need special teams with more practice time and better coaching to be…
• Stars need funding to free up time to learn specific tactics and benefit from strict guidelines to be…
• Superstars need exposure, a national playing field to show there stuff.

This is a big part of why hockey works in Quebec, or football in Texas. One system feeds the other; none can exist without the other. As Chris posted, it is about the “eco-system” or “about fostering the community of start up/entrepreneurial spirit”.

The problem is how do we build a “business model” to support an eco-system that will unavoidably flow investment to many entrepreneurs that aren’t cut out to make it? VC’s understand the probabilities of the best of the best providing a return is near to 2 in 10. Can one truly expect a return on helping everyone?

Does the answer lie with: 

• Government support?
• The BDC?
• Angels and VC’s donating time, space, or money to the community?
• Successful entrepreneurs sticking around to support the system?

Is it due to spring? Is it due to the new budgets? Or is it because we’ve got to fight recession? There has been definetely a series of interesting posts lately:

• $5 Billion to end up in the hands of Canadian Entrepreneurs, Nothing Less by @chrisarsenault
• The Farm Team Problem by Rick Segal @jlaventures 
• Incubators, accelerators, and Ignition by @davidcrow
• Calling All Connectors, by @jacquimurphi 

All of those posts, especially the last 3, address the topic of technology entrepreneurs and the means needed to accelerate it in Canada. Chris Arsenault’s post focuses on “thinking big” and the upcoming opportunities, Rick Segal over at JLA and the Blackberry Partners fund wants a pool of VCs and angels to setup a special fund for proven entrepreneurs, David Crow lists all known entrepreneurs programs and ways on how to emulate it in Canada, and Jacqui Murphy, from Tech Capital Partners, wants VCs and successful entrepreneurs to ease connections.

As far as I recall, this is the first time that so many VCs write about this topic and bounce back the subject of accelerating tech entrepreneurship. From time to time, there were posts (like: A plan for digital Creativity in Quebec), by me, Austin Hill, Sylvain Carle, Montreal Startup, Jevon MacDonald or others mentioning the problem sporadically, and we’ve had then events, or blogs, or initiatives setup.

If there’s a post that I believe hits the right spot, it’s David Crow’s write-up. As Rick Segal points, TechStars or the YCombinator Startup School are proven programs to support and jumpstart a pool of emerging companies, with many of those companies now funded, profitable, with a handful already acquired. They’ve also put Boulder, CO and Boston on the map, so to speak, with the media, tech analysts, and investors flocking in during demo days and for the end of the program.