Live blogging from the Ottawa Technology and Venture Summit

I was really pleased late last month when Kim Cunningham from OCRI agreed to give me a media pass so that I could cover the OTVS on Startup Ottawa.  I have been here for a good part of the day and the event is very well organized and the agenda is solid, especially the panels.  Since I am more used to pitching VC’s than listening to their presentations this is a nice change. 

This morning, I sat in on great presentation from Diablo Technologies and DISTIL both local tech companies and right now I am listening to an interesting panel session with David Adderley (Celtic House), Bernie Li (Inovia Capital) and Bernie Zeizig (Vimac Ventures).  Overall its interesting conversations about the deals they have been involved in.

I will shoot some video of the Venture Demos which is made up of mostly early stage Ottawa Startups.  This is my favorite part of the show and the primary reason I am here. I always like to see how our local pitches do with a serious VC audience.

It was also great to see Nathan Rudyk recording OCRI Radio shows on location.

OTVS Demo Opportunity

I am informed that the 2008 Ottawa Venture and Technology Summit, organised by OCRI, has now chosen all of their pitching companies and Dave Scollon, the organizer, tells me that its a fantastic lineup.

Once again they have a slot in their program to look at local startups, and as I’ve written before on this blog, I think its great exposure and a chance to practice pitching for startups.  Here is more information about the setup:

VentureDemo is the segment of OVTS where presenting companies have the opportunity to deliver a short technology demonstration (5 – 6 minutes) while discussing the value proposition of the product, their intended market and perhaps the revenue model (but not necessarily). The demos (there will be eight) will be followed by a reception of investors and corporate executives where the presenters can mingle and field questions from interested parties.
 
There will be no fee for the VentureDemo presenters and they will be invited to the full proceedings of the Summit on October 8th. This year VentureDemo will have its own dedicated timeslot where presenters will have the full, undivided attention of the investor audience. Also new this year, I’ll be looking for the best demos from an expanded region (Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Waterloo and thereabouts).

If you’re interested in applying, please contact Dave Scollon directly at DScollon@ocri.ca.