This morning at the Toronto Global Forum, Ed Fast, Canada’s International Trade Minister, and members of the Embassy of Israel in Canada, jointly announced RightBlue Labs the Canadian winner of global startup competition Start Tel Aviv.
A Toronto-based DMZ startup, RightBlue Labs’ Logit app helps forecast illness, injury, and burnout risk in athletes. RightBlue claims that Logit has been able to reduce time missed due to illness and injury by up to 23% amongst its clients.
Minister Fast thanking startups in room for "driving Canadian prosperity." Asking entrepreneurs to "please stay in Canada." #starttelaviv
— Douglas Tr0n Soltys (@tron) July 9, 2015
“Israel has also shown a clear determination to reach out to other countries around the world to forge new partnerships, and collaborate in a range of areas, presenting strong opportunities for Canadian firms who are world leaders in a wide range of technology sectors,” Minister Fast said. “Through these partnerships our companies are further cementing the strong Canada-Israel bond, which our government deeply values.”
A global competition held by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tel Aviv Global, Start Tel Aviv brings together top startups from 21 countries for an intense, five-day experience this September. The Canadian end of the competition was held by the Embassy of Israel in Canada and Startup Canada, with RightBlue chosen a group of top Canadian entrepreneurs.
“RightBlue Labs is a model example of a Canadian company starting, growing, and anchoring in Canada but making waves at an international level by exploring opportunities to scale and reach new markets,” said Victoria Lennox, CEO of Startup Canada. “Ronin Benin will represent Canada well in Tel Aviv.”
.@Startup_Canada's Victoria Lennox says that Israel shares an entrepreneurial spirit if not similar geography. #starttelaviv
— Douglas Tr0n Soltys (@tron) July 9, 2015
The founder and CEO of RightBlue Labs, Benin was on hand for the announcement, capitalizing on the opportunity to meet not only Minister Fast and Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, Rafael Barak, but Shimon Peres, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the ninth President and former Prime Minister of Israel. Benin was personally congratulated by Peres in a closed-door meeting.
Benin says he's most interested in VC and research contacts during #StartTelAviv. Says Canadian VC community is "very conservative."
— Douglas Tr0n Soltys (@tron) July 9, 2015
“Israel’s startup ecosystem is truly an inspiration,” said Benin. “What they have managed to build while being a great distance apart from any other great technology hub speaks volumes about the people, the culture, and the priorities of the government. I look forward to learning more about Israeli tech’s principals, and bringing these learnings back to Canada.”
Benin thanking @RyersonDMZ for "being my home for the last year" and helping @RightBlueLabs survive and thrive. #StartTelAviv
— Douglas Tr0n Soltys (@tron) July 9, 2015