SIX ENTREPRENEURS RISE TO THE TOP OF BREAKTHRU BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

FREDERICTON—Six budding New Brunswick entrepreneurs are getting ready to take flight as they enter into the final round of Breakthru, New Brunswick’s Business Plan Competition, for over $250 thousand in prizes.  Created by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation in 2007, Breakthru is the largest competition of its kind in New Brunswick.

“We’re very pleased with the turnout this year, and the quality of the business plans is outstanding,” says Calvin Milbury, vice president of business development, “with sixty entries, it just goes to show that entrepreneurship is on the minds of a lot of New Brunswickers.”

The six finalists now have until March 25th to get their formal presentations ready and make their pitch before the competition’s independent panel of investment executives and entrepreneurs.  The winners will be announced at an awards dinner and gala that evening at the Delta Fredericton, with a keynote by Dianne Buckner, host of CBC’s Dragons Den, about everything she’s learned about “the pitch.”

“We’re hoping that the success of Breakthru motivates more budding entrepreneurs in the province to take a chance on their ideas,” says Milbury, “considering what’s happening in the economy right now, innovation and finding new ways to do business is more important now than ever.”

Who do you think will win Breakthru?  Find out live March 25th at the Delta Fredericton.  Tickets are available online at www.nbif.ca or by clicking here.

2009 BREAKTHRU FINALISTSKnowCharge Inc.
Static discharge during shipping is estimated to cause 30% of all electronics product failures, costing the electronics industry over $80 billion per year.  KnowCharge’s conductive paper technology provides an effective, cost-comparative and environmentally sustainable alternative to plastic-based protective packaging.

TVNow
While content drivers are unlimited, TVNow’s programming will initially be in the e-learning area, where people can pay for, and receive high resolution instructional videos in the palm of their hand.

Smart Skin
Smart Skin is an artificial touch-sensitive skin for prosthetic limbs.

Using nanotechnology to detect and measure pressure, the super-thin film works with existing myoelectric control systems to provide control of touch, much like the skin of a real hand.  Other applications include those for the healthcare, automotive and video gaming industries.

Chem Green Solutions
The production of plastic is a toxic and often dangerous feat.  Vapors from the solvents used are harmful to both humans and the environment. Chem Green’s proven and patentable method for the polymerization of polystyrene provides an environmentally friendly alternative to the current production process of plastics.

EDJ Medical Technologies
People who depend on the constant transmission of oxygen, like homecare patients venture outside of their home currently have no way to know the rate at the gas is being depleted and how much time they’ve got until it runs out.  KnO2Go allows people to determine the amount of time their oxygen cylinder will deliver, as well as alarm them of an impending delivery disruption.

AWEB
Current websites deliver the same content with the same presentation to all users.  The technology employed today basically freezes the website’s behavior unless it is constantly updated.  AWEB, an entirely new web development platform, allows for the development of adaptive websites that seamlessly change the content and presentation without producing and saving multiples of web pages.  In fact no individual pages are saved and stored on servers at all.

For finalist contact information, or media inquires about Breakthru and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, contact:
Chet Wesley, Director of Communication
877-554-6668
researchservices@nbif.ca