Clear Pod Inc. announced in Winter cohort for Invest Ottawa GrindSpaceXL Program
Ottawa, ON – January 14, 2014 – Eight, high-potential startups have been selected to join Invest Ottawa’s GrindSpaceXL (www.grindspacexl.com) accelerator program.
The program offers early-stage ventures the opportunity to work in a group environment while meeting deliverables laid out in a personalized development plan based on a needs assessment. Content focuses on four fundamental areas: market validation and go-to-market strategy; marketing communications and sales effectiveness; essential skills for success and sustainability; and financing and exit. All designed to get startups customer-focused and investor-ready.
The eight companies were selected from over 40 companies that applied for the Winter 2014 program. “We are seeing more later-stage companies applying,” said Kevin Carroll, Managing Director of Innovation at Invest Ottawa. “I was impressed with the calibre of companies that were shortlisted to pitch. The fact that we are receiving applications from across Canada as well as from the U.S., India, Ukraine and Ireland is an indication that the GrindspaceXL program is gaining traction within the start-up community.”
In all there have been four cohorts since program inception. Two Beta cohorts were run with 12 companies, and the first call for application cohort ran in the Fall of 2013. Nine companies were invited to participate from the 30 applicants.
The following companies were selected to participate in the Winter cohort:
BankMine (http://www.bankmine.com) – BankMine’s product is a financial evaluation software solution. The product is specifically designed to simplify the sales process for financial advisors, while creating a clear, transparent financial plan for the consumer.
Clear Pod Inc. (http://www.clearpodwater.com) – ClearPod develops environmentally sustainable solutions for septic system waste water treatment that significantly improves the performance of your system.
Fast2eat (http://www.fast2eat.com) – Fast2eat is online take-out ordering for food courts. Order online and skip the line, it’s that simple.
Figure of Eight Inc. (www.mo-billing.ca) – Figure of Eight Inc. focuses on developing solutions to facilitate the medical billing process, primarily for physicians participating in out-of-clinic practices.
PrepYourData (http://www.prepyourdata.com) – PrepYourData will enable businesses to clean up inconsistencies and errors in their data easily, so they can get on with their analysis quickly, without needing IT help or advanced Excel skills.
SimpleBI Inc. (http://www.simplebi.com) – SimpleBI offers a “Cloud” solution for small and medium-sized businesses. SimpleBI was built to address the fundamental needs of a client, by quickly and easily getting them on-board the system and up and running in a matter of hours – and by partnering with IBM they are able to offer the industry leading Cognos toolset, which allows users to begin reporting almost instantly.
Travelabulous Inc. (https://twitter.com/travelabulous) – Travelabulous provides an online and mobile personal travel concierge – to make sure you start enjoying your travel experience even before you begin to pack.
Zamani Wireless Solutions Inc. (http://www.zamaniwireless.com) – Zamani Wireless Solutions (ZWS) develops a disruptive intelligent wireless sensor technology platform with many high value applications such as e-health, indoor location tracking and personnel detection security. The first application of this technology is for an autonomous and non-intrusive fall detection product targeting Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) for seniors who are living alone in their homes or at seniors’ homes.
The Winter cohort began today and will run for four months. For more information on the program visit: www.GrindSpaceXL.com.