DMZ is the company incubator that leads the ecosystem of technological startups in Canada. Boosted by the Ryerson University, it helps startups in the incubation and acceleration processes, by connecting them with customers, capital, experts and community of entrepreneurs and “influencers”. Since its foundation back in 2010, it has covered over 300 startups, raised 390 million dollars in terms of seed money and fostered the creation of more than 2,900 jobs. They have gained customers, won prizes, increased their teams and developed products and solutions that are positively changing lives and businesses in Canada and abroad. From its Yonge-Dundas Square-based head office, in Toronto, it works to create some of the most dynamic technological and disruptive ecosystems in North America. We have highlighted five outstanding startups and DMZ for their innovative character and social impact.
ALGOCIAN
Algocian is a cloud-based video analysis engine that allows users to reliably detect people by means of a smart security monitoring at home.
There are nearly 25 million Smart Home IP cameras connected in houses around the globe. This figure is expected to go up to 100 million within the next four years, since Smart Home suppliers and DIY companies are presently selling and marketing connected cameras.
The current models of video data management for Smart Homes offer solutions based on movement detection, with limitations related to the significant number of false alarms due to such uncontrollable elements as pets, wind or simple light changes. Algocian comes to solve this problem with the creation of video analytics based on cutting-edge technology capable of detecting and categorizing objects in a place, like a human being for instance. Artemis 1 was created by this DMZ startup: it is the only product in the market with the power to run the plug-and-play detection. By installing Artemis 1 on the cloud or in the cameras, the suppliers will drastically reduce the number of false notifications given to final users, as well as expenses related to output bandwidth.
CROWDBABBLE
Crowdbabble helps salespeople optimize and compare their activity and performance on social networks by means of a powerful and intuitive data analysis.
Brand managers go through tremendous pressure to generate reports that clearly show and justify budgets related to social network advertising. Crowdbabble provides detailed reports and useful growth ideas that are easy to understand and share within an organization. With profound analysis and easy-to-understand visualizations, Crowdbabble helps users to quickly understand the performance of social media. The powerful online tool created by this startup helps brands go deep into social data to discover and capitalize their ideas, and comprehend their investment feedback. This intuitive platform is easy to use, according to the creators and helps clients save time by eliminating complex elements related to the assessment of social media, thus delivering results in a clear and concise format.
DOCTALK
Doctalk is a startup that provides summaries of clinical literature for specific uses, thus considerably saving doctors’ time.
Medical treatments are increasingly complex and the challenge faced by doctors to keep their knowledge up to date causes big deal of pressure. Doctalk is an online platform that comprises several web applications to be used by doctors, although it also generates interactions with other organizations or users, depending on the context. The initial goal is to significantly improve the generation of medical information produced by pharmaceutical companies and consumed by doctors. The web application aims at saving time, providing significantly improved support and updates on key professional aspects.
SHOELACE
Shoelace facilitates re-segmentation campaigns for small and medium companies and makes them affordable.
Shoelace makes it easier for smaller advertisers to launch re-segmentation campaigns. This startup advises e-commerce companies, which use such platforms as Shopify, on how to establish a connection with the customers that do not purchase anything in their first visit. Shoelace is a proactive assistant that recommends customized campaigns, including creativity, by selecting the best reorientation strategies for commerce, optimizing campaigns by means of A / B tests and providing proactive campaign suggestions when products or the company’s web traffic go through a change process.
THE RUMIE INITIATIVE
The Rumie Initiative is a non-profit organization with the aim set on taking the revolution of free digital learning to marginalized and off-line communities around the world.
Since it was launched, Rumie has helped over 25,000 children in more than 20 countries, including Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey, as well as indigenous communities settled to the north of Ontario and Nunavut. The Rumie Initiative is a non-profit technological startup that invites volunteers to organize the best free digital learning resources on The LearnCloud, a website and online repository of educative content. Rumie distributes libraries for children around the world in low-cost tablets. The associated NGO use LearnCloud to choose contents for their tablets, which are distributed through educative programs.
Tablets are cheaper than text books and carry the content that would traditionally cost over 5,000 dollars in terms of distribution. Rumie looks forward to freely taking this information richness closer to children that do not have access to education. Rumie sees technology as a mean to deliver learning resources and it always works with local partners to ensure that all resources have local impact. Rumie’s model is based on three market trends: increasing number of free educative resources available online, growing availability of low-cost Android tablets as a distribution mechanism and the new crowdsourcing capacity to curate, translate and moderate all this content.
