TiEQuest 2010 will be launched in November 2009. Please check back at that time.

TiEQuest 2009 was a very successful session with over 200 contestants, 49 mentors, 39 judges and 29 sponsors participated in the competition. Suresh Madan, Chair of TiEQuest described the competition in his address during TiEQuest Gala Dinner. This may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_annotate?v=JJjoyTp5N58

Dave Furneaux, Founder and Managing Partner, Kodiak Venture Partners, Boston, MA gave the key note address at the TiEQuest Gala Dinner. Dave has over 15 years of experience in founding and investing in some of the most highly successful technology and investment companies in the industry. Many of his early investments went on to be acquired by the country's leading technology firms including Cisco Systems, IBM, Lucent, and PMC-Sierra.

TiEQuest 2009 First Place Winner 

Aeryon Lab

Aeryon Labs provides robotic solutions to real-world problems. Our offering, the Aeryon Scout, is a hovering aerial platform with integrated camera. The design is a small, lightweight system that enables the collection of high resolution digital imagery and real-time digital video from aerial vantage points. With a contained electric propulsion system, the Aeryon Scout is safe, quiet, and ideal for dense urban environments and covert applications. The rugged weather-proof modular design features tool-less assembly for rapid field deployment. The Aeryon Scout is capable of both outdoor and indoor flight. The system is a professional tool capable of fully autonomous map-based navigation. The applications include civil, commercial and military; from surveillance to inspection and data gathering.

Aeryon Labs received Ontario Entreprenuership Trophy from the Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services and expression of interest for financing of $1,000,000 from two leading venture capital funds. In addition they received $127,000 of prizes including $50,000 in cash and $77,000 of in-kinds services from various sponsors.

TiEQuest 2009 Second Place Winner

Bering Media

Bering Media is a software company that has developed unique privacy technology to enable hyper-local advertising across any website. We enable addressable local advertising allowing advertisers to target their online ad campaigns at the neighborhood and street level. Our technology allows the ISPs to become the geo-location service of choice for the online advertising industry and ensures zero disclosure of subscriber information. Founded in June of 2008, we’ve assembled a strong core team that has working relationships with the largest North American ISPs and a background in building scalable distributed systems. Our team has extensive industry and startup experience, and we are currently in trial with a tier-1 US ISP and recently signed agreements with major ad networks.

Bering Media received expression of interest for financing from two leading venture capital funds. In addition they received $46,000 of prizes comprising of $25,000 in cash and $21,000 of inkind Services from various sponsors. 

TiEQuest 2009 Third Place Winner

KR Golf Solutions

KR Golf Solutions designs and manufacturers self-learning training aids for the golf industry; our first product offering, Swingnature, has been designed to help the golfer increase their “Effective Distance” through increasing POWER or speed, and improved swing mechanics. What do golfers want? They want to hit the ball long & straight and shoot lower scores. Golf equipment manufacturers have been profiting from this desire for years, but the average score has not changed. In order to play better golf, golfers need to improve their swing and this is what Swingnature can offer in a single product. We offer specially designed training portal for video instruction and the portal software to track golfer’s personal progress.

KR Golf Solutiions received $16,000 of in-kind services from various sponsors.

TiEQuest 2009 Fourth Place Winner

Quantum Dental Technologies

Quantum Dental Technologies has developed the Canary Dental Caries Detection System for the detection and monitoring of dental carries and erosion lesions. The Canary can detect small lesions on a variety of tooth surfaces and around fillings, much earlier than conventional technologies can. This then allows the oral health care provider to use a range of remineralization therapies to stabilize or reverse these lesions. QDT will be offering both the diagnostics and the remineralization therapy allowing researchers, dental providers to detect, treat and monitor these lesions, Quantum Dental Technologies early detection and prevention of tooth decay means reduced exposure to radiation, reduction in the number of invasive, painful procedures and better oral health.

Quantum Dental received in-kind services worth $10,000 from our sponsors.

TiEQuest 2009 New Entrepreneur Prize Winner

EasyPlug

The EasyPlug is a patentable, innovative, magnetic adapter for electrical plugs and sockets. The adapter mitigates the tripping hazard presented by the power cord of an electric device by detaching when the cord experiences an abnormal force. This solves two problems: the device attached to the cord does not fall to the ground, and the person contacting the cord does not trip and fall. There are two large growing markets that show a need for EasyPlug: laptop owners and seniors. Laptop owners benefit because EasyPlug prevents their laptop from falling to the ground and incurring damage that requires expensive repairs. Seniors also benefit because they are no longer at risk of serious injuries due to trips over improperly placed power cords. EasyPlug’s competitive advantage will initially stem from the fact that there is no equivalent product on the market. To ensure long term growth and a continued competitive edge, we will focus on strongly branding EasyPlug, and associating EasyPlug with safety and convenience.

We wish all the best to the winners.

Over 200 Entrepreneurs Competed in 2009

“The current challenging economic times make all of us risk averse. Many aspiring entrepreneurs put their projects on hold, and feel content with day jobs to simply survive. During this time, we are very encouraged to receive exciting entries from so many contestants, interested in a variety of ventures. It shows us that innovation is alive and thriving”, stated Suresh Madan, Chair of TiEQuest. “The contesting entrepreneurs are highly qualified including: 20 PhDs, 29 MBAs, 23 engineers and 3 MDs.”

“We have established a panel of seasoned mentors from among our Charter Members who will guide applicants to further refine and present their business ventures to judges and sponsoring firms,” stated Hari Venkatacharya, President of TiE Toronto. “The companies competing this year are in a number of diverse sectors including IT services, healthcare, clean tech, and consumer and lifestyle products. We will be matching our mentors with competing entrepreneurs to ultimately help them succeed both in TiEQuest and in their business ventures. We are very pleased to play an integral role in promoting the innovation ecosystem in Canada , and look forward to going through the process of vetting these outstanding applications”, he concluded.

TiEQuest 2009 received entries from over 200 entrepreneurs proposing 94 different business ventures. In its fifth year, this annual competition held in Toronto is growing in popularity and stature. The contestants came from 29 different cities representing six US states and four Canadian provinces. Over the next ten weeks, these entrepreneurs will be pitching to a panel of judges comprised of angle investors, venture capitalists, fund managers and other business leaders. The winners will receive the Ontario Entrepreneurship Trophy, $150,000 in prizes and the opportunity of a $1 million investment from sponsoring funds.