Whirlscape

Whirlscape’s Minuum keyboard profiled on The Discovery Channel

Screen Shot 2014-01-21 at 11.26.56 AM
Whirlscape‘s Minuum keyboard demo on a smartwatch was profiled on The Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet on January 27, 2014.

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.

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Financial Post lists Whirlscape as Canadian Start-Up to Watch

2014 set to be big year for the start-up and UTEST grad

Whirlscape logoWhirlscape’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.”

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Whirlscape’s Minuum keyboard debuts at #2 on Google’s Top New Paid Apps list

Minuum #2 top paid new Android App on Google Play store
Minuum (icon second from left) is  the #2 Top Paid New Android App on the Google Play store. Graphic courtesy of Whirlscape Inc.

The Minuum keyboard, which made its public debut in the Google Play Store on August 21, 2013, has already reached #2 position in Google’s “Top New Paid Android Apps” list. The keyboard is the only non-game currently in that list’s top 10.

In the “Top Paid in Android Apps” general category, Minuum is already #9. The keyboard, made by Whirlscape Inc., has a four-star rating among users.

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Whirlscape’s team on Minuum, Indiegogo and crowdfunding a beta keyboard launch

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.

Whirlscape logoOn 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.

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Mobile Syrup announces Minuum keyboard to launch “early next week”

Whirlscape logoThe Minuum Project has achieved such international buzz that even the news of a beta launch from Whirlscape Inc. without a firm date generated media interest.

Mobile Syrup, one of the first technology outlets to report on the company’s Indiegogo campaign, filed a post on next week’s beta release launch by Ian Hardy on June 14, 2013:

Toronto-based Whirlscape developed Minuum, the one-dimensional simplified keyboard for smartphones, tablets and wearable technology. This idea gained a great deal of attention back in March when they went live on crowd-funding site IndieGogo. […]

Those who backed the initiative were promised early access to the beta app for Android sometime in June. Minuum seems to be on track as we’ve been informed that the beta app for Android is scheduled for release “early next week.”

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Five UTEST companies to tackle critical healthcare challenges

Program’s second cohort includes eQOL, E-Twenty Development, Root2Crown, Treata Smart Solutions and TrendMD

University of TorontoTORONTO (May 14, 2013) — Five companies tackling pervasive healthcare challenges — such as assessing dental health, helping patients and medical personnel navigate hospitals with greater ease, staying current with medical literature, or creating digital tools to help care for the elderly or those with chronic health conditions — have been admitted to the University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST) program’s second cohort.

UTEST, supported by the University of Toronto’s Connaught Fund, Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) and MaRS Innovation (MI), is part of a growing system of incubators and commercialization support services at U of T.

Two companies in UTEST’s second cohort, E-Twenty Development Inc. and Treata Smart Solutions Inc. are participating in Canada 3.0 at the Metro Convention Centre May 14 and 15, 2013, in Toronto.

This announcement was covered in PE Hub.

Each company will receive up to $25,000, incubation space in the MaRS Discovery District, mentoring and business strategy support to develop protectable intellectual property, launch their products and gain market traction. They are also eligible to become clients of MaRS Discovery District’s ICE or Healthcare practices.

UTEST seeks scalable, enterprise-focused software applications interested in building business-to-business customer bases — and preferably operational products with a short term to market. The program is co-directed by Kurtis Scissons (U of T IPO) and Dr. Lyssa Neel (MI).

The second cohort has big shoes to fill. UTEST’s first cohort has collectively secured over $1.2 million in follow-on funding and currently employs 29 highly skilled people (HQPs). Each company also filed solid patent protection and most have secured customers. Notably, Whirlscape’s Indiegogo campaign secured over $87,000 in crowd-sourced product funds from nearly 10,000 users, and was featured in the Financial Post, TechCrunch, Mashable and The Verge, among other global media outlets.

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Minuum’s crowdfunding campaign raises 873 per cent of initial goal

Over 9,600 people funded Toronto start-up’s one-dimensional mobile keyboard

Final tally for Minuum's Indiegogo campaign
The final tally for Minuum’s Indiegogo campaign: $87,369 in one month from 9,648 supporters.

TORONTO, Canada (April 18, 2013) — The Indiegogo campaign for Minuum, “the little keyboard for big fingers,” created by Whirlscape Inc., has closed after raising $87,369 in one month.

Minuum is a one-dimensional, tiny keyboard that frees up mobile screen space while allowing fast, accurate typing. Its specialized, patent-protected auto-correction algorithm allows highly imprecise typing, configuring the difference between what you type and what you mean in real time and getting it right even if you miss every single letter.

Read about the Minuum launch and reaching its $60,000 stretch milestone in previous posts. The posts include links to Minuum’s international media coverage. Most recently, their technology and Indiegogo success were featured in The Verge, the Financial Post, Mobile Syrup (includes an excellent Youtube interview with founder Will Walmsley, embedded below) and Tech2.

The campaign’s initial goal — $10,000 to fund the launch of an Android keyboard app — was reached within 14 hours. Since its launch on March 18, the campaign video has been viewed over 1.1 million times.

Did you know Minuum’s campaign is in Indiegogo’s top 10 of all time for projects with the largest number of supporters?

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Minuum closes on $60,000 crowdfunded stretch goal to build wearable development kit

Minuum's one-line QWERTY keyboard on a touch device
Minuum’s one-line QWERTY keyboard on a touch device leaves more screen space for content.

Whirlscape Inc.‘s Minuum keyboard has enjoyed the kind of launch that start-up founders dream about yet few achieve.

UPDATE: Whirlscape’s Minuum Project has now cleared its $60,000 fundraising target. Mobile Syrup wrote a follow-up article on the campaign with details about the Wearable Development Kit. Their technology also got a second spot on CTV News‘s Tech Tuesday report and was featured on Global TV’s The Morning Show.

The little keyboard for big fingers, which launched an Indiegogo campaign a week ago today to support the launch of its Android keyboard app and a wearable development kit, is currently less than $4,000 from its crowd-funded stretch goal of $60,000.

The company was featured on CTV News on Mar. 24, 2013. The CTV video story and photos of CEO Will Walmsley and CTO Xavier Snelgrove are available on CTV’s website.

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