Nonprofit organization Metabridge has announced the top founders of its 2019 Canadian scale-up program.
“We started this program to connect Canada to Silicon Valley, but over the last 11 years it’s developed into a community of mentors and alumni founders who continually give back and want to help the Canadian technology ecosystem thrive,” said Steve Wandler, founder of Metabridge.
Metabridge celebrates Canadian innovators from across the country and showcases them at their curated technology retreat, Metabridge Live, taking place June 12 to 14 in the Okanagan region of BC. Each year a cohort is selected and provided access to mentorship and capital.
This year’s cohort includes the following founders:
- Lee Taal, founder & CEO, ChatterHigh (BC): Previously a finalist for pitching at 2018’s Fundica Roadshow.
- Kyle Campbell, founder, CTO.ai (BC): A workflow automation platform, which enables software developers to spend more time on core development. Parent company Hack Capital raised a $750,000 seed round for CTO.ai in February 2018.
- Kevin Sandu, CEO & founder, Grow Technologies (BC): An enterprise fintech company leveraging technology and advanced analytics to empower financial innovation.
- Kevin Kliman, CEO & co-founder, Humi (ON): An employee system of record for Canadian companies to enable better employment. Humi also appeared on The Disruptors.
- Vince Cifani, founder, Joyride (ON): A global micro mobility platform that can help launch bike share or scooter share systems. Joyride has been planning its global expansion since last December.
- Jason Smith, CEO & co-founder, Klue (BC): Offering a competitive intelligence for enterprise sales. It launched out of stealth with $4 million in funding in 2017.
- Shannon Christensen, founder, Mamas for Mamas (BC): A tech charity hoping to change the landscape of poverty in local communities.
- Ian Paterson, CEO, Plurilock (BC): Preventative, instantaneous, and continuous solutions for authentication and regulatory compliance that surpassed $1 million in revenue last summer.
- Tiffany Kaminsky, co-founder, Symend (AB): Looks to help companies engage and treat delinquent customers with a dynamic solution that lowers opex, churn, and bad debt.
- Sarah Goodman, co-founder, VitalSines (BC): A device and application to determines a user’s ‘Internal Age’ based on aortic stiffness.
ChatterHigh is looking to redefine engagement between high school students and institutions through gamification and analytics.
On the committee selection process, Metabridge executive director Sehra Bremner explained, “Our core focus has always been around people and ‘why’ they do what they do, rather than simply ‘what’ they do. We bring founders into a curated and highly facilitated program to allow for deep meaningful connections in a relaxed, retreat setting.”
Founders and investors wanting to participate in Metabridge Live can register here.
Feature image via Metabridge Facebook