“Our biggest challenge? This is such a new technology, that just getting people to understand what we do can take a really long time,” said H+Technology CTO and Founder of Dhruv Adhia just minutes before winning NextBC 2015’s technology and innovation competition, hosted at Science World in Vancouver on Thursday night. It seems like their message got through after all – at least to the folks doing the deciding.
The competition among 25 of the top nominated innovative companies is fierce, running the gamut from bootstrapped startups to established companies with big brands and major financial backing; all of the fast-evolving tech sectors are represented as well, from gaming to business solutions, 3D-printing and more, making claiming top honors all the more difficult. Ultimately, the judges said, “It came down to which company just blew us away.”
H+ Technologies also snagged the award for ‘Most Disruptive Innovation’ for their unique-looking pyramid-centered hologram product that can turn any room into a ‘magic room’. Holus creates “customizable intuitive gesture-based systems and 3D displays”. The 30-inch flat-screen TVs so many of us have in our homes just don’t give us the engagement we want, Adhia explains, adding that Holus is a very different kind of experience that’s truly interactive, using apps to play games and communicate.
BC’s Leading Innovation Companies Take Top Prizes
There were plenty of awards to go around to deserving tech firms this time, as NextBC opened up a range of categories to better reflect the sheer variety of this sector. Other winners included:
Most Innovative Startup. Adrroite Technologies. If you’ve ever driven around the block three times in search of a spot (or know someone who does), this is the app for you. It helps create a ‘seamless parking experience’ where you can instantly find available parking spaces, pay automatically and keep an eye on your car thanks to their network of live-streaming cameras in parking lots.
Most Innovative Business Solution. Eventbase creates apps for premium events. They’ve created apps for all three of the most recent Olympic games, but where they see real growth opportunities are in the aggregate, by becoming the go-to app platform for major conferences and festivals throughout North America and beyond.
Most Innovative Digital Media Company. Tradeable Bits Media. So many devices. So many platforms. It can be easy to get frustrated. What if you could combine content marketing, eCommerce, CRM and other kinds of communication on one platform? That’s what they do – helping you not just get your message out, but understand your audience in a much deeper way.
Most Innovative Entertainment Company. QuestUpon. “Gamifying the real world, inspiring an active lifestyle” is their slogan – and it works. For every parent who ever said, “stop playing video games and get outside”, this app flips the switch. Set up engaging ‘quests’ for yourself or others to insert games into the real world, connected through your smart device. Try to avoid the Sasquatch coming your way, or beat trivia quizzes triggered in geo-cached areas that can be tied to moving objects. “Why don’t people go on quests anymore?” Well, now you can.
See the full list of all of the Top 25 nominated finalists at the NextBC blog.
