industries

B.C. Startups Spend 48 Hours in the Valley

By Jacob Parry /

48 Hours in the Valley | BCBusiness
A participant on day one of 48 Hours in the Valley

Six Vancouver companies are connecting with mentors and future investors in Silicon Valley this week

Nineteen Canadian companies, including six from B.C., are prepping their pitches and are “networking like mad” in San Francisco this week as part of 48 Hours in the Valley, a mentorship program for Canadian tech companies run by the C100, an organization of tech-sector Canuck expats in Silicon Valley.

The program connects budding Canadian companies in the clean tech, ICT and digital media with mentors and potential investors in Silicon Valley, giving them access to business development relationships and potential partnerships. 

“Its really a great way to expand your network really easily and meet a ton of really high quality people in a short span of time,” says Paul Burger, a participant and co-founder of Skyscraper, an ad management platform for independent publishers. 

“I think there’s a certain mentality on how to build businesses in the Valley and in many cases, 48 Hours is trying to fuse that way of thinking into Canadian startups,” says  Lars Leckie, C100 co-chair and managing director Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. 

The 19 participating companies were selected from a pool of close to 300 applicants, says Leckie. “I tell people that it’s harder to get into 48 Hours than Stanford Business School.” 

And it pays off. Since the first event in 2010, past participants have gone on to raise $565 million in funding. 

Dedicated to “supporting Canadian technology entrepreneurship and investment,” the C100 sponsors the bi-annual 48 Hours in the Valley, TechWomen Canada and a series of other accelerator programs, in conjunction with the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco.

  • Learndot is a corporate learning SaaS, that lets companies build online training platforms for employees.
  • ePACT Network aims to be the LinkedIn for emergencies, connecting schools and community organizations with family contact information for use in emergency situations.
  • Skyscraper and five other B.C. companies are participating in 48 Hours in the Valley this week:
  • Fresh from awarding it’s $1 million prize to a Saskatchewan indie film maker, CineCoup Film Accelerator‘s social web-platform is out to disrupt the way in which independent films are packaged, financed and marketed.
  • As more employers embrace Bring-Your-Own-Device policies, FusionPipe Software Solutions gives enterprises peace of mind, keeping corporate data secure, and separate from an employees personal data on iOS devices.
  • One of BC Business‘s 2013 Innovators, Semios (formerly Semios Biotechnologies Inc.) provides farmers with a pest management devoid of neurotoxins.