July 2 2013

Laura Aslan, residing in Vancouver British Columbia, is the cofounder of MiniCheckout, an app for retail customers to check out their items using their smartphones. She is an intelligent woman holding a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science in one hand and a Master’s degree in Psychology in the other. 

July 9 2013

At a young age he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur eventually falling into the footsteps of his father, who owned a construction business at the time. For a few years the construction industry became Alex’s life. Little did he know he would fall into another entrepreneurial opportunity quite the opposite from construction.

July 16 2013

Kleurvision, a business providing a unique branding interface for companies, is owned by the one and only Patrick Lyver. He is in charge of business development, sales and day to day managing. He prides himself in ensuring the concerns of Kleurvision’s customer’s concerns are met within a 24-hour time frame.

July 23 2013

If you ask Mike Bridges (@mike.bridges999) where he has lived in the world, his list covers both hemispheres. He’s lived in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, and is currently residing in Canada, more specifically the Maritimes. For the most part, Mike grew up in the North Eastern part of the United States.

August 1 2013

Mark Burdon, our Startup Communities Communications Lead, started volunteering with Startup Canada last year when he found an advertisement for volunteers on our LinkedIn page. As an entrepreneur, he saw volunteering was a way for him to connect and learn from others in the startup scene.

August 15 2013

Prince George, not to be confused with Prince William and Duchess Kate’s new bundle of joy, is the quaint city where Shauna Harper currently resides. It is a place she is proud to call home alongside her two lively children and her husband.

August 17 2013

The 1000 Startups program has been designed by Startup Canada to celebrate Canadian entrepreneurs and tell their stories to advance a culture of entrepreneurship in Canada. This week I had the pleasure of speaking with the two brilliant co-founders of pplconnect, and am now left with an excited anticipation to test the pplconnect app when it debuts.

August 20 2013

When a startup gets ready to hire for the first time, new costs tend to crop up pretty quickly. First there’s the cost of recruiting and interviewing, then there’s the fees for processing government paperwork, not to mention purchasing any equipment the new recruits will need to do their job. The list of expenses goes on.

August 22 2013

Wagepoint is an online payroll software for companies throughout Canada and is looking to expand to the United States. It is run byShrad Rao even though he truly believes his twelve employees are the true CEO’s of his business. In three words, Wagepoint can be described as a creative, fun and an intelligent company to work for.

August 29 2014

Browsing through the Startup Canada website, you will see many graphics created by the very talented Paul Dukes. Paul is our passionate graphic designer who works hard at ensuring Startup Canada is visually appealing to all those who visit. As a graphic designer, Paul’s work changes on a day-to-day basis. There are times he will be working on an app design one week and designing HTML emails the next. Paul’s background comes from designing websites and print media, and has recently delved into creating apps.

September 15 2013

Alex joined Startup Canada to head up our NextGen team working tirelessly on many projects soon to be launched. He maintains that he could not have gotten this far without the help of the rest of the Startup Canada team, particularly co-founder Victoria Lennox and NextGen co-coordinator Sowmyan Jegatheesan.

September 12 2013

Irenia is our Co-lead of our Mentorship Challenge Campaign here at Startup Canada. She is a new mother to her daughter Isabelle and is usually busy juggling between a previous executive career and her many volunteer positions she passionately enjoys. “Things are a little different now with my new addition”, she says as she is now forming a new busy rhythm to her days.

September 20 2013

If Jana Makar won the $50 million jackpot, she says she would buy many holiday homes around the world including New Zealand, Victoria, BC, Whistler, BC, Europe and of course her hometown Calgary, AB. However it’s hard to imagine what Startup Canada would be like without Jana Makar, the communications manager for the organization, if she spent all her time at each of those possible homes she might own one day.

Ocotber 22 2014

Taking risks in business can often be what makes or breaks a company. It can be a scary scenario, especially for a new entrepreneur. But when Charles Brun, Co-founder and CEO of Now in Store, looks back on his first years as a startup founder, he says he wishes he’d thrown a bit more caution to the wind.

November 19 2013

Startup Canada, a grassroots, entrepreneur and volunteer-led movement, is gearing up for one of their biggest days since the organization was founded in 2012. On November 21, during Global Entrepreneurship Week, the largest contingent of entrepreneurs ever to come to Parliament Hill to meet with elected government officials will gather in Ottawa to advance the entrepreneurial agenda in Canada

December 2 2013

When it was announced within the Startup Canada team that Suzanne Grant had been named the Volunteer of the Month by her peers, I was excited to know I was going to have the opportunity to speak with her. Before speaking with her, I had heard some wonderful things about Suzanne, especially how dedicated and hardworking she is. Suzanne is the Global Lead at Startup Canada which includes a role in Global Affairs.

December 3 2013

The alarm buzzed loudly in my ear. I looked at my clock and groaned. The clock’s hands pointed to 4am. That day wasn’t any other regular Thursday though. It was the morning of Startup Canada Day on the Hill. In a few hours, I was going to be meeting fellow volunteers and a large number of enthusiastic attendees.

August 18 2014

This past weekend was full of wacky weather, delicious aromas and over filled-stomachs of those who went to Upper Canada Village. August 16th and 17th was Food Lovers Weekend, a weekend celebrating food. Luckily, there was certainly no shortage of food! Vendors awaited in the fairground field for patrons to try samples of their scrumptious dishes and offered those who enjoyed the food a chance to buy larger portions.