Four awesome highlights from Communitech’s Rev Demo Day at CVCA 2016

The CVCA was proud to team up with Communitech this year to host their Rev Demo Day in conjunction with the 2016 CVCA Annual Conference, held in Toronto last month. In case you missed the event, we’ve summarized four awesome highlights from Rev Demo Day at CVCA 2016.

1. Start-ups earn their stripes

Ontario’s brightest startups were given well-earned recognition at Communitech’s second Rev Demo Day. The spotlight was shared by four notable Kitchener-Waterloo companies; Dozr, CloudWifi, BitHound and Knowledgehoo, as they took the stage to debut their lucrative business models to a panel of judges, including Paul Singh, and accredited investors. With a grand prize of $10K on the line, these four competing start-ups presented their established, repeatable, scalable sales processes, and realistic sights set on achieving $25 million ARR

2. Toronto-Waterloo corridor receives accolades for impressive investment numbers in Ontario 

With 118 deals settled in Q12016, an impressive 58 per cent were raised in Ontario on 47 deals. Janet Bannister, general partner at Toronto and Montreal-based Real Ventures, took the time to credit the high level of Ontario investments and acknowledge the competitive talent and marketing skills of those graduating from Waterloo and Toronto universities and their efforts in attracting local venture capital.

3. Rev alumni exchange industry insights

The four young founders at Communitech’s 2016 Demo Day were given the opportunity to hear from past Rev cohort companies. Among the three retuning alumni was Lifescience’s CEO, Ryan Denomme who shared his professional journey since Rev, and valuable advice, including the reality of seeking American venture capital. In addition to Denomme, Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Lake, co-founders of Waterloo Region construction start-up Bridgit, shared their industry insights. The Bridgit duo emphasized the importance of nurturing strong relationships with investors and external collaborators, making sure there is alignment.

4. Dozr leaves with $10K

The panel of expert judges were impressed by all four competing startups, however it was Dozr, an equipment sharing platform for the construction industry, that won the vote of the panelists. Kevin Forestell, co-founder of Dozr, took home $100K in prize money, and was rewarded with top honours at Rev Demo Day.

Congratulations to Dozr in winning first place, and to CloudWifi, BitHound and Knowledgehoo in completing from the Communitech Rev Accelerator program.

Read more about Communitech’s 2016 Rev Demo Day here, and check out their event summary here.