By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
April 18, 2011 (April 21 on OBJ.ca)

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Northern airline continues to battle competition in tight market

It’s been almost a year since Air Canada launched its Ottawa-Iqaluit route, putting the country’s national carrier in direct competition with two northern airlines, including locally headquartered First Air.

While fares were immediately forced down, and have yet to fully recover, the aftermath hasn’t been as bad as some had expected.

“We lost minimal market share,” said Christopher Ferris, First Air’s vice-president of sales and marketing. Passenger revenues are down by a “single-digit percentage,” and yield is now back to virtually where it was before Air Canada launched service, he said.

The lower fares have encouraged northern passengers to fly south more, observed independent aviation analyst Rick Erickson, although the carriers aren’t making anywhere near as much as they used to on the routes.

Fares fell sharply following the introduction of Air Canada’s Ottawa-to-Iqaluit flight, and while the numbers are not perfectly comparable due to the difference in travelling season, it appears that prices have stayed low since a year earlier.

For flights on and around June 16, a search last week indicated one-way fares starting at Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
April 18, 2011

Click here to view this article on OBJ.ca.

RIM tablet’s Android, Flash capabilities creating opportunities for high-tech players

On the eve of the launch of Research In Motion’s PlayBook device, the buzz is palpable among local developers about the potential in the tablet computing space.

“There’s been some genuine interest … enterprise customers are asking about it and want more information,” says Adam McNamara, co-founder of Select Start Studios. “(The PlayBook) is attractive for business since it’s nice and small and RIM has a history of enterprise deployment. And our company is more business-oriented, so it’s interesting.”

His firm, which develops mobile products for markets such as the health-care and finance sectors, currently only gets about 10 per cent of its business for technology related to RIM’s BlackBerry smartphone platform, and he notes he isn’t sure how the PlayBook will affect Select Start’s bottom line.

But the addition of capabilities for the popular open-source Android system on the PlayBook is something that intrigues Mr. McNamara.

“Android has the biggest growth in market share in the U.S.; businesses are finally accepting it as a healthy alternative to the Apple platform and are asking for it by name,” he says, adding that means more options for Select Start.

The company is also watching the development of the PlayBook’s native software development kit closely, since it represents Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
April 12, 2011 on OBJ.ca (April 18 in the paper edition)

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No IPO in the works

Networking equipment maker BTI Systems has received $23 million in fresh funds, marking one of the largest local venture financings seen in recent years.

“In the last four to six months, we’ve really been evolving our business in terms of our ability to be a sustainable company in the market we operate in. We wanted to move forward and continue our growth, which is becoming fairly accelerated growth, and there’s a capital requirement for that growth,” says chief executive Steven Waszak.

The new funding round, which was led by a new, unnamed investor, follows a productive 2010 for BTI, including an $11-million financing in November.

Mr. Waszak says BTI saw positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization and from a cash flow perspective during the year. The company also achieved record annual revenues as it passed the $52-million threshold, representing growth of 40 per cent year-over-year, and sales for its most recent quarter ended March 31, 2011 rose by about 80 per cent from the same period a year earlier, he says.

BTI now expects to be Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
April 4, 2011 (April 6 on OBJ.ca)

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New federal innovation program a step forward, but much work remains

Local high-tech industry players say they’re pleased with the federal government’s new program to allow innovative products to be tested within the civil service, but there’s plenty of work still to be done on the part of the applying companies – and the organizations that support them.

Public Works in early March announced it had prequalified 19 companies, including three Ottawa-area firms, for the first of four rounds in the $40-million Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program. The initiative streamlines the procurement process for companies with highly innovative technology and sees Public Works working with the firms to find the appropriate government departments to try out their products and services.

If a match is found, CICP will negotiate contracts for the trials and disburse funds to procure the innovations, reducing the risk and budgetary constraints for the acquiring departments.

For AMITA Corp. – which prequalified for CICP with its MedPost public health information sharing software – the program is Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
April 4, 2011

Click here to view this article on OBJ.ca.

OCRI moves towards smaller, more targeted events

Local tech companies looking for money and mentoring this year will be meeting at leaner, meaner events instead of at the Ontario Venture Summit, which is taking a bow after nearly a decade and a half on Silicon Valley North’s calendar.

Beginning this year, the annual event – originally known as the Ontario Venture and Technology Summit and inaugurated in 1997 during the height of the tech boom – will be replaced with smaller gatherings that are specific to a company’s sector or life stage, says OCRI’s Michelle Scarborough.

“We’d like to connect (the investment community) with growing and emerging companies in ways that are a bit more fluid, and it’ll be less about a big summit,” says Ms. Scarborough, who’s vice-president of OCRI’s investment and commercialization group, which includes the OVS.

In an open house last week, OCRI highlighted the fact that its new Regional Innovation Centre – which will serve as the outlet for the investment and commercialization group’s expanded mission and vision – will receive a minimum of $2.25 million in funding from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation over the next three years.

The centre will be at the heart of the group’s new mandate to serve entrepreneurs in the eastern Ontario region, Ms. Scarborough says. The organization will also focus on leveraging relationships with angel investors such as the Capital Angel Network, as well as with programs such as Toronto’s Canadian Innovation Exchange and the Tremblant Venture Summit.

The buzz from the business community, she says, has been clear: companies want more opportunities for strategic conversations, rather than big meet-and-greets like the OVS.

“The feedback across North America and Europe is, ‘If (the events) were a bit Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
March 21, 2011 (March 23 on OBJ.ca)

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A new crop of locally developed smartphone apps is bringing a fresh dynamic to a tourism industry that’s long past the days of having a visitor information stand on the side of the road leading into town, but still feels the acute need for details on a destination’s attractions and amenities.

The recent launch of the city of Ottawa’s official application, Discover Ottawa, is a shining example of this: within the first 36 hours of launching, the app had a five-star rating on the iTunes store, attracted more than 2,000 downloads, and was ranked the eighth-most-downloaded social networking app and the 128th overall in Canada, according to Brian Hurley, CEO of Purple Forge, which developed Discover Ottawa.

“It’s helping to develop Ottawa in terms of visibility and attractiveness … the app helps improve the effectiveness and reach of existing programs,” says Mr. Hurley, who notes the bilingual app will be integrated into existing tourism communications and info packages for people interested in doing conferences in the city. It will also be promoted in the Ottawa International Airport’s digital signage.

Discover Ottawa – which was developed with the help of $40,000 in funding from the city’s economic development budget – provides information from many of the city’s tourism-related parties, including the City of Ottawa itself, Ottawa Tourism, the Ottawa International Airport Authority, local business improvement areas and major shopping malls.

The app includes a wide range of data, from up-to-the-minute flight details, to restaurant, entertainment and activity listings, to social networking features such as the ability to post a virtual “postcard” – adorned with photos of Ottawa – to Facebook or Twitter.

“There’s a basic change going on out in the world in how people are accessing information … and for travellers, the smartphone is becoming the primary way of gaining information about a destination,” says Mr. Hurley. “So cities and tourism organizations are matching communications to the vehicle and end user.” Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published on the Ottawa Business Journal website.
March 22, 2011

Click here to view this article on OBJ.ca.

Plasco Energy Group Inc. has brought in another $140 million in equity financing to fund its waste-to-energy projects in six regions, the Ottawa-based company announced Tuesday.

The firm, whose plasma gasification technology processes household garbage and turns it into green energy, said it’s secured a new financing round led by Soros Fund Management LLC.

The proceeds will be used to fund commercial projects in development in Canada, California, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Caribbean and China, Plasco said.

“The new round of capital bolsters our balance sheet and puts us in a position to execute on multiple projects that have emerged since our last round of financing,” said Plasco CEO Rod Bryden in a statement. “The performance of the company’s existing Ottawa plant and a strong pipeline of contract opportunities have allowed us to demonstrate to investors that our technology is proven and ready for commercial delivery.”

The funding follows on from a $110-million equity financing led by Ares Management LLC in July 2010, and brings the total amount of money Plasco has received to more than $350 million.

In an interview with OBJ, Mr. Bryden said the new dollars will go towards Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
March 21, 2011 (March 22 on OBJ.ca)

Click here to view this article on OBJ.ca.

Fate of my1voice technology uncertain; MyFax and Campaigner to continue

More than 100 staff have been let go from Internet fax and communications services provider Protus’s local office since the Ottawa company announced its $213-million acquisition by Hollywood rival j2 Global Communications three months ago, a company official confirmed.

Steve Adams, Protus’s vice-president and general manager, said about 130 or 140 people are currently employed in the Ottawa operations. That’s down significantly from the 300-employee figure recorded in Protus’s latest Ottawa Technology magazine listing.

“When the initial announcement was made, there were layoffs, but that’s behind us now,” said Mr. Adams. “It’s a stable environment here and we’re hiring now; we have open positions in (customer) support and technical areas.”

The news adds detail to Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
March 21, 2011

Click here to view this article on OBJ.ca.

Diversification will be the name of the game for Nordion Inc. in the coming years, both the company and its observers say, with the health sciences firm’s first-quarter earnings exhibiting the delicate balance between its emerging opportunities and lingering concerns about how it will stabilize its main isotope processing business.

Nordion’s stock climbed to $11.99 on the Toronto Stock Exchange before the release of its first-quarter financials earlier this month, which showed the company had an income from continuing operations of US$23.43 million, or 35 cents per share, and revenues of $69.98 million. That’s compared with a loss from continuing operations of $43.32 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier, on revenues of $45.47 million.

But since then, the stock has come back down to earth, as the strong earnings and 27-per-cent reduction in selling, general and administrative costs, to $16.15 million, were tempered by the fact that revenues missed analyst expectations of $76 million.

Still, Nordion CEO Steve West is upbeat on the potential of the company’s options, including the TheraSphere targeted liver cancer therapy, which contributed to a 20.8-per-cent increase in revenues for the targeted therapies division, to $17.82 million.

“It’s clear that as we talk about Nordion … there’s a significantly emerging level of interest in TheraSphere,” he said, adding that the product is now the third-largest in its portfolio in terms of revenues. “It’s been lost a bit in the shuffle in previous years, but it’s definitely a component of our core strategy.”

The product is already being reimbursed by public health-care systems and U.S. HMOs, or health maintenance organizations. And now that it’s received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for new TheraSphere trials Continue reading →

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
March 21, 2011

Click here to view this article on OBJ.ca.

Local entrepreneurs to use proceeds to cook up two new products

When Chris Saracino and his partner Steve Palmer put the finishing touches on their Hello Referrals web-based software, the full expectation was they would just let it “linger on the web” and grow on its own, with the two entrepreneurs perhaps putting a little bit more work into explaining the application’s benefits to target users.

So when they got the call from Madison, Wis.-based Refertrac with a five-figure offer to buy their flagship product, it was rather a pleasant surprise. Refertrac had a competing tool, geared specifically towards the financial industry, but the U.S. firm saw an opportunity with Hello Referrals.

Within 48 hours, Mr. Saracino said, a deal had been set up, leaving the two Ottawa entrepreneurs and their company, Sliced Bread Inc., with cash to fund two other apps on which they were already working.

“We were always under the impression it was something that would take a bit of ramp-up and anticipated having a bit of adoption time,” said Mr. Saracino, who describes Hello Referrals as a tool for groups such as chambers of commerce or trade associations to exchange and follow up on referrals for business leads.

He said he and Mr. Palmer, as members themselves of various networking groups and chambers of commerce, found group members were often using hard-to-track methods such as exchanging slips of paper, casual phone calls or random e-mails whenever a connection recommended a business opportunity.

“What we were hearing was that beyond the initial attempt or even second attempt at contact, most leads were falling off the map, since they were somewhat outside regular attempts at getting business,” Mr. Saracino explained. “We thought this was a little backwards since referrals are precious opportunities that come with somebody’s endorsement.”

As such, the pair – who have Continue reading →