Inundated with Innovators

Sadly, work kept me from attending this week's Canadian Innovation Exchange. It brought together venture capitalists and other interested service providers with 20 hot companies looking for financing or other support. Like a high-class Dragons' Den, but with more class and (mostly) less sarcasm.

The "Canadian Innovation Leader’ Award went to Toronto-based startup Octopz Inc.(http://www.octopz.com/), which develops advanced online collaboration technologies for creative professionals.

No, I don't know what that means either. It's from the press release. When I went to their website, they didn't do a good job of explaining it either. (How ironic. I guess they do a better job presenting live than on the Web.) But I did learn this:

"Octopz allows you to work collaboratively on an unprecedented range of document types that includes static content (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images such as jpgs) and rich digital media, such as videos, audio, animations, Flash files, and 360º panoramas.
"Octopz has easy-to-use templates for managing and building advanced media content, making it simple for users to create their own custom content."

In the release, Octopz CEO Ron McKenzie says this: “We are thrilled to win this award, which ideally positions us for the next phase of growth.”
It also says: "MacKenzie swayed attending delegates with an impressive and polished presentation that described the platform’s ability to accelerate decision making and speed-to-market for companies in the advertising, design and media sectors."

Pictured is the company mascot. His name is Inky.

The runner-up was Montreal-based Akoha Inc. (http://www.akoha.org/), with a presentation for a massive multi-player reality game that just recently received $1.9 million in angel funding.

The 20 companies in the CIX showcase were shortlisted from over 100 applicants by a committee of leading investors. The award winner was determined by a vote among attending delegates conducted through text messaging.

Now that's innovative!

CIX will returning next year as an annual event.
For more information on CIX and the CIX Award winners, go to http://www.canadianinnovationexchange.com/.Video content from CIX is available on blip.tv. Go to http://www.blip.tv/ and search CIX or visit the showpage at http://cix.blip.tv/#872746.