Winning company will have opportunity to meet with Canada's top venture capital investors
MONTREAL & TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), in partnership with CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, launched the BDC Innovation Award. This new award will recognize an early-stage Canadian company that has demonstrated the ability to bring innovation to market, reshaping a sector or industry in a new or unexpected way.
Innovation may be a catch phrase these days but the reality is, it can pay off big for a company. In fact, almost three out of four small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Canada that invested in innovation realized both a rise in sales and market share, according to a recent report by Industry Canada1.
"Canada's entrepreneurs are the driving forces behind new businesses that can bring new ideas to market in our country," said the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) (Agriculture). "This award, created as a result of Economic Action Plan 2013, is one way we can recognize their efforts, while encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs to keep thinking outside the box."
Nominations for this inaugural edition of the award are open until April 4, 2014 and the winning start-up will be honoured at the 2014 CVCA Annual Conference in Ottawa from May 20-22, 2014, where they will have the opportunity to meet with some of Canada's most successful investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders.
"We are delighted to be partnering with BDC to present this award," said Peter van der Velden, President of the CVCA and Managing General Partner of Lumira Capital. "In an increasingly competitive and challenging world, innovation is an essential ingredient to any entrepreneur's success. Recognizing these individuals for their contributions along that journey is essential."
BDC and the CVCA are natural partners for this award with a complimentary set of offerings for start-ups - cash and knowledge. BDC is the only Canadian bank dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs and CVCA represents the majority of private equity companies in Canada, with over 2000 members representing more than $105 billion in capital under management. This new award also ties in logically with BDC's role in supporting early-stage tech companies, especially with the work it has been undertaking with some of Canada's leading accelerators and incubators, such as Growlab, Extreme Startups, HYPERDRIVE, FounderFuel, Propel ICT and Execution Labs.
The BDC Innovation Award is one of four new entrepreneurship awards BDC is launching this year. Eligibility criteria can be found at www.bdc.ca/awards. Also, look for updates on Twitter (@BDC_News & @BDC_VC) and BDC Entrepreneur on Facebook.
About BDC
Canada's business development bank, BDC, puts entrepreneurs first. With almost 2,000 employees and more than 100 business centres across the country, BDC offers financing, subordinate financing, venture capital and consulting services to more than 29,000 small and medium-sized companies. Their success is vital to Canada's economic prosperity.
About CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association
The CVCA - Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association was founded in 1974 and is the association that represents Canada's venture capital and private equity industry. Its over 2000 members are firms and organizations which manage the majority of Canada's pools of capital designated to be committed to venture capital and private equity investments. The CVCA fosters professional development, networking, communication, research and education within the venture capital and private equity sector and represents the industry in public policy matters. www.cvca.ca
1 Industry Canada, 'The Canadian Provinces, Special Edition: Key Small Business Statistics,' September 2013 (http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/eng/h_02816.html)
SOURCE: Business Development Bank of Canada
Maeve Hannigan
Veritas Communications
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