Alliance plans to repeat success of venture forum

They got a good thing goin’ on. So they’re going to do it again.

The Alberta ICET Alliance’s first Banff Venture Forum, an energizing meeting of information technology entrepreneurs and venture capital investors, was such a hit, the industry organization will make the forum an annual event.

A $5-million deal between a startup company and a venture capital investment firm was reached on the spot at the forum earlier this fall.

“It was absolutely incredible,” Keith Gylander, executive director of the ICET Alliance, says of the two-day gathering. The Information, Communications and Electronics Technologies Alliance has about 100 members in Alberta, including electronics manufacturers, software and other e-commerce companies, telecommunications firms and others.

The forum drew more than 400 participants to the Banff Centre. “This is going to be the ICET Alliance’s flagship event,” Gylander says.

Among the 25 companies making presentations, Calgary-based firms included Control F-1, Eleven Engineering Inc., J-Commerce Inc., Mpower Technologies Inc., MyMarketWorks.com Inc., Replicon, RightsMarket Inc. and Stormworks Inc. Potential investors and fund managers attending included TD Bank Financial Group, National Bank Financial, Yorkton, KPMG Technology Presidents Group, Stonebridge Merchant Capital Corp. and the Western Economic Diversification Office.

“I’ve heard there are deals in the works right now that have generated because this investor and particular company met at the forum. We’re talking some significant dollars potentially,” Gylander says.

Here’s a look at four of the Calgary firms. Next week’s column will present the other four. Readers should not infer any investment advice from any of these snapshots.

* Eleven Engineering’s AIRPLAY product is the world’s first radio wireless controller developed initially for Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. The product replaces the cable running from the PlayStation to its controller paddle with a reliable, radio-wireless link. Eleven Engineering also develops high-performance wireless platforms for a spectrum of applications. Strategic partners include NUBY Interactive LLC, Sony Computer Entertainment America and VM Labs Inc. With financial performance of $1 million a year, Eleven Engineering projects $95 million in business within three years.

* J-Commerce Inc.’s J-Store product is a universal Java web-enabled front-end that gives retail operations the flexibility to mix and match equipment from different manufacturers. Built to support Internet communication, kiosks, network computers, browsers and wireless devices, J-store’s architecture allows retailers to grow at their own pace, update equipment as necessary and bring solutions to new or acquired locations regardless of existing hardware. Strategic partners include IBM and Wincor Nixdorf. With performance running at $2 million a year, J-Commerce projects $10 million in business within three years.

* Mpower Technologies Inc. has developed a leading XML/XSL Universal Wireless Access Platform (WAP) that reduces or eliminates the need to customize business clients’ mobile hand-held devices, from cellphones to Palm pilots. The technology can recognize and serve whatever device is being used, giving the client access to corporate applications and databases. Mpower, a startup in the process of signing clients, projects $80 million in business within three years.

* MyMarketWorks.com Inc.’s (formerly e-Energy Inc.) software package for business-to-business web-enabling applications is a user-customizable desktop interface. It provides each participant with an information centre and a contact database to help make procurement decisions. The first completed implementation of the technology is mye-energy.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of MyMarket Works. Strategic partners include Ericsson Canada Inc., Microsoft, IBM Canada Ltd., TELUS Advertising Services, Deloitte & Touche Consulting, Big Picture Technologies and Wireless Matrix. With annual business of $500,000, MyMarket Works projects $15 million within three years.

One of the striking things at the Banff forum was the nature of the alliances. Groups of young people in their 20s to 30s, talking animatedly to folks with greying and thinning hair, was a common sight.

A young participant commented that the “grey-hair factor” — middle-aged professionals with years of business management and sales experience — is a valuable asset for a startup firm. Just as the hotshot young programmers are. In this respect, the new economy is closing the generation gap, not widening it.