Vineyard Networks Selected as Top 10 Best New Business Ideas in NVBC Competition

New Ventures BC Chooses Vineyard Networks as one of 10 Best Business Ideas

After five months of competition, New Ventures BC today announced 10 finalists in the annual New Ventures BC technology business idea competition. They are competing for $300,000 in prizes to be awarded September 24^th.

Chosen from among 30 round-three competitors, the 10 finalists include businesses in the health, sustainability and high technology sectors.

Four business ideas focus on sustainability:

· the first means of producing biodiesel fuel from a non-food product (it uses pulp waste)

· a new technology for converting the sun’s heat into emission-free electricity

· ‘green’ roofing and siding materials

· an electric drive system for transforming gas-guzzling fleet vehicles into electric zero-emission vehicles

Three businesses focused on health:

· a new therapeutic device for improving the mechanical ventilation of critically ill patients

· a new medical device to improve the success of blood platelet transfusions

· an antibiotic discovery technology for developing new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant and hospital-acquired infections

Three high-tech business ideas:

· new software to optimize websites for viewing on the small screens of mobile devices

· diagnostics software to pinpoint problems on newly designed and manufactured microchips

· affordable network monitoring and management software for small to mid-sized businesses

Prizes include the British Columbia Innovation Council first, second and third prize packages worth a total $220,000, plus the BC Hydro $40,000 sustainability prize, the $20,000 BC Bioenergy Network prize and the British Columbia Innovation Council $20,000 Economic Impact prize..

To win, finalists must convince a jury of venture capitalists, financiers and angel investors that their business idea is commercially viable and that they can execute it in the marketplace. Six winners will be announced September 24 at a gala reception in Vancouver.

Established by SFU Business, the competition is operated by the non-profit BC Ventures Society and made possible through the generous support of private and public sponsors, as well as volunteer mentors and judges.

For more information, visit www.newventuresbc.com.

The 2009 New Ventures BC Finalists:

Bluekey Energy Inc., Prince George

Theo Warkentin, Bluekey, 250-562-0300; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

New technology from Bluekey Energy Inc. is the first in the world to produce biodiesel fuel from a non-food product. Instead of using corn, wheat or sugar cane to produce biodiesel fuel, Bluekey’s process converts a pulp mill waste called soap into synthetic crude oil. The globally patented technology promises to rejuvenate the sunset pulp mill industry by improving waste management and introducing a new revenue stream.

Etalim, Burnaby

Ron Klopfer, 778-835-1146, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Etalim’s new solar-power technology inexpensively converts the sun’s heat into emission-free electricity. This new technology uniquely combines thermodynamics, high-amplitude acoustics, mechanical resonance and material science to generate electricity not only from the sun, but from any heat source. An Etalim power plant can capture the sunlight falling on an area of land the size of a football field to power 500 homes without creating any CO2 emissions.

G.R. Green Building Products Inc., Burnaby

Geoff Wensel, 778-855-2549; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

G.R. Green Building Materials Inc. of Burnaby is ready to produce North America’s first ‘green’ roofing and siding materials made from naturally abundant limestone and recycled plastic bottles and bags. Their look-alike cedar and slate roofing tiles don’t crack when nailed, are fire-proof, impact-resistant and cost a fraction of the real thing.

www.grgreen.com

Indel Therapeutics Inc, Vancouver

Malcolm Kendall, 604-551-8464, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Indel Therapeutics Inc.’s patented antibiotic discovery technology is helping to more rapidly generate new antibiotics for combating drug-resistant and hospital-acquired infections such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Indel’s novel approach provides an advantage against the emergence of antibiotic resistance and opens a new area of drug targeting in a therapeutic area where there is a lack of and a tremendous need for new drugs.

LightIntegra Technolology Inc., Vancouver

Elisabeth Maurer, 604-802-6130, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

A new medical device that can distinguish between effective and ineffective blood platelets may save lives and money. ThromboLUX, developed by a Canadian Blood Services scientist, uses dynamic light-scattering technology to test the platelets prior to using them in blood transfusions to prevent and stop bleeding. Currently, one in six platelet transfusions are ineffective and patients who receive three consecutive, ineffective platelet transfusions could die.

Lungpacer Medical Inc., Anmore

Andy Hoffer, 604-619-9392, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

A new therapeutic device from Lungpacer Medical Inc. addresses five significant issues associated with the mechanical ventilation of critically ill patients. Conceived and developed by SFU professor Andy Hoffer, intravenously placed Lungpacer electrodes rhythmically activate the diaphragm. Pacing prevents diaphragm muscle-disuse atrophy, resulting in faster patient recovery, a shorter stay in intensive care, lower hospitalization costs and greater patient access to scarce mechanical ventilators during flu pandemics.

Mobify, Vancouver

Igor Faletski, 778-896-4467, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

With mobile web use skyrocketing, it’s necessary to optimize websites for small screens. Using Mobify’s powerful point-and-click interface, web designers can create a perfect mobile view for any website. These mobile views integrate seamlessly with existing websites, giving users an optimized mobile experience whether they’re following links from Google, Twitter or other services. (http://mobify.me)

Rapid Electric Vehicles, Vancouver

Jay Giraud, 604-723-0770, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rapid Electric Vehicles of Vancouver has developed REV PACK, an electric drive system for transforming popular, gas-guzzling fleet vehicles into electric zero-emission vehicles. The technology, which includes 120- and 240-volt charging systems, gives North American fleet operators a quick and complete solution for becoming carbon neutral.

Veridae Systems, Vancouver

Bradley Quinton, 604-760-8825, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Newly designed and manufactured microchips often fail to work as intended. Now, new diagnostics technology from Veridae Systems will help designers quickly pinpoint problems and improve their time-to-market by up to 30 per cent. Veridae’s technology incorporates hardware on the microchip along with external software to give a detailed view of the chip’s internal operations while it runs at full-speed.

Vineyard Networks, Kelowna

Jason Richards, Vineyard Networks, 250-864-7347; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Small to mid-sized businesses now have an easy and affordable way to monitor and manage their network and Internet connections. Vineyard Networks’ new online network monitoring and management solutions let companies guarantee the performance of business-critical applications while controlling the impact of recreational and malicious services like YouTube and Facebook.

www.vineyardnetworks.com

Jason Richards
Vineyard Networks
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it