Simon Fraser University VentureLabs companies PHEMI Health Systems, Lungpacer Medical and Semios were selected from more than 300 candidates for this year’s 13th annual Ready-to-Rocket list of private B.C. technology companies with the greatest potential for growth in 2015.
The list’s creator, Vancouver tech consulting firm Rocket Builders, has also named five other VentureLabs companies to its Emerging Rockets list of tech companies to watch in the years ahead.
The lists have proven to be accurate predictors of private companies that will likely experience significant growth, venture capital investment and/or acquisition by a major player in the coming year. They are the only such predictive lists in North America, requiring months of sectoral and company analysis. The lists cover three different technology sectors: Information and Communications Technology, Cleantech and Life Science.
“The recognition of these companies is testament to the vision and perseverance of these entrepreneurial teams and our executives-in-residence, mentors and program staff who support them,” says VentureLabs Executive Director, Ian Hand. “The National Research Council and the B.C. Innovation Council also play critical roles in backing programs contributing to emerging and ready-to-rocket company growth.”
PHEMI, in the Life Science sector, is a process automation and big-data platform company that unlocks patient data to improve clinic productivity, patient outcomes and medical research. Semios, in the Cleantech sector, is a leading creator and developer of pheromone-based pest control solutions. Lungpacer, also in the Life Science sector, has developed a medical device that helps mechanically ventilated intensive care unit patients return to normal breathing faster.
The VentureLabs Emerging Rockets include:
• Aspect Biosystems, a biotechnology company developing a proprietary 3D bio-printing and human-cell culture technology platform capable of creating living human tissue models.
• Fusion Genomics, a molecular diagnostics assay development and bioinformatics company specializing in next generation sequencing platforms.
• Optigo Networks – an Internet service provider that connects Internet of things (IoT) in commercial buildings, using a collection of benefits and technologies to protect, connect and manage a smart building with multiple layers of security.
• Wearable Therapeutics (Snugvest), inventors of an inflatable vest for providing deep pressure therapy through firm pressure to the torso that helps to relieve anxiety and increase focus among individuals with sensory disorders and/or high levels of anxiety and stress.
• TeamFit – a team-building platform that helps management consulting and professional services groups build winning teams faster and consultants develop their careers.
SFU spinouts Bionic Power and Switch Materials were also recognized, as were Venture Connection student entrepreneurship program clients Buyatab Online, an e-gift card services provider, and MetaOptima, creator of the Molescope smartphone app, which monitors and assesses potentially cancerous skin lesions.
VentureLabs is a multi-institutional technology business accelerator program and facility adjacent to the Great Northern Way campus in Vancouver that supports tech-business startups and develops entrepreneurs. The SFU-led VentureLabs consortium includes the University of Victoria, the B.C. Institute of Technology and Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
