Two Canadian startups are set to pitch before investors and judges. at Google’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters on May 4 for Google Demo Day.
Waterloo-based Knowledgehook, which creates gaming software that analyzes the academic performance of math students, and Halifax-based PACTA, which enables companies to keep track of their signed contracts on any device and across teams through smart contracts, are among the 11 chosen startups. They will pitch in front of judges Steve Case, chairman of Revolution and Case Foundation, Frank Chen, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Bedy Yang, a managing partner at 500 Startups.
“We’re thrilled to share our software with potential investors,” said Knowledgehook co-founder Travis Ratnam, who will be pitching with co-founder James Francis with the goal of securing more investment. “We believe our products will be pivotal in connecting teachers and school boards all over the world with data that identifies what concepts students are struggling with and also provides them with immediate teaching solutions.”
Knowledgehook has received support from ACJumpStart and funding from the Ontario Centres for Excellence. PACTA is a recent graduate of FounderFuel’s fall 2015 cohort, and was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Up and Coming ICT companies by Branham Group, an industry analyst and strategic consulting firm exclusively focused on ICT.
“Being invited to pitch by Google shows that our technology is not only cutting edge, it is also solving a real problem for businesses across the globe,” said Charlotte Rydlund, PACTA co-founder and CEO. “Companies can dramatically increase their productivity and minimize risk by turning their contracts into smart contracts.”
Google for Entrepreneurs partners with ten tech hubs across North America, which make up its North American Tech Hub Network. Knowledgehook and PACTA are representing Communitech and Notman House respectively. Notman House and Communitech are also the only two Canadian spaces out of 10-hub network.
Startups selected for the demo day must be incorporated in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, can come from any vertical, and should be raising a Series A round or roughly $1 million to $4 million USD.