Debbie and Glenn Pollock have a good idea, a raft of technical expertise and a little gumption.

But like a lot of other startup entrepreneurs, the Airdrie couple are facing a bewildering menu of choices on how to grow and finance their fledgling wireless network business to compete in the big leagues.

“Depending on how quickly this business gets up and running, we may need to go into the marketplace of investors and see what the response is and what we can get,” says Debbie, chief financial officer for FlexiCom Wireless, a home-based business which was incorporated last summer and this week is preparing to bring its first Calgary customers online to its wireless network.

But after exhausting private investment or “love money” from friends and family, what’s the best way for a startup tech company to dip its toe into the flow of venture capital?

David Lazarowych, Business Edge
Debbie and Glenn Pollock have a business plan and wireless equipment — and are ready to grow/

“Many of them don’t have the contacts, or don’t know how to go about approaching some of the early stage investors,” says Rob Beamish, director of the new Concept to Capital incubator program through Calgary Technologies Inc.

“A lot of them are at the stage where they have been self-financed, or are at the love money stage. They are coming to the end of that, and they realize because of the types of business they’re in, equity financing is a more appropriate vehicle for what they’re trying to do as they attempt to commercialize their product.”

The Pollocks are among 20 entrepreneurs who have enrolled in the first phase of the 12-week intensive program, designed for startup and emerging information and communication technology, bioscience and engineering science companies seeking early-stage financing. ThNoNe program helps young companies build and customize their business plans, coaching the budding executives on how to make their financial “pitch” to early-stage investors.

“It’s important to have the contact with businesses people who are actually in the same boat right now as we are, startup people,” agrees Debbie Pollock, “to see the ideas out there, what’s happening, what investors are looking for when they look at a business plan and what they want to see.”

The Pollocks dream of expanding their business of providing high speed data and voice communication across the province before moving into Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Glenn, who used to work for Global Thermoelectric and NovaTel, is CEO of the company, which also boasts a network specialist and a former Nortel Networks engineer.

At the end of the program, the participating clients will give practice presentations before industry experts and an investor review committee. There are no guarantees they’ll land an investor, but if they do the company will pay the non-profit CTI a small finder’s fee.

It’s getting harder and harder for small companies to find seed financing, says Stace Wills, president and CEO of eMedici Capital Inc., a Calgary-based venture capital and Web incubator company that links select seed stage private technology firms with “angel” investors and mentors.

“Only the most superior projects are getting funded at the seed stage these days,” says Wills. “The majority of them will have huge difficulty in attracting money from angels outside of their families-and-friends networks.”

eMedici, formerly Accolade Capital Inc., defines seed-stage companies as those requiring financing of $250,000 to $1,000,000, and that have technologies which have generally graduated to at least a prototype stage.

“So many investors and angels were burned putting money not just into the private seed-stage companies, but some of the CDNX-listed seed-stage companies. So they’re a little bit more gun shy this time around,” adds Wills. “And frankly, the oil and gas angels are making so much money in oil and gas right now that it really takes a superior technology project before they’re lured over.”

Beamish says the CTI program will help eliminate some of the barriers that a small company would ordinarily face, and to understand what’s important before they talk to an early-stage financier.

Concept to Capital is sponsored by the Alberta Inventors Information Index, a new Internet site housed on the Canadian Technology Network site that helps inventors commercialize their ideas or products.

The provincially sponsored organization is backed by groups including Alberta Innovation and Science, the Alberta Research Council and the Calgary Business Information Centre. Another 12-week session will begin this fall.

Web Watch:
www.calgarytechnologies.com/workshop http://ctn.nrc.ca/ctn/ai3
www.emedici.net
www.flexicomwireless.com