Seeking funds, then fortune

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This article was published 01/02/2017 (3179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There may be a dearth of venture capital in Manitoba, but there is no shortage of enterprise.

There is also a surprising number of specialized funding opportunities available from dozens of federal, provincial and institutional programs that can aid companies in their growth even if they have to eventually go further afield for the serious money.

In an effort to get more companies aware of the funding out there to create opportunities for more of them to grow, organized mayhem was staged Tuesday, when about 60 growing companies were matched up in one-on-one meetings with representatives from about five dozen funding programs and a handful of angel investors.

The day was organized by the Life Science Association of Manitoba and the Manitoba Technology Accelerator. About 800 seven-minute meetings took place.

A post-event survey will determine what materializes, but the search for funding brought out many serious Manitoba business ventures from across the development spectrum.

For the past five years, Danny Schur — the composer and producer of the stage musical Strike! — has been raising money to fund a movie version. He is close to his target of $10 million, with about $2.5 million of that coming from Manitoba angel investors and the province’s small-business venture capital tax credit program.

He was looking forward to his first-ever meeting with Export Development Canada at the funding day event Tuesday to help monetize international distribution agreements that will let him get into production sooner.

“I know exactly who I need to see,” Schur said. “EDC can guarantee those international advances that come in over a number of years so that I can finance the movie for this summer.”

James Schellenberg, founder of Cubresa Inc., a Winnipeg company that has developed an innovative PET scanner that can non-invasively generate 3D images of biochemical processes in live animals, figured his company was a little further advanced than others attending.

After years in development, his company will likely generate a few million dollars in sales of the high-tech research devices this year. Cubresa is also in the process of raising $10 million to fund the next iteration of the technology designed for the clinical (human) medical-research market. His Boston-based CEO is leading the charge on that front.

“But we try to use as many funding methods as possible to help us out,” he said. “I’m meeting with everyone here (at the funding day event). We’ve have had lots of government support over the years and lots of investor support in Winnipeg as well.”

Tracey Maconachie, president of the Life Science Association of Manitoba, said there are Manitoba companies that will be successful getting access to capital regardless of the fact Manitoba has become a fly-over zone when it comes to venture capital. But there are lots that need help.

“We hope that we can demonstrate to companies who do not know about programs that they exist, and if they don’t have the skills (to successfully obtain those funds), they can gain those skills,” she said.

That is the value of such efforts to the community — broadening the number of companies that know what’s out there so more of them can be more successful.

Winnipeg company Sightline Innovation is on the leading edge of the artificial intelligence curve, providing machine learning-as-a-service. Its CEO and founder, Wally Trenholm, has high-profile investors and regularly talks to potential funders in Silicon Valley. The 30-person firm is in the middle of a current round of funding.

“We are here to network with the Manitoba community,” he said. “All the conversations I’ve had have been fruitful in one way or another. That is what makes it great doing business here.”

Rod Bruinooge, a former MP, is now slugging it out like many other entrepreneurs trying to launch a start-up with his partner, Lawrence Toet, a fellow former Manitoba MP. Their business is a ride-sharing app focused on sporting events called EventRide.

“This is absolutely helpful.” Bruinooge said, offering kudos to Maconachie and Marshal Ring, the CEO of the Manitoba Technology Accelerator, who is helping EventRide develop.

“It’s not a cliché,” he said. “Entrepreneurs have been saying it for a long time: it is very difficult to access capital in Manitoba.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca