Gnowit Inc. is one of two Centretown start-up tech companies receiving funding and training through VentureStart.
Two Centretown start-up tech companies are among a handful of Ottawa businesses chosen to receive funding and business skills training through VentureStart, a new program for entrepreneurs in Southern Ontario.
Insight Design Labs and Gnowit Inc. will get up to $30,000 in grants as well as mentorship support through the program, which is designed to boost the success rate of new technology ventures.
“The funding is going to really help us improve our go-to market strategy and pay for a lot of expenses,” says Mohammad Al Azzouni, a co-founder of Gnowit, a software development company that tracks online digital and social media.
Being strapped for resources was preventing Gnowit from hiring developers to help the company finish its latest media-monitoring software and put it on the market, says Al Azzouni.
“Now, there’s one less thing we have to worry about and we can focus on creating better value for customers,” he says.
The VentureStart program, launched in March by the Research Innovation Commercialization Centre in Mississauga, expects to train 450 entrepreneurs over 15 months and provide as much as $4 million in financing to selected candidates.
“As a small business, you’re always looking for cash. The kind of technology we’re building requires very specialized talent that isn’t readily available and is generally expensive,” says Allan Silburt, president of Insight Design Labs, a firm that builds chip hardware used in stock exchange trading.
“With the knowledge of this funding coming in, we were able to commit to hiring people to come on board and help us.”
To be eligible for VentureStart, business owners have to complete an accredited entrepreneurial training program and a critical factor assessment by the Mississauga centre to pinpoint flaws that could interfere with the start-ups’ success.
Local economic development agency Invest Ottawa and Carleton University’s Lead to Win entrepreneurial training program are partnering to help the city’s startups pass both stages of the program.
Both Gnowit and Insight Design Labs completed the first phase of the program through the Lead to Win program.
The training is free for start-ups planning to bring at least six jobs to the Ottawa region within the next three years.
VentureStart requires start-ups to match any seed funding that gets awarded. If a company only has $10,000, for example, the maximum seed funding it can get is $10,000.
“You’re putting skin in the game and that means you’re serious. That’s why they’re asking them to match it, otherwise it’s welfare for companies,” says Tony Bailetti, a Carleton University professor who runs the Lead to Win program.
Bailetti says $60,000 – the sum the start-ups will have if they chip in $30,000 and receive $30,000 in grant money – is just the right amount needed to start a business.
But it’s the educational support, not just the financial support, that makes the VentureStart program unique, says Bruce Lazenby, the CEO of Invest Ottawa.
“If you want to be world class, you’d better find a coach,” he says. “We’re giving them access to our serial, successful entrepreneurs in residence who can give them advice and guidance.”
VentureStart is funded through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the Canadian Innovation Centre and a group of non-profit organizations.
The program is open only to entrepreneurs in southern Ontario with a college or university degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.