Lion’s Lair finalists: The pitch, the swing and the hit
Entrepreneurs go to bat for their businesses at Innovation Factory competition Thursday
Pitching a product into the jaws of a Shark or a Dragon, or in Hamilton’s case, a Lion, is a risky venture full of stress and uncertainty for the entrepreneurs who put themselves out there.
But there are rewards — $1.24 million to be exact — when you add up the nine years of cash and in-kind prizes handed out by Lion’s Lair, an annual top entrepreneur event organized by Hamilton’s Innovation Factory. The attention does more than boost confidence. Last year’s winner, MesoMat, recently raised $900,000 in seed capital for its flexible conductive fibre product, while Weever Apps, the first Lion’s Lair victor in 2011, raised $2.4 million in equity investment over the past year for its workplace automation system.
And then there is the one that got away.
Hamilton’s Malin van der Meer pitched a meal kit delivery business called Dinnerlicious seven years ago, but judges didn’t think much of the sector, which would grow to be worth billions. As one of the first to market, van der Meer thrives today alongside HelloFresh and Chefs Plate.
On Thursday night at Liuna Station, 10 finalists selected from a pool of more than 60 applicants from a wide variety of disciplines — from advanced manufacturing to life sciences — will vie for prizes in front of judges, audience members and Cable 14 cameras during the final round. The top 10 are:
Arch
New homeowners in Hamilton, St. Catharines and Barrie are among the prospective customers of this non-traditional finance company that resists calling itself a mortgage broker, payday loan company or any other name usually associated with assembling a down payment for a house.
Kristian Borghesan, one of six partners in the Torontobased firm, explains how Arch fronts money to individuals on an interest-free basis for a down payment on a property and then collects its share of the equity investment only when the property is sold. And if the property drops in value over time, Arch takes a loss on its share of the investment.
Grin
Hamilton graphic designer and entrepreneur Simon Cooper grew frustrated with the amount of plastic waste in the design of a common toothbrush, so he set out to create a permanent aluminum handle with replaceable plastic toothbrush tops.
An initial crowdfunding campaign raised US$2,500 for 600 units of red, blue and green handles that are sold on a yearly subscription basis online. New Grin colours are coming.
Wifibooth
Photographer Tim Carr returned from a stint in Switzerland convinced there was a better app for connecting a professional camera to an iPhone.
He came up with Wifibooth, which he and two staff market to 25 countries in 11 languages from an office at Hamilton’s Cotton Factory. The app costs $100 a year but is free to try out with photos that during the trial are watermarked.
Iris R&D Group
When Emil Sylvester Ramos immigrated to Canada from the Philippines two years ago, one of his first observations was the poor state of the roads. He expected to see fewer potholes.
His developer partners discovered that the $100,000 to $160,000 it costs a city the size of Hamilton to have an inspector manually inspect streets could be reduced by a third with a series of AI-assisted dashboard cameras mounted on municipal buses and vehicles. Iris R&D is pursuing pilot projects in Hamilton and London, Ont.
BTXpen
When London long-term care nurse Cheryl Muise learned how to administer Botox for her sideline cosmetic business, she was surprised by the cumbersome sequence of steps and “searched the entire globe” for a better syringe.
Finding nothing approved, she and partner Humanscope set out to develop a better Botox needle with measured doses in a product called BTXpen.
With patent pending, Muise is pursuing a licence deal with a syringe company that sees a market not only for Botox injections but also in the pet market, where 600 million insulin injections are administered annually by owners of cats and dogs.
Engagement Agents
Founder Sean Snyder and six staff in an east Hamilton office assist retailers across North America by leveraging often underutilized marketing benefits that are bound in tenant agreements at shopping centres and within merchant associations.
Engagement Agents’ software connects the dots for large clients such as Roots, Aldo and Adidas.
Snyder has had previous success pitching to judges. He appeared on “Dragons’ Den” a few seasons ago with a concept for clothing consignment website Trend Trunk and cut an oncamera deal with Kevin O’Leary that fell through off camera.
That same year he won people’s choice at Lion’s Lair and placed third overall. Today, Trend Trunk is no longer an active enterprise. The site is offline.
Routible
The Toronto company’s software helps dispatch fleets of vehicles to job sites and optimize routes for drivers.
It was co-founded by Shane Son Kee who ran a pest control business and developed digital tools to rid paperwork and better track trucks and the progress of jobs. Those tools help found the basis for Routible.
Of the 50 companies currently using Routible, most are in the U.S., said co-founder Moe Gaber.
Unplug
Denis Burkov and his three other team members designed a system they call “the world’s first AI-powered smart plug.”
Unplug analyzes the electricity TVs and other appliances waste when they are in standby mode. It aims to save up to 20 per cent on power bills — the environmental equivalent of planting 25 trees.
Able Innovations
“Undignified” is how Jay Singh describes the current method of moving injured or aging patients from bed to chair.
Committed to replacing a hook and crane patient transfer system that he compares to the crude technology used for lifting engines from cars, Singh remortgaged his home and hired seven people to develop a minimal-effort, conveyor-type wheelchair system for use in public health care and homes. Toronto-based Able Innovations is preparing for a pilot project with health care partners.
Senso Minds
A weighted blanket that mimics a hug is the next product under development by Senso Minds, which works with speech pathologists and occupational therapists to develop products to help children with sensory needs better integrate into their environments.
Co-founder Ryan Ticlo says online sales hit $300,000 last year for the company’s first product, a food-grade chewable necklace that reduces stress and anxiety in children diagnosed with sensory processing disorder.