HAMILTON – June 14, 2018 – Local start-ups dominate as the top 15 finalists chosen to compete in this year’s LiONS LAIR competition are announced.
Hamilton-based companies 3DStream Inc., BioAge/Age Rate, DID Devices, Fleeky, MesoMat and Storelax are among the finalists selected for this year’s top 15. They will be competing against companies from Toronto, Oakville Kitchener, Simcoe and Paris in a Dragon’s Den-style competition for a chance to win over $100,000 in cash and in-kind prizes from sponsors.
“From wearable technology to storage service solutions, the diversity in our finalists shows how innovation can be found in any industry,” said David Carter, Executive Director of Innovation Factory. “We’re looking forward to helping these companies take their next steps to building successful businesses.”
The 15 finalists were selected through an application process in May and will spend the summer attending training sessions to perfect their pitches. After a final cut at the end of July, the top 10 finalists will prepare for their final pitches to the “LiONS,” a panel of industry professionals.
The pitch sessions will be filmed by Cable 14 and will be shown at the LiONS LAIR Gala on Sept. 27 at Liuna Station. The “lions” will make the final judgements and their decisions will be revealed live on stage at the gala.
Tickets for LiONS LAIR, hosted by Innovation Factory and the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, go on sale in late July at lionslair.ca
Meet the Finalists
26 Day Inc. (Roadlaunch): An intuitive, fully integrated and easy-to-use system for freight quoting, dispatch, capacity management, load matching and real time asset tracking for supply chain management. (https://www.roadlaunch.com/)
3DStream Inc.: A cloud manufacturing platform designed to increase an organization’s operational speed and cost efficiency. (https://3dstream.net/)
ACTO Technologies Inc.: A customer relationship management system that uses the principles of micro-learning to deliver engaging, media-rich content to sales reps in a mobile-first manner, empowering them to learn– anytime, anywhere. (https://actoapp.com/)
Altius Analytics Labs: Altius has developed hardware and software that allows you to seamlessly record and analyze 3D human motion. It collects full body movement data in any environment without having to use tracking markers or any other wearable sensors. (http://www.altiusanalyticslabs.com/)
BioAge/Age Rate: BioAge has developed a prototype which uses a mouth swab and test to determine how well a user is ageing by comparing their biological age to their chronological age.
Braze Mobility: A sensor system that can be installed on any wheelchair and provide the user with feedback about obstacles in their blind spots. (https://brazemobility.com/)
DID Devices: DID Devices has developed a prototype for a 30 second test assessing an individual’s impairment from a variety of drugs and alcohol by measuring their capability to see threats and respond to them correctly.
Fleeky: Fleeky is a social web platform that facilitates the connection between beauty professionals and beauty seekers. Beauty professionals can market, manage and grow their clientele as beauty seekers browse and book their services by location, price and reviews. (https://fleeky.ca/)
Fotaflo: A profit-generating referral marketing solution that easily captures and shares photos and videos for the adventure tourism and camp industries. (https://fotaflo.com/)
Hedgehog Umbrella: Nicknamed “the Incredible Hulk of the Umbrella Universe,” the Hedgehog Umbrella uses an automotive inspired design that combines durability and beauty into a single complete package. (https://hedgehogumbrella.com/)
HelpWear: HelpWear has developed the HeartWatch, a wearable heart monitoring system that monitors minor heart palpitations and arrhythmias, and can detect when the user suffers a heart attack to contact EMS. (http://helpwear.ca/)
InStage: A room-scale virtual reality tool used for sales training, pitch / presentation training and personal development, designed to make the user feel as if they are in front of an ultra-realistic, responsive audience. (http://instage.ca/)
MesoMat: MesoMat has leveraged the power of self-assembly to create advanced materials that stretch and move, ideal for filling the gap in the booming wearable tech industry. (https://mesomat.com/)
Quote It: A mobile app that connects customers and service providers to get quotes for home maintenance and renovation needs. (https://www.quoteit.ca/)
Storelax: A full service, on-demand storage system that provides the pick-up, storage and delivery of customer items. (https://storelax.ca/)
