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Our final UpStart Breakfast for the 2012/2013 event season is a fast-paced set. Each company is in a local accelerator program; Nicoya Lifesciences is part of the Accelerator Centre and Groupnotes and Creamhr are in Cohort 2 of Communitech HYPERDRIVE.
Ryan, Matt and Caitlin are also fierce competitors and have won accolades in various startup competitions:
- Nicoya finished 2nd out of 50 companies at the SPIE Photonics West Startup Challenge in San Francisco in February 2013. They also took home the People's Choice Award for Best Pitch
- Groupnotes, was the first Canadian winner of Global Startup Battle (the World’s Largest Startup Competition) and was actually founded at a 54 hour Startup Weekend competition just last November
- Toronto startup firm cream.hr has won the first ever Power Up Sales Challenge held by the accelerator Multiplicity in October 2012
Join us June 5 to hear these master pitchers tell their stories!
Ryan Denomme is founder and CEO of Nicoya Lifesciences, a tech startup located in the Accelerator Centre. Passionate about technology and entrepreneurship, Ryan recently launched Nicoya Lifesciences. Nicoya is a connected health company developing personal medical diagnostics for battling the chronic disease epidemic. Using proprietary nanomaterial based sensors combined with smartphone technology, Nicoya is bringing medical diagnostics into the digital age. Their first product is a home diagnostic test for heart failure, which allows patients to easily and accurately monitor, track, and share data about their condition. This allows for better disease management and a dynamic therapy program to be administered, which improves quality of life, reduces mortality rates, and eliminates unnecessary trips to the hospital, saving the healthcare system billions of dollars.
Matt Gardner's company, Groupnotes, was the first Canadian winner of Global Startup Battle (the World’s Largest Startup Competition) and was actually founded at a 54 hour Startup Weekend competition just last November. He is creating a new web tool that lets you and your closest friends share more than ever before by letting you add privately shared discussions right on top of ANY page on the internet (signup and claim your username at groupnotes.ca)! His team of four just finished their three month sprint in the HYPERDRIVE accelerator and just settled into a new office near Communitech.
Caitlin MacGregor is the business engine behind Cream.hr, managing the legal, accounting and operational sides of the company. The need to find the best hires is prevalent during all stages of a company’s development, whether experiencing rapid growth, having specific hiring needs or looking for talent to achieve targets. Cream.hr offers an evidence-based solution that increases the quality of hires while reducing the time and cost spent during the hiring process. Our trusted applicant assessment system – built on peer-reviewed science – is proven to help organizations identify top performers, reduce turnover, and cut recruiting and training costs. Cream.hr has also been adapted to suit finding the best fit for all positions, not just executives."