MaRS Innovation and U of T's Innovations & Partnerships Office collaborating with QSperm on intellectual property and business strategy In vitro fertility treatments can be intensely emotional and medically invasive,…
The University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program's second cohort is coming to a close, with applications for a third cohort open until April 17. The incubator program, a University…
Whirlscape Inc.’s Minuum keyboard was featured on the January 27, 2014 episode of Discovery Canada’s Daily Planet.
Lucas Cochran, Daily Planet’s technology correspondent, covered the technology that’s perfect for small devices and big fingers, noting that Minuum’s creators are successfully combating the small amount of space available on wearable technology, like smart watches.
Check out the video here. The profile, in Cochran’s Digit@l segment, begins at the 1:10 mark.
The University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST) program was the focus of a recent online article in BetaKit, a Canadian innovation and technology resource.
The article by Joseph Czikk, BetaKit’s managing editor, is part of a series on Canada’s most promising start-up accelerators and the people who make them successful. Czikk highlights UTEST “as one of the most value-packed programs in the entire country” and credits the calibre of applicants and ideas to the program’s requirement to have at least one co-founder affiliated to the University of Toronto.
UTEST is now accepting applications for the program’s third cohort. Those interested should watch for updates through MaRS Innovation and the University of Toronto, or contact UTEST co-directors Mike Betts and Kurtis Scissons for more information.
UTEST success stories Crowdmark, Granata Decision Systems and Whirlscape reflect the scope of ideas that come through the program and how the grow to address needs across many industries.
Whirlscape’s Minuum keyboard leads the way in Matthew Braga‘s January 5 Financial Post article highlighting promising start-ups from across Canada.
In 2013, Whirlscape’s Minuum keyboard app debuted at number 2 on Google’s Top New Paid Apps List after raising over $87,000 on an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. They’ve also been accepted into Y Combinator, a prestigious U.S. accelerator program.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Minuum’s potential goes far beyond improved touchscreen typing. The company’s so-called “one-dimensional” keyboard approach can actually be applied to a wide range of scenarios, in particular, highly touted new wearable technologies like Google Glass, and motion-sensing technologies such as Microsoft’s Kinect and the Leap Motion 3D controller, enabling users to type “anywhere.”
Dr. Andrew (Andy) Sinclair, OtoSim’s CEO, was interviewed by PharmaBoadroom.com on October 10, 2013 to discuss the company’s success and plans for the future. OtoSim's otoscopy training device is revolutionizing…
The City of Ottawa and Flybits Unveil New Traffic Management Tool That Provides Real-Time Traveler Information to Residents TORONTO, November 18, 2013 — The City of Ottawa and Flybits, an…
In an October 30 article, Yonge Street Media‘s Andrew Seale spoke with MI’s president and CEO Raphael Hofstein on the booming healthcare innovation coming from Toronto since 2005.
Seale’s article is the first of a two-part series on technological innovation.
In the article, Hofstein credits the city’s intellectual infrastructure and access to healthcare resources for allowing innovation to flourish.
Three of MI’s start-up companies are also mentioned in the article.
Here’s an excerpt (links and emphasis our own):
“The Intellectual Property that is being generated in Toronto (is) a major chunk of the IP that’s being generated across Canada,” he says.
He points to ChipCare Corporation‘s state-of-the-art handheld analyzer, which allows doctors to run multiple diagnostics on a patient’s blood on site as opposed to bringing the patient to the clinic. The University of Toronto developed cell analyzer could prove to be a game changer in the fight against HIV. “Lab-in-a-chip” technology like this is crucial in third world countries where healthcare access is severely limited.
Xagenic’s AuRA platform—another diagnostic tool for blood samples—uses ultra sensitive microelectrode arrays (nano-sensors) developed by another team of researchers at University of Toronto. The inexpensive tech makes it possible for molecular diagnostic testing outside of labs.
MaRS Innovation-backed ApneaDX has developed a clinical-quality sleep-monitoring tool. Previously, diagnosing for sleep apnea—a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal breathing patterns—often required an expensive overnight stay at a sleep clinic. The device is a fraction of the cost and records the data on a chip, which is then analyzed by the company’s software.
Every six weeks, MaRS Innovation’s marketing and communications manager writes a guest post for the MaRS Discovery District blog profiling MI’s activities or one of our start-up companies. You can read the original post on the MaRS blog.
On Monday, June 17, Whirlscape Inc. released the beta version of its hotly anticipated, tiny, one-dimensional digital keyboard, Minuum: “the little keyboard for big fingers.”
If you follow tech gadget news, you’ve likely read about or even supported the company’s successful Indiegogo campaign, which raised more than US$87,000—over 870% above their modest initial goal of $10,000—from nearly 10,000 supporters who have now become beta users for the product.
The stats don’t end there. By number of funders, the Minuum Keyboard Project’s campaign is in Indiegogo’s top 10 of all time and is ranked No. 2 among all technology campaigns. Over 1.1 million people worldwide viewed Minuum’s original teaser video on YouTube, which the Whirlscape team edited and shot themselves.
TORONTO, Canada (April 24, 2013) — Flybits Inc. announced today that Forrester Research Inc. has recognized Flybits, a Toronto-based start-up company, as a tool for on-demand marketing processes in a recent report.
The February 2013 Forrester report, written by Anthony Mullen, “Emerging Touchpoints Require a Marketing Mind Shift,” states that to master the new basics, marketing professionals must increase corporate spending on innovation and formalize working relationships in areas such as customer experience, analytics, IT and product design — all of which the Flybits framework addresses.
To address the problem of information overload on mobile devices, Flybits unifies the mobile user experience across multiple channels, creating a cohesive mobile presence for a company’s communication needs. Rather than introducing heterogeneous mobile channels to users, all relevant information can be structured within Flybits Zones — semantic-driven, rule-oriented geo-fences.
Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, West Tower
108 College Street, Suite 530
Toronto, ON M5G 0C6
info@tiap.ca
