‘Creative Destruction’ could build a better Canada
Rick Spence | 13/08/24 | Last Updated: 13/08/23 2:40 PM ET
Sometimes the road to business success isn’t easy to see.
A year ago, Karl Martin and Foteini Agrafioti had a new company, awesome technology, and no clear path. Both were engineering PhDs from the University of Toronto, he was a specialist in biometric identity systems and privacy; she developed the first technology to identify users based on their unique cardiac rhythm, and would be named U of T’s 2012 “inventor of the year.” But great technology alone does not a business make. Puzzled why big companies never came to the table with licensing deals, Agrafioti and Martin wondered what to do next. A year ago, a solution appeared. The university’s Rotman School of Business was opening a “Creative Destruction Lab” to provide mentoring and monitoring from seven of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs — all of whom had steered tech companies to lucrative exits. Who could say no? One year later, the pair’s company, Bionym, has $1.4-million in funding and a new cause: changing the way identification works. By early next year, it will be selling Nymi, a Bluetooth-powered wristband that authenticates your identity to smartphones, tablets, computers, and eventually your car, your home, and the weight machines at your gym. Bionym is one of just eight companies that survived the first year of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), coming out stronger, more certain, and capitalized for success. Bionym’s success shows what can happen when you connect new entrepreneurs and promising technology with veteran mentors who understand business and know how to get things done. Read more of this post
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