On January 17 and 18, 2012, Toronto will play host to North America’s largest forum for digital game entrepreneurs and investors at GameON: Finance 2012. This year event host Interactive Ontario, in partnership with the National Angel Capital Association, is pleased to offer a limited number of “Digital Media Investor” passes. These passes feature complimentary VIP access to the conference programme sessions, networking events and hospitality at this year’s event. Passes are available until January 12, 2012 and space is limited, so please register early to avoid disappointment.

To qualify for a complimentary VIP Digital Media Investor pass, you must be an investor who is a Full Member of the National Angel Capital Organization, and be available to take five 10-minute meetings with conference delegates at the event. To register, please go to the GameON: Finance website www.gameonfinance.com and sign up using the following coupon code: ANGGOF2012 – Please note that GameOn will be checking with us to ensure membership is in good standing.

For additional information please contact Danielle Engels, Director, Marketing and Communications, Interactive Ontario danielle@interactiveontario.com.

Call for Ontario-Based Companies: Apply Today!

OMERS Ventures is an initiative of OMERS Strategic Investments (OSI), an investment entity with a mandate to build long-term strategic relationships with like-minded partners. OMERS Ventures is focused on adding value at the early stages of investment, and partnering with entrepreneurs to build great companies.

“We believe our program for investing in venture capital will result in a win-win scenario,” said Jacques Demers, President and CEO of OSI. “Strong, long-term investments in this asset class will help us continue to deliver on the pension promise for our members, while also encouraging the development of a vibrant and successful Canadian knowledge economy.”

Canada’s venture capital industry has suffered from a lack of resources and funding since the technology boom and bust over a decade ago.  This means many promising companies are unable to reach the next level of success, said John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures, and Senior Vice President and Head of Knowledge Investing at OSI.

“The right combination of capital, mentoring and guidance enables strong, young companies to become even more successful,” Mr. Ruffolo said. “With our experienced investment team, accomplished advisory board and pool of patient, long-term capital, OMERS Ventures is an ideal partner.”

OMERS Ventures will have a unique role in its industry, as both an institutional angel investor and a later-stage investor. With its ability to fund companies at any stage of development, it will have a great deal of flexibility when making investments, Mr. Ruffolo added.

As a lifecycle investor, OMERS Ventures investments could range anywhere from an initial seed round investment ($500,000 to $2 million), to a larger growth capital round (up to $30 million).

Sectors of interest will include technology, media, telecommunications, clean technology and life sciences, with a focus on North America.

The growing OMERS Ventures team includes eight investment and operations professionals. An advisory board of industry professionals will assist with developing relationships and sourcing investments.

Investment team members:  John Ruffolo, Peter Carrescia, Jennifer Reynolds, Sid Paquette, Damien Steel, Bram Sugarman, bios can be found here:http://www.omersventures.com/OurTeam/Investment_Team.aspx

Complete Advisory board members:  Michel Brûlé, Rob Burgess, Jim Fletcher, J. Ian Giffen, David J. Kassie, Paul Kedrosky, Sir Terry Matthews, bios can be found here: http://www.omersventures.com/OurTeam/Advisory_Board.aspx

NACO would like to congratulate the members of the advisory board many of many of whom are Angels and champions in the Angel community, including: Michel Brûlé, Rob Burgess, Jim Fletcher, David J. Kassie, Paul Kedrosky, Sir Terry Matthews.

CFC Media Lab Exhibition 2011

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Sneak Peek

CLICK HERE TO RSVP: http://rsvp.cfccreates.com
OR copy & paste the link above into your web browser.
You will need to enter the following information: Email: pconnor@angelinvestor.ca PIN: 8193

Canada has dropped two positions this year to 12th place, with a slight improvement in score. Canada continues to benefit from highly efficient markets (with its goods, labor, and financial markets ranked 12th, 5th, and 13th, respectively), well-functioning and transparent institutions (11th), and excellent infrastructure (11th). In addition, the country has been successful in nurturing its human resources: it is ranked 6th for health and primary education and 12th for higher education and training. As we have noted in recent years, improving the sophistication and innovative potential of the private sector, with greater R&D spending and producing goods and services higher on the value chain, would enhance Canada’s competitiveness and productive potential going into the future.

 As specified in this report, Canada is well structured to become much more competitive in the global market we just need to start using the infrastructure we have built more effectively. To do this entrepreneurs and small businesses need access to proper levels of financing. When asked to rank the issues that were most problematic for conducting business in Canada, access to financing was rank the second most problematic issue behind inefficient government. Ensuring Canada stays competitive in the global market is of critical importance and while our competitive scores have improved we are losing ground to the rest of the world.  Allowing entrepreneurs easier access to capital will allow them to use the world class business infrastructure Canada has built in order to innovate the products and services that are higher on the value chain that can be exported globally.

For access to the full report please click here. http://www.weforum.org/news/us-competitiveness-ranking-continues-fall-emerging-markets-are-closing-gap

“Our government is providing the tools businesses need to succeed and expand into promising new areas,” said MP Adler. “The investments in Guardly and Wave Accounting will help the companies to develop new technologies so they can grow their businesses and create jobs.”

Wave Accounting Inc. will receive a contribution of up to $755,039, throughFedDev Ontario‘s Investing in Business Innovation initiative, which will help the company to further commercialize its online accounting and financial management tool for the growing small business market. With the expansion of several new features,Wave Accounting’s clients will be able to manage their financial information from any device with a browser, such as collaborating with business partners and accountants, logging, generating and sending invoices or categorizing expenses. With increase in product demand, the company plans to double its size by the end of 2012.

“This support from FedDev Ontario allows us to make the best strategic decisions for the long-term viability and success of Wave,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO and co-founder of Wave Accounting. “By helping Wave Accounting at this early stage, FedDev Ontario puts us in a position to build a truly global enterprise, with impactful innovation and significant future growth here in the Toronto area.”

Guardly’s platform for emergency communication facilitates rapid social, mobile and location-aware responses to calls for assistance. With a contribution of up to $237,500through FedDev Ontario‘s Investing in Business Innovation initiative, Guardly will focus on developing the functionality of its personal safety platform for commercial users, enabling businesses in health monitoring, seniors care, residential homes and security industries to extend their alerting and collaboration capabilities.

“I am extremely pleased to receive this federal funding through Investing in Business Innovation,” said Josh Sookman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Guardly. “ThisFedDev Ontario program has provided Guardly with an opportunity to accelerate the development and deployment of its emergency alerting, communication and resolution platform to partners looking to add similar functionality to other products or devices.”

Investing in Business Innovation is a direct result of feedback from business leaders, academics and community leaders from across southern Ontario, who suggested FedDev Ontario take a leadership role in encouraging entrepreneurs and investors to take the risks necessary to put southern Ontario businesses on the map.

For more information, please refer to the backgrounder.

FedDev Ontario was created as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to support businesses and communities in southern Ontario. Now in its third year of operation, the Agency has launched a number of initiatives to create a Southern Ontario Advantage and place the region in a strong position to compete in the global economy. These initiatives are designed to support businesses and other organizations through partnerships and investments in skills and training; innovation; research and development; and increased productivity. To learn more, please visit www.feddevontario.gc.ca or call1-866-593-5505.

Currently 10% of Canadians own their own business with the highest number of business owners located in Alberta and British Colombia with just over 13% of the population owning their own business. The region with the lowest percentage of business owners was Quebec at 5.1%.  Of all of these owners almost 23% of them have owned their business for less than 5 years, a mark that is considered a critical point to help ensure long term viability.

The number of actually owners is in stark contrast to the 90% of the population that have indicated they intend to open a business in the next 5years. They main reasons cited for the discrepancy between the desire to own a business and the actual formation of a business were finical reasons and time limitations. 63 % of respondents stated that current financial limitations were a barrier while only 35% stated the fear of losing money  in the future as an obstacle. Lack of time was reported by 33% of respondents.

Of the individuals that do finally start their own company 35% of them go on to start a second and 60% create 2-4 new ventures. These serial entrepreneurs like other Canadian Entrepreneurs are focused on growth. When asked 60% of Canadian Entrepreneurs said they wanted to grow their business.

But not all entrepreneurs are made equal. One trend highlighted in the report was the different needs between older and younger business owners. Younger owners 18-34 put a much higher importance on finical resources than older owners who are more worried about attracting the right people to their company.

This report is a great synopsis of the entrepreneurial landscape in Canada and should be read by anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Canada.

For the complete report go to:

http://www.bdc.ca/Resources%20Manager/misc/CES_2010_EN%20Final.pdf

The TiE Institute is committed to pursuing holistic, value centered, concrete and interactive educational programs for entrepreneur development. The main goal of this program is to help participants create business opportunities and provide them expertise needed to successfully start and manage their business venture. The program will provide participants interactive experience and knowledge to develop lifelong learning for their attitudes, skills and expertise. Our motto here is ‘Entrepreneurs Educating Entrepreneurs’. TiE Institute will offer workshops of 3-hour each starting from September 15th.  The participants will receive 1-on-1 mentoring from successful entrepreneurs and also get opportunities to present their projects to venture capitalists. This is designed specifically to improve their entrepreneurial success by refining their skills and ideas.  Here is a link to our  TiE Institute Information Brochure.

 A number of sessions of interest to entrepreneurs have been planned. We are currently accepting registrations for the following sessions:

Entrepreneurship Overview      Thursday, September 15th 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Idea Generation                              Thursday, September 22nd 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Business Plans                                 Thursday, October 6th 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Idea Commercialization                Thursday, October 13th 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Ross Finlay: Ross’s angel group has attracted 90 angel members,considered over 350 opportunities since start up in 2005 and made seventeen investments  to a total of $8,000,000.

This seminar is open to the public but intended for people who qualify as Accredited Investors: http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/21943.htm.

To join this teleconference, please use the following call-in numbers and note there are two pass-code options.

Topic: Internet and Investing 2.0.
Speaker: Reid Hoffman, Partner, Greylock Partners.
Date: September 8, 2011
Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm EST

Call-in: 1-719-387-4001 or 1-866-305-2467
Pass-code: 549856# OR 423582#.

The teleconference will be available for archive use two hours following the event at www.AngelPool.org.

Speaker Information: Reid Hoffman is the Founder of LinkedIn, a founding director of PayPal, a founding director/angel in Zynga, first round angel with Peter Thiel in Facebook, and has made over 80 angel fundings in other tech companies to include Six Degrees, Tagged, IronPort, Flickr, Digg, Ning and many others.