The BDC and the CVCA are teaming up to launch the BDC Innovation Award, a new award recognizing an early-stage Canadian company that has demonstrated the ability to “bring innovation to market, reshaping a sector or industry in a new or unexpected way.”
A release explained that almost three out of four small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Canada that invested in innovation saw both a rise in sales and market share.
“Canada’s entrepreneurs are the driving forces behind new businesses that can bring new ideas to market in our country,” said the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) (Agriculture). “This award, created as a result of Economic Action Plan 2013, is one way we can recognize their efforts, while encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs to keep thinking outside the box.”
Nominations for the new award are open until April 4, 2014, and the winning start-up will be honoured at the 2014 CVCA Annual Conference in Ottawa from May 20-22, where they’ll meet with some of Canada’s most successful investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders.
“We are delighted to be partnering with BDC to present this award,” said the CVCA’s Peter van der Velden. “In an increasingly competitive and challenging world, innovation is an essential ingredient to any entrepreneur’s success. Recognizing these individuals for their contributions along that journey is essential.”
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) are offering cash and knowledge. BDC is the only Canadian bank dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs, while the CVCA represents the majority of private equity companies in Canada, with over 2000 members representing more than $105 billion in capital under management. The new award “ties in logically with BDC’s role in supporting early-stage tech companies, especially with the work it has been undertaking with some of Canada’s leading accelerators and incubators, such as Growlab, Extreme Startups, HYPERDRIVE, FounderFuel, Propel ICT and Execution Labs.”
The BDC Innovation Award is one of four new entrepreneurship awards BDC is launching this year. Eligibility criteria can be found at www.bdc.ca/awards.