The 2011 CIX Top 20 are:

Digital Media:
Massive Damage, Toronto ON www.pleasestaycalm.com
Arcestra, Toronto ON www.arcestra.com
Wattpad, Toronto ON www.wattpad.com
Recoset, Montreal QC www.recoset.com
Achievers, Toronto ON www.achievers.com
Vanilla Forums, Montreal QC www.vanillaforums.com
Woozworld Inc, Montreal QC www.woozworld.com
Infersystems, Toronto ON www.infersystems.com
ClearRisk, St. John’s NL www.clearrisk.com
bitHeads Inc., Ottawa ON www.bitheads.com

ICT:

Shoplogix, Mississauga ON www.shoplogix.com
TribeHR, Waterloo ON www.tribehr.com
Wave Accounting, Toronto ON www.waveaccounting.com
Evoco Inc., Calgary AB www.evoco.com
QuickMobile, Vancouver BC www.quickmobile.com
Nexalogy Environics, Montreal QC www.nexalogy.com
ResponseTek Networks, Vancouver BC www.responsetek.com
NexJ Systems, Toronto ON www.nexj.com
True Voice Technologies, Burlington ON www.truevoicetech.com
Polar Mobile, Toronto ON www.polarmobile.com

Here’s more information from the CIX press release:

Unique to CIX, the CIX Top 20 is a fast-paced, expertly-curated series of presentations offering an up-to-the-minute glimpse of the most innovative Canadian technology-based companies in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), and Digital Media.

The CIX Top 20 competition received hundreds of applications from major cities all over Canada, and can boast finalists from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary. Companies selected were chosen by a committee made up of leading experts from major corporations, entrepreneurs, and investors. Companies were judged on a number of key factors including: product/service offering, depth of management, market opportunity and business model.

“Once again, we are excited to see the very high quality of companies applying to CIX and presenting on our stage this year,” said Rick Nathan, Managing Director of Kensington Capital Partners and CIX Co-Chair, “there is clearly no shortage of innovative ideas and entrepreneurs in Canada today.”

“The CIX Top 20 is all about highlighting some of Canada’s most innovative tech Companies” said Chris Arsenault, Managing Partner at iNovia Capital and CIX Co-Chair, “showcasing our leaders of tomorrow.”

In addition to connecting with potential partners and investors, companies honoured as part of the CIX Top 20 will go on to showcase their innovative ideas in front of the CIX audience and to Canadian and international VCs and corporate investors, live at this year’s Canadian Innovation Exchange.

A winner from each category will be chosen through the CIX virtual stock exchange, where attendees can – in real-time – buy, sell and trade virtual shares of companies on the Top 20.

Alongside the Canada’s Hottest Innovative Companies showcases, the Canadian Innovation Exchange is set to host hundreds of meetings between innovation leaders, as well as host an action-packed day of compelling panels, sessions and keynotes. To register for the event or for more information on CIX, visit http://www.canadianinnovationexchange.com

About CIX
Taking place December 1st, 2011 at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is the foremost destination for key leaders in the innovation economy to learn from one another, explore new relationships and accelerate the development of the ground-breaking technologies, products and services propelling the Canadian economy into the future.

This one day forum attracts the people behind innovative new technologies – entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, service providers, government, and media – for an unparalleled program of visionary keynotes and panel discussions, facilitated networking opportunities, and the CIX Top 20 – a showcase of Canada\’s hottest innovative companies working in Digital Media and Information and Communication Technology. For more information, visit www.canadianinnovationexchange.com

DigitalPuck.ca and KPMG are teaming up for the AlwaysOn Venture Summit Silicon Valley 2011, to be held at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay from Dec. 12-14th.We have negotiated a special $595 show ticket discount for DigitalPuck.ca members. Click on http://www.aonetwork.com/cart/add/p68771?destination=cart to take advantage of this great deal

The Venture Summit kicks off with an AlwaysOn golf outing Dec. 12th at the Half Moon Bay resort’s Ocean Golf Course. The tee off time is at 11 am and is restricted to Venture Summit Silicon Valley attendees.

A. In order to make a claim for the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program (SR&ED), a company must prepare schedule T661 on its annual tax return.

For each project identified as SR&ED eligible, a technical report must be prepared describing the technological advancements you were trying to achieve, the technological obstacles/uncertainties you had to overcome and the work that was performed to overcome the technological obstacles/advancements.

The corresponding SR&ED eligible costs pertaining to that project need to be calculated and put into the form as well. The T661 gets submitted along with the annual tax return and the CRA will process the return and issue the tax credit if applicable, however they may choose to audit the SR&ED application.

The process for applying for the OIDMTC is as follows:

1. Prepare all required documentation as outlined in the OIDMTC guidelines (http://www.omdc.on.ca/Page3400.aspx)

2. Calculate expenditures relating to the development of the product

3. Submit the application to the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) through the Online Application Portal

4. Await the issuance of a Certificate of Eligibility

5. Attach the Certificate of Eligibility to the applicable tax return and complete schedule 560

6. The CRA may choose to audit the OIDMTC submission

7. Receive the refundable tax credit

He also co-founded Tira Wireless and was an associate with Brightspark Ventures. Golden Venture Partners has made investments in Guardly, Wattpad and Yesware, with additional deals to be announced over the coming months.

Here’s our interview with Matt:

DigitalPuck.ca: You’ve always worked in the mobile space as an advisor, entrepreneur or investor. Can you discuss your history and some of your successes?

Matt Golden: I started in mobile in 2000 at Canada’s Brightspark Ventures. I co-founded Tira Wireless in 2001, which was one of the first companies to work with downloadable mobile content on phones. We became a leading mobile games publisher and one of the key vendors of mobile deployment technology until 2008. Then I joined BlackBerry Partners Fund as a partner and spent two years focused on mobile investing where I led three investments: SocialDeck, which was acquired by Google, Transpera, which was sold to Tremor Media, and Nexage, which is a leading mobile mediation solution. After leaving the Blackberry Partners Fund I became an advisor to Five Mobile, (the principals of which were my very talented former colleagues from Tira). Five Mobile was recently acquired by Zinga.

DP: How you decided to start Golden?
Matt Golden: I have always been an early stage guy at heart. I love working with entrepreneurs and love the company creation process. After two years with the great group at Blackberry Partners Fund I decided I wanted to focus on early-stage seed investing. I witnessed firsthand at a larger venture capital fund that there are so few true venture-worthy deals and exits in Toronto and yet a tremendous amount of raw entrepreneurial and engineering talent. I decided there was a real gap in the marketplace that could be filled by both capital and mentorship to nurture local talent and companies. Couple this trend gap with some other trends such as: 1. Toronto/KW is increasingly distinguishing itself as a world-class mobile ecosystem. 2. The big acquirers are buying earlier and more frequently; and 3. the cost of creating valuable technology have significantly declined over the past number of years. I felt it was a perfect storm for a fund like Golden Venture Partners.

DP: What’s the deal flow like in Toronto?
Matt Golden: The deal flow is reasonably good. There’s a tremendous amount of engineering and raw talent. There’s a nice pipeline of early-stage companies, but it needs to be developed. The introduction of an increasing amount of incubators and accelerators being run by some really solid entrepreneurs is helping, but it’s equally important to ensure there are more institutional seed investors to carry the mantle after the incubation cohorts graduate or else these companies just become what has been referred to as “the walking dead.” Luckily there are some extremely high-quality potential seed co-investors like Extreme and Mantella, but there are still not enough groups like these.

DP: Where do you find your deals?

Matt Golden: So far I have predominantly relied on my industry networks for deals and I like to work with entrepreneurs or co-investors I have known for a long time whenever possible. This has brought me to focus on deals in Toronto and Waterloo, but also Boston and California. I also continue to develop relationships with local incubators and accelerators like Communitech and other university and government funded groups like IAF and MARS, who are all running terrific programs.

DP: What do you look for before you fund a company?

Matt Golden: That hasn’t changed. What I am looking for is breakthrough mobile products and services that leverage the massive potential of the mobile market. We have to revisit value chains based on the power of Smartphones and tablets. In the book publishing industry with Wattpad (Golden’s portfolio company) you see how you can engage millions of people who want to read millions of stories from aspiring authors across all different devices. Guardly (another portfolio company) is reinventing the whole personal safety value chain.

DP: What lessons have you learned as an entrepreneur?
Matt Golden: Put terrific teams together. Don’t compromise on who you bring into your company. Make sure the talent is incredible. Go after a very big market and bring something unique to the equation. Copy cats don’t scare me as much as not doing something extraordinary. Worry about how you can create something huge and, if you are able to focus on that market, swing for the fences.

DP: Any other advice for a new CEO?

Matt Golden: Wherever possible control your own destiny. Don’t rely on channels to market when you can go to market yourself. Focus on businesses that, if executed properly, can scale. You don’t have to hire tons of people. If you grow as you execute you can maintain the same number of employees.

Wave, which launched in Nov. 2010, is Kirk’s third start-up and the company is on a roll. Wave nabbed a $1.5 million seed round in June 2011, led by OMERS through INKEF Capital. A $5 million Series A round followed in October 2011 led by Charles River Ventures (CRV), with OMERS Ventures. (This came after $750,000 in funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario in September.) We recently interviewed Kirk about Wave.

DigitalPuck.ca:  Can you tell us a little bit about what Wave provides customers?

Kirk Simpson: Wave is a ridiculously easy and 100% free online accounting tool for small business owners.  We know that the majority of small business owners hate doing this stuff. They’re using spreadsheets and shoe boxes to manage their income and expenses until tax time.  We use smart technology to cut down on the time they spend on accounting and bookkeeping, while giving them better control of their business.

Wave then becomes a procurement department for our small business owners.  (We NEVER, EVER sell personally identifiable information to anyone.) By leveraging group buying we can give our business owners savings opportunities that they couldn’t get on their own.  For instance, we have offers that include 10% off Dell purchases, 15% off Grand & Toy purchases of $100 or more, an appealing welcome bonus from American Express, and many more.

DigitalPuck.ca: What is the market opportunity for the company?

Kirk Simpson: There are approximately 28.5 million small businesses in North America and hundreds of millions more around the world – and 67,000 new small businesses start every month in North America. Outside research says that almost 60% of small businesses are still using spreadsheets and shoeboxes. That means NO accounting program has met their needs properly — until now. This market is enormous.

DigitalPuck.ca: Do you have any interesting partnerships/key customers?

Kirk Simpson: Wave has signed up 80,000+ small business owners in 198 countries around the world in just 11 months.  One of our key integrations has been with the Google Chrome store and the Google Apps Marketplace.  These two channels are driving huge numbers of users to our app.

DigitalPuck.ca: Any advice for entrepreneurs trying to get their first company off the ground?

Kirk Simpson: Be persistent yet open-minded.  Knock down barriers by hustling but be open-minded to the idea of pivoting if the evidence points to the product/market fit not being exactly right. This is an interesting balance.

DigitalPuck.ca:  Any lessons learned while getting the company to the next level?

Kirk Simpson: Finding, hiring and retaining the right people is often one of the most difficult elements. Working in a start-up is often not very glamorous. You have to be willing to take on tasks that would be beneath you in a big company.  The right type of person accepts that fact since the upside is that you get to move huge projects forward very quickly.  But its a hard trait to interview for.

The Scientific Research and Experimental Development program (SR&ED) offers Canadian companies both federal and provincial tax credits for expenditures relating to eligible SR&ED activities.

The work must be advancing the understanding of technology and should address technological uncertainty through  systematic investigation. Whether your company is developing new products/processes or improving existing products/processes you may qualify for up to 73 cents on the dollar of internal labour expenditures.

The Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) is a refundable tax credit of up to 40 percent, available to companies that develop a digital product that either informs, educates or entertains the end user.

The digital product cannot promote the products or services of the corporation and must be developed 90 percent or more in Ontario by the corporation.  There are a several other criteria that must be met, however the aforementioned rules are the most crucial.

Typical products include console games, mobile games, certain mobile applications, e-learning products, online newspapers/magazines, and entertainment websites.

Applicants can claim expenditures going back 37 months from the date of product completion.

Companies can submit a claim for OIDMTC for any tax year that is not statute-barred (typically 3-4 years).  For certain products, an additional $100,000 in marketing and distribution expenditures are allowed to be claimed.  There are also certain rules specific to companies that develop video games for a related party.

Some additional sources of funding include:
·         Federal Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)
·         Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit (OECT)
·         Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit (OCASE)
·         B.C., Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Quebec Digital Media Tax Credit

StartUp Calgary is looking for local, up-and-coming technology companies to showcase at Launch Party 2011.

Bringing together the VC’s, angel investors, the A100, and the tech startup community in the city, Launch Party celebrates innovation and technology. The StartUp Calgary Showcase winners will be announced at the event and the top three pre-selected companies will present their pitch to the audience.

Showcase applications are reviewed by an external committee and the 10 lucky companies that are selected for the Showcase will participate in an intensive workshop to prepare them for a VIP reception with key investors and technology stakeholders.  The deadline to apply is Nov. 7, 2011.

To apply to become one of the 2011 StartUp Calgary Showcase companies visit http://startupyyc.wufoo.com/forms/startup-calgary-launch-party-showcase/.

For more information and to attend Launch Party 2011 visit http://launchparty2011.eventbrite.com/.

The $5 million in financing allows Toronto-based Wave to continue developing its free online accounting software for small businesses and marketing it internationally, according to the company’s press release.

Toronto-based OMERS Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with over $53 billion in net assets.

Charles River Ventures is one of the oldest and most successful early-stage venture capital firms in the U.S., with approximately $2.1 billion under management.

Read more about the funding round here.