wearables

Flybits announces second closing of $4.75M Series A financing

April 29, 2015
Susanne Staer
Flybits

Vodafone expands Toronto-based company’s global partners to advance mobile platform offerings

TORONTO, April 28, 2015 – Vodafone, one of the world’s largest global mobile carriers, has led a second closing of Flybits’ Series A round through Vodafone Ventures. The announcement builds on Flybits’ previously announced Series A financing in August 2014, which was led by Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Trellis Capital.

This announcement was covered in the Financial Post, TechVibes, PE HUB and BetaKit.

As an innovative software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, Flybits enables consumer-focused enterprises to expand and manage mobile experiences that deliver targeted content and services. Its platform enhances mobile services to deliver a better customer experience, drive sales and capture analytical insight to establish a competitive advantage. The Flybits solution is easy to deploy, user-friendly and scalable.

“We’ve enjoyed an excellent partnership with Vodafone since beginning an incubation project with them almost two years ago,” said Dr. Hossein Rahnama, founder and chief product officer of Flybits. “They helped us make our product carrier-grade, and this investment will allow us to leverage their presence in more than 21 countries. With the support of our strategic investors, Bosch and Vodafone, our plan is to become the leading platform for companies to develop and deliver intelligent and context-aware mobility solutions.”

“I congratulate Flybits on today’s announcement,” said the Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade. “Flybits has used many of the services our government offers to help Canadian businesses succeed abroad including the Canadian Technology Accelerators (CTA). Through our network of Trade Commissioners and various programs, this government is committed to helping companies such as Flybits grow beyond our borders to expand globally, creating jobs and economic prosperity across Canada.”

Onyx Motion’s digital coach Swish featured on Canada AM

April 14, 2015
Susanne Staer
Media Coverage

Swish, by Onyx Motion, is a wearable virtual coach that helps basketball players improve their shooting technique while emulating their hardcourt heroes.

UTEST company Onyx Motion‘s lead product, Swish — a basketball virtual coach that currently works with Android Wear smartwatches to help basketball athletes to improve their shooting technique and emulate their heroes — was featured on Canada AM this morning.

Watch the clip of Onyx Motion’s Swish on Canada AM, CTV’s flagship morning show. Product feature plays after advertisements and begins at 1:40 mark.

Think you’ve got an equally great software-based idea for a start-up? UTEST is currently recruiting for its fourth cohort.

Tom Emrich, a Toronto-based consultant and blogger who specializes in mobile, tablets and wearable technology, presented Swish to Canada AM hosts Marci Ien, Beverly Thomson and Jeff Hutcheson using a Sony SmartWatch 3.

“The application takes your form, measures it and, using the motion sensor of the smartwatch, compares it to experienced players’ data and provides you with a tip,” Emrich explained. “It’s really trying to make sure your next shot is going to be a slam dunk.”

Onyx Motion is part of UTEST’s third cohort. The incubator program, which MaRS Innovation co-directs with the University of Toronto. UTEST is currently recruiting companies to its fourth cohort.

Baycrest’s “My Virtual Dream” brain exhibit at Ontario Science Centre Jan 17-18, 2015

MaRS Innovation is a My Virtual Dream event sponsor and commercialization partner

Toronto, ON (January 12, 2015) – Baycrest Health Sciences’ dazzling brain science exhibit from 2013 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche will be on show at the Ontario Science Centre’s BRAINFest, Jan. 17-18.

My Virtual Dream is an innovative and interactive live performance experience at the intersection of science, art and music. The installation will enable participants to use their brain waves to communicate with each other through an immersive audio and visual expression that will be projected onto video screens.

“Participating at BRAINFest is a great way to share Baycrest’s renowned strengths in cognitive neuroscience in a highly artistic and interactive way with the public,” says Dr. Randy McIntosh, vice-president of Research and Director of Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute. “Baycrest wishes to thank the Ontario Brain Institute for bringing My Virtual Dream into the Ontario Science Centre and to MaRS Innovation as our key collaborative partner.”

The concept for My Virtual Dream is inspired by an ongoing international project led by Dr. McIntosh and the Rotman to build a virtual, functional brain – a research and diagnostic tool that could one day revolutionize brain healthcare.

The installation, created by Baycrest and the University of Toronto for Nuit Blanche 2013, was a huge hit with fans of the festival. It also represented an extraordinary neuroscience experiment that explored how people can collectively synchronize their brain waves to co-create a multi-sensory environment that merges art, science and technology. In a single night, Rotman researchers collected brain data from over 500 people who signed on to be research subjects.

UTEST announces third cohort of U of T software start-ups

December 10, 2014
Susanne Staer
Appulse Power

Products range from wearable digital coaches to socially-drive financial investment tools

TORONTO (Dec. 2, 2014) — The University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) incubator, co-directed by U of T’s Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) and MaRS Innovation, has announced its third cohort of computer science start-up companies.

Betakit and Electronic Products &Technology covered this announcement; TechVibes featured Syncadian and Onyx Motion in recent features. The U of T magazine also featured Syncadian and CEO Hanna Janossy in this recent profile.

The five companies and the diverse sectors they target are (scroll for full company descriptions):

FlatFab Inc. — 3D printing (designing 3D objects that print in 2D)
ICE³ Power Technologies Inc. — hardware (universal charger for portable devices)
Onyx Motion Inc. — wearables (digital coaching)
Nvest Inc. — financial investing (socially-driven stock recommendations)
Syncadian Inc. — digital health (fatigue management for enterprise clients)

Past graduates include Whirlscape, TrendMD, Crowdmark, eQOL and Granata Decision Systems, among others.