Start-up Companies

To fully reap the benefits that a technology can provide, it needs to be commercialized in some manner. Perhaps the best method of achieving this with respect to the benefits that it imparts to Canada--is through the formation of new enterprises. As IRIS and the Intelligent Systems sector mature, the number of technologies that have been created from within IRIS that are capable of sustaining a company has increased.

Technology transfer out of the universities is more than filing patents and signing license agreements. When a professor or graduate student decides that the technology that they have spent years developing could be a success in the marketplace, and create a start-up company, that is entrepreneurship at its best. Every year, IRIS researchers take the exciting step of starting their own business.

As of Spring 2006, IRIS has directly resulted in the creation of 40 startup companies, 28 of which are still in existence. 

A Summary of Start-up Companies:

• 3Di (formerly 9138-2408 Quebec Inc.) was formed in January 2004 to spin-off and further develop technologies created in the lab of Prof. Patrick Hébert of the Université Laval.  Professor Hébert, Dragan Tubic and Eric St.-Pierre created the company to take 3D modeling software developed in their lab to market. T-GAP funding allowed them to further develop their technology to the point where they licensed the technology for use to another company. The group plans to use their new company to help spin out other technologies they’ve developed.

 

• Actenum, formerly Constraint·Works Inc. was incorporated by IRIS researcher, Dr. William Havens, of Simon Fraser University in June 1997 to commercialize research produced in the SFU Intelligent Systems Laboratory (ISL). In October 2003, Girba Technologies, Netinference and Constraint·Works Inc. merged their activities into one company, Actenum.  Actenum Corporation develops enterprise software solutions for automated planning and scheduling in organizations where there is high complexity and where conditions change rapidly, causing operational disruption. Using the Actenum ScheduleWorks engine, Actenum solutions enable customers to manage rapid re-planning and re-scheduling when unplanned events occur, and recovery from irregular operations is needed. By minimizing the effects of unplanned events on activities already in process, Actenum's solutions improve production speed or throughput, and decrease delays.

 

• Apstat Technologies Inc. was created as a result of IRIS-sponsored research of Dr. Yoshua Bengio at the Université de Montréal.  Apstat provides insurance companies with analytical systems based on exclusive data mining technologies, enabling insurers to maximize the profitability of their operations.

 

• Atamai Inc.  was created to further develop the image-guided surgery software that was created as part of an IRIS research project under the supervision of Dr. Terry Peters at the John P. Robarts Research Institute in London, Ontario.  The versatility of this software allows it to be applied to many surgical procedures. Additional modules will also allow Atamai's software to be adapted to new procedures and types of images.
   

• Axonwave Software Inc., formerly Gavagai Technologies Inc., grew out of Dr. Fred Popowich's research at the Natural Language Laboratory at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. and is a leader in the field of unstructured data analysis and processing. The company provides solutions that enhance business intelligence and improve the efficiency of business processes through the ability to analyze and extract information from text-based information sources. The company employs a strong core of internationally recognized computational linguists who are widely known for their work in human language technology.

 

• Bionic Technologies, funded through T-GAP support, was founded in October 2006 by Prof. Ed Park of the Lab for Applied Control and Bio-Robotic Systems (LACOBS), University of Victoria. The Hand in Motion, a robotic rehabilitation glove, is a new approach to hand rehabilitation. It is a wearable glove embedded with sensors and artificial muscles that provides benefits to both therapists and patient users. The glove can be programmed to work to the specific needs of each patient. In addition, it can be used in the clinic or the patient's home.

 

• Cortex Machina Corporation was founded in 1995 with the objective of becoming the recognized world leader in computer vision systems applied to the healthcare sector.  
  Cortex Machina was acquired by the Canadian company, Cynovad, Cybernetic Innovations for Dentistry. Cynovad, having a world wide deployment strategy, has introduced to the dental market a groundbreaking concept, The Creation Matrix^TM, aimed at improving the quality, cost-efficiency, patient comfort and aesthetics of manufactured dental restorations.  

 

• Credo Interactive Inc. provides innovative tools and solutions for 3D character movement. Identified as one of Canada's top-25 up-and-coming software companies by the Financial Post, Credo Intractive continues to create new and exciting character animation solutions, including the PowerMoves, the ultimate 3D animation library, and Life Forms, an innovative character movement tool for 3D animation, dance choreography, avatar creation, movement planning, game development, multimedia content creation and education. Credo grew out of the work led by Dr. Thomas Calvert at Simon Fraser University.

 

• EK3 Technologies Inc. was founded in June 1998 by Ken Stewart, a former student of Prof. Roy Eagleson (IRIS' VERTEX Project) at the University of Western Ontario. EK3 specializes in intelligent media distribution and solutions.

 

• HexaVision Technologies Inc., founded by former Université Laval professor, Dr. Marc Trembley, designs, develops, and supplies the most advanced industrial vision systems. These high-performance, contour-based machine vision systems bring new capabilities to the world of industrial automation, and feature unprecedented flexibility and superior ease of use.  In July 2000, HexaVision was acquired by Adept Technology, Inc., a global leader in flexible automation for telecom, electronics, semiconductor, fiber optics, automotive, lab automation, and pharmaceutical industries.

 

• iGO Technologies Inc. specializes in computer-assisted surgery. Headquartered in Kingston, ON, they have a strong affiliation with both Queen's University and Kingston General Hospital.  iGO's products are designed for use by surgeons as diagnostic tools, for pre-operative planning, intra-operative navigation and imaging, and post-operative assessment.  iGO is a spin-off of IRIS-supported researcher, Dr. Randy Ellis.

 

• Immersion Canada Inc. In February 2000, Haptic Technologies Inc. (Haptech), founded by former McGill University student, Dr. Christophe Ramstein, was acquired by Immersion Corp. of San Jose, CA, and then the former became Immersion Canada Inc., based in Montréal.  The company develops, licenses and markets advanced hardware and software technologies and products that let people touch the digital world. Immersion's haptic technology can be applied to virtually every digital experience including personal computing, entertainment, medical training, automotive interfaces, and three-dimensional simulation. Immersion's patented TouchSense^TM  technology can dramatically improve computer users' performance and productivity by unlocking their sense of touch and allowing them to feel what they see and do on the computer screen. Immersion's medical simulation systems allow healthcare professionals to improve their procedural skills and increase patient safety by using 'digital patients'.

 

• Infusion Systems Ltd. was founded in 1995 by Axel Mulder, former student of Prof. Tom Calvert of Simon Fraser University.  Specializing in sensor technology for interactive multimedia, their I-Cube System is designed to use sensors for controlling multimedia content to enable users to create their own interactive installation art, responsive environment or alternate musical controller.

 

• InnovMetric Software Inc. is a leader in polygonal reverse engineering and inspection solutions for manufacturing. Its flagship product PolyWorks is used by major automotive/aerospace manufacturers throughout the world, such as Audi, BMW, Boeing, Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Mazda, Lockheed-Martin, Northrup-Grumman, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Toyota, and Volkswagen.  The company was founded by President and R&D Director, Marc Soucy, a former student of Dr. Denis Poussart of Université Laval.

 

• LocusDialog designs, creates and markets multilingual, speech-powered call-routing solutions. LocusDialog's speech-powered systems feature innovative application development and incorporate advanced, standards-based speech technologies. They are delivered to the marketplace through a network of national and international telecom distributors/partners.  LocusDialog's founder, Yves Normandin, participated in one of IRIS Phase 1's Human Machine Interface projects supervised by former McGill University professor, Dr. Renato De Mori.  On January 13, 2004, LocusDialog was acquired by ScanSoft Inc.(press release), a spin-off of Xerox, Inc. and in October 2005 merged with Nuance Communications.

 

• Mercator Robotec Inc. offers a single-source automation solution that saves time, effort and cost of dealing with different contractors. Mercator Robotec can help identify automation opportunities and recommend innovative solutions by utilizing strategic alliances with machine, assembly, fabrication, and electrical suppliers.  The company grew out of the work of Dr. Jan Paul Huissoon of the University of Waterloo.

 

• Motion Metrics Inc. (MMI) was founded by Shahram Tafazoli in 1997 after receiving his PhD. degree from the University of  British Columbia under Prof. Peter Lawrence.  As a high tech engineering consulting company, Motion Metrics is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art monitoring, fault detection and control solutions for industrial robotic systems. The company is involved in various R & D projects on heavy-duty hydraulic manipulators such as excavators and face shovels. Motion Metrics technologies can be used in construction, mining, and forestry applications.

 

 

• Palomino System Innovations Inc., a spin-off from IRIS-supported research at York University, was co-founded by former student, Markus Latzel, and Prof. John Tsotsos.  Palomino recently launched its flagship technology, WebPal, an enterprise-level content management system, which makes it easy for users with little expertise to create and manage a professional looking website.  

 

• PhoeniX Technologies Inc., originally motivated by a desire to develop a better sensor for motion control,  has developed an active-target optical motion capture (mocap) system. Employing a patented enabling sensing methodology, the Visualeyez^TM VZ2000 system provides, in real-time, the means of producing higher resolution and accuracy than any other comparable product. Applications of the Visualeyez systems include performance animation for movie and commercial special effects production, computer games and expert systems development, sports analysis for athlete training, gait analysis for physiotherapy, motion sensing for planning and feedback control, 3D measurements for reverse engineering, virtual-reality creation, to name but a few. PhoeniX was started by Dr. Chris Ma, formerly of the University of British Columbia.

 

• Point Grey Research (PGR) Inc. was founded in January of 1997 as a spin-off from the Laboratory for Computational Intelligence (LCI) at the University of British Columbia with technology licensed by Dr. James Little. The company -- whose primary focus is computer vision -- designs, manufactures and distributes three dimensional stereoscopic vision technologies to markets worldwide. PGR is currently manufacturing and marketing its proprietary Digiclops Stereo Vision System, a full software-hardware solution for real-time dense range sensing. The system is well suited for mobile robotics navigation and mapping, for 3D object tracking, 3D scene segmentation, virtual reality modeling and a number of volume measurement tasks.

 

• Precision MicroDynamics, Inc. is a leader in the OEM motion control industry. Their products have been designed for easy integration, while providing the latest advanced features. Industry sectors serviced include semiconductor, machine tool, aerospace, packaging, wood processing and general motion control.  A former IRIS researcher, Dr. Yury Stepanenko of the University of Victoria, founded Precision MicroDynamics in 1994.  

 

• SysCor R&D Inc., as well, was founded by Dr. Yury Stepanenko from the University of Victoria.  Incorporated in 1999, SysCor specializes in communications, Internet-based distributed server applications, digital signal processing, and precision-motion control.  SysCor provides expertise in the areas of microprocessor control circuits and electronic devices, systems control, precision dynamics and process optimization, digital-signal processing and motion control, and software and communication

 

• Techné Knowledge Systems Inc. engages in research and development for the real world, using leading-edge technologies to provide solutions in software engineering for the industry sector. Specializing in e-commerce, Web enablement, and legacy software, Techné builds software applications, technologies and reengineering tools and also undertakes client-sponsored research projects.  Dr. Martin Stanley, the company's founder, is a former associate of  Dr. John Mylopoulos of the University of Toronto.

 

• VisImage Systems Inc. was founded in1996, out of the University of Toronto's Ergonomics in Teleoperation and Control (ETC) Lab under the direction of  Dr. Paul Milgram, and specializes in the development of computer vision and digital image processing systems.  Their computer assisted measurement systems include an Intelligent Clothing and Equipment Sizing System (ICESS), a Hand Scan/Glove Sizing program, a Foot-Scan program, and an interactive augmented-reality based 3D-measurement system that provides accurate 3D measurements in image-based inspection.

 

• Wavemakers Research Inc. was co-founded by Drs. Pierre Zakaruskas and Max Cynader of the University of British Columbia.  Since 1993, Wavemakers has specialized in developing software that helps computers accurately identify, extract and optimize the human voice. Their patented software complements and improves the accuracy of voice recognition applications. Wavemakers was acquired by Harman/Becker Automotive Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Harman International Industries, Inc., July 2003.  It now operates as QNX Software Systems, an independent operating unit within the Harman International family of companies.

 

• Originally created in October 2005 as Web of Research Inc., WORiO is an Internet search engine developed by researchers from the University of British Columbia's Laboratory for Computational Intelligence. WORiO has received support from T-GAP, UBC's University Industry Liaison Office (UILO) and UBC's Institute of Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS). UBC provides bandwidth for use by the WORiO project. Company founders include UBC graduates supervised by Professors Nando de Freitas and Michael Feeley.

 

• Xcert Software Inc., founded in 1996 by Andrew Csinger, a former student of  Dr. David Poole and Dr. Kelly Booth, is a spin-off of the University of British Columbia.  Xcert developed, manufactured and distributed Certificate Authority and public key infrastructure (PKI) products that use secure directory services to provide organizations and individuals with a ubiquitous and secure method of communicating with each other over the Internet. In February 2001, the now, Xcert International Inc. was acquired by the e-security company, RSA Security.

 

• xuuk Inc., founded in January 2005 by Prof. Roel Vertegaal (IRIS' PDCA Project) , is affiliated with Canada's most prestigious media laboratory, the human media lab at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. xuuk is a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of innovative sensing solution. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and service products, xuuk provides sensing solutions for user interfaces and high-end appliance designs.

 

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