Canadian Technology Accelerator Now Open in Silicon Valley

Canadian Businesses Get a Boost from Trade Commissioner Service ‘Boot Camps’

During the week of March 16 to 20, 2009, the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) team from the Canadian Consulate General in San Francisco-Silicon Valley hosted a series of ‘boot camps’ for technology start-ups and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in five Canadian cities: Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo. The initiative was organized in partnership with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Canada Economic Development for Québec Regions, the Canadian Consulate General in Boston and the respective Canadian TCS regional offices. These boot camps were focused on coaching local entrepreneurs on pitches to potential U.S. and Canadian investors; providing tips on what it takes to successfully access sophisticated markets such as the Silicon Valley; a 10-minute dry-run pitch to local, U.S., Canadian and Silicon Valley venture capital and angel investors; and a networking event. The companies with the most promising prospects were then invited to participate in follow-up activities in their local markets, California, as well as to take advantage of the new Canadian Technology Accelerator in the Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale).

The Canadian Technology Accelerator, located within the Plug and Play Tech Center (a successful incubator which houses 250 ICT SMEs on three campuses), provides selected Canadian companies with office space and customized market-access services. In practice, this program gives companies an intensive exposure of three months to the unique resources that the Silicon Valley has to offer, whether in terms of reaching out to potential fortune 500 customers, investors (venture capitalists), or other strategic partners. The Canadian Technology Accelerator can accommodate up to six companies at any given time. In addition, two companies can also have access to virtual offices and equivalent access to services from the TCS and Plug and Play. Selected companies are offered free access to the Accelerator for a three-month term, after which period they have the option to move to a different office within Plug and Play (or elsewhere) in order to allow for new companies to join the program. The next rotations are taking place in June and then in September 2009.

Among the many services provided at the CTA, Canadian companies gain access to top-tier venture capital firms; local angel networks; potential corporate R&D partnerships; collaborations with the likes of Google, Sun or Microsoft; event, conference and data center facilities; and dedicated access to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service.

One company that has already begun taking advantage of this program is 3rdWhale.com, a Vancouver-based digital media company that creates “tools, resources, and projects that help individuals live greener and healthier lifestyles” (Silicon Valley Business Journal). 3rdWhale was endorsed by Tim Draper, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, during the October 2008 pilot boot camp in Santa Clara, and has used the knowledge and contacts gained to expand their company from two persons to now seven full-time employees including one in Silicon Valley. Their CEO, Boyd Cohen, expects to bring in $500,000 in revenue this year, and projects $23 million by 2013.

For companies interested in this opportunity, the Trade Commissioner Service will be running a second round of boot camps for the Western Canada region in September 2009. They are scheduled to take place in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria. Companies who are seeking new strategic partners, lead customers, or venture capital/angel investors, may consider opening a development office in the Silicon Valley and use the CTA as a launching pad.

For more information, please contact:

Rick Rasmussen
Trade Commissioner, Palo Alto
Rick.Rasmussen@international.gc.ca

Guillaume Parent
Trade Commissioner, Ottawa
Guillaume.Parent@international.gc.ca