L-SPARK, an Ottawa-based incubator and accelerator focused on enterprise SaaS and cloud-based startups, has announced the cohort for its second accelerator program that begins this month.
The application process included a Pitchfest featuring 11 companies that took place at the end of September. The selection committee including representatives from Microsoft, IBM, Real Ventures, and the Capital Angel Network.
In the end, four companies won out, including ZiNation, an automated merchandising platform for e-commerce storefronts that graduated from L-SPARK’s inaugural incubator program. ZiNation launched its Product Catalog Builder on Magento early in September. Cliniconex, a patient reminder and survey software application that integrates with electronic medical record solutions, is also an L-SPARK incubator graduate. FileFacets, a hosted Information Governance implementation Software as a Service (SaaS) product, and CareerLaunch, a comprehensive job search management application that allows job seekers to track and manage their search across all of hiring resources, will also be joining.
“After a rigorous selection process, with over 190 qualified applicants participating in this round, I am proud to welcome four high potential enterprise SaaS companies into the second L-SPARK Accelerator session,” said L-SPARK managing director Leo Lax. “Now it is time for the founders to get to work with our team of mentors and advisors to accelerate sales and prepare for investment.”
The companies will move into L-SPARK’s office space for nine months, and will have access to mentorship from entrepreneurs that have scaled their own enterprise software companies. The companies will also be able to pitch their businesses to angel investors and VCs over the nine months, with the purpose of accelerating them towards a Series A investment.