Acre75 is a one-of-a-kind Canadian family-owned company. And it’s redefining what it means to shop local while enjoying the convenience of online shopping.

Acre75 is a one-of-a-kind Canadian family-owned company. And it’s redefining what it means to shop local while enjoying the convenience of online shopping. Located in Perth County, Ontario, Acre75’s online shop and subscription box service are stocked entirely with quality products made by makers in small communities with less than 30,000 population. Scrolling through the company’s product catalogue is like taking a small-town road trip across Canada. Acre75 is celebrating its fifth anniversary, so here are five reasons you’ll want to consider Acre75 for your next shopping experience.   

Convenience that makes you feel good supporting local 

More than 70 percent of Canadians have purchased goods or services online. While we like the convenience of shopping online, many of us also like the idea of supporting local businesses. Unlike most online shopping sites, Acre75 gives us both. And it has opened up a national audience for many local makers.

Quality products you’ll use

Acre75 sources high-quality products, ranging from home goods to all-natural bath and body products to gourmet food items and more. Locally made products are more valuable because of the amount of time and care that has gone into the making of these products, most of which are made by hand in small batches. These are the kinds of goods you’ll want to use and tell your friends about.

Businesses in small towns are the anchor of their communities. When you buy their products they can invest in their community, by supporting other local businesses, sponsoring local sports teams, arts clubs, and other civic groups.

You can be a difference maker

Businesses in small towns are the anchor of their communities. When you buy their products they can invest in their community, by supporting other local businesses, sponsoring local sports teams, arts clubs, and other civic groups. Income is recirculated, so when you support a small-town business, you’re also supporting an entire community. 

Feel good about supporting rural mental health

Acre75 founder, Virginia Ehrlich, is passionate about supporting mental health. Normalizing this conversation is especially important in small communities where there is limited access to mental health services and an increased sense of stigma around seeking mental health support. For that reason, one dollar from each Acre75 sale is donated to rural mental health awareness and initiatives. Over $4000 has been donated since January of 2020.

A subscription service you can’t wait to get

The majority of Acre75’s business is its popular and award-winning premium subscription box service, called Acre75 Gathered. A surprise of specially curated products from its stable of makers is sent to subscribers quarterly. Each box supports over six small-town Canadian businesses. There’s something special about knowing who made your product and where (even if you’ve never heard of that town before!) Included in each box is an information card describing the products and a fun fact about the communities they were made in. The boxes are delivered each season in June, September, December and March. Acre75 Gathered is a one-of-a-kind experience. You won’t find a subscription service that features only small-town Canadian makers anywhere else. 

“Acre75 is proof that no matter where you come from, even if it’s in the middle of nowhere, you can be successful. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow my little local corner of the internet over the next five years and beyond,” says Ehrlich.

The post The Convenience of Online Shopping with a Local Twist appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Did you always know that you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I always knew that I wanted to own a business. At a young age, I would create sample business plans for ideas that I had. When I was older, I was able to do the Junior Achievement program and then at the University of Toronto, I realized that people who weren’t very different from me made careers out of their small businesses. This is what led me to start my own company with a friend. It was so fun to build something from scratch, even though the business was never able to launch officially. These experiences gave me the confidence to create my next company, Dunk, a social media-focused company. That experience led me to co-found Trufan, which I’ve been working on for the last three years.

Have you had any mentors? What did they provide you in terms of support? How has that helped you?

Yes, Trufan especially has taken a whole community to start and grow. Partners like our investors, advisors and even customers have helped guide us. In my personal life, I always like to talk to people who I find successful and generous. To get in touch with some of these people I started a LinkedIn article series, interviewing these people and building a relationship with them from there. I would talk to them about my ideas and run problems by them. The benefit of putting yourself out there to find mentorship is that your mentor will be someone who comes from your world, who knows your struggles and helps you succeed. Most people don’t have these relationships, and that’s where you may need to think outside the box like I did to find a mentor.

Startup Canada says that finding financing is the largest roadblock to overall growth. Does that align with your experience?

The biggest thing early on that helped was that I had a network, so get started early. If you don’t have a network, just know that money is out there and it’s your job to meet the right people who control those channels. When it comes to pitching, it’s important to strategize on how you reach leads, how you handle the “noes” that will inevitably come your way, and with those “noes” how you can learn from them. Another point to note is that fundraising is not always about getting two or three big-ticket investors. At Trufan, we have a larger cap table of investors with smaller amounts of funding. We’ve found that to be beneficial in terms of our expanded network.

What are some personal roadblocks that entrepreneurs need to overcome?

Remember that your mental health is important. This is something I see throughout the whole community. As an entrepreneur, you shouldn’t be in it for the short run, so you need to take care of yourself. If you let yourself burn out, your business will, too. Try as much as possible to take time off when needed. Block off times during the day to go for a walk and to think. It’s also very easy to think, “I need to be a billionaire by this age.” Get that thought out of your head, especially if you’re under 30 because it puts unnecessary pressure on yourself.

Any upcoming projects you want to highlight?

We just launched a new consumer product called Surf. It’s a browser extension that rewards people for their everyday browsing.

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Unlike learning a new skill or hobby, there is no “how-to” handbook for entrepreneurship – that’s where non-partisan, well-connected support organizations come in. In an ecosystem filled with hyper-specialized, regionally diverse entities, there is a benefit in having access to a “30,000 foot overview” of the resources and opportunities within the startup landscape. Support organizations and their teams can point new and existing founders in the right direction, help them make informed decisions, and empower their success through connections and collaboration. Ecosystem connectors are also uniquely poised to identify the support gaps that really exist in the space.

There is much to consider when launching a new business – everything from financing and HR to marketing and legal. According to Startup Canada’s 2020 census, founders in the space are looking for more streamlined, centralized overviews of support available across the ecosystem. Startup Canada is committed to creating and fostering an entrepreneurial environment in Canada that is as supportive to new projects as it is to those that are established. Knowing that no two journeys are the same, we have created a list of resources for all aspiring and existing founders.

Here’s a good place to start:

Financing

• Hockeystick connects startups to funding using AI and data to drive connections.
• Clearco is a lending firm specializing in non-dilutive revenue-share agreements with startups.
• Backstage Capital is a venture capital firm specializing in funding women, People of Colour, and LGBT+ led startups.
• The 51 is a Financial Feminist platform where investors and founders come together for democratized access to women-led capital for women-led businesses.
• The National Angel Capital Organization is a steward of the angel capital asset class and informs evidence-based policy in partnership with the government.
• The Government of Canada has many loan and grant programs meant to empower Canada’s founders.
• Bank loans for SMEs: BDC, Scotiabank, etc.

Pitching

Volition brings a community-building approach to advising and events for entrepreneurs.

Human Resources & Hiring

Essential HR provides streamlined HR relief to small businesses through hands-on support.

Marketing & PR

• THINK DIFFERENT[LY] is a PR company helping organizations build, test, and measure effective growth strategies.
• Comms Bar works like an Apple Genius Bar, helping founders to use PR, marketing, and publicity to grow their business.

Global Growth

Startup Global connects a pan-Canadian cohort of entrepreneurs wanting to build global businesses through workshops, bootcamps, pitch building, advisory support, digital resources, and more.

Mentorship & Community

• Mentorly is a leading online mentorship platform connecting emerging and seasoned entrepreneurs for meaningful, one-on-one mentorship.
• Startup Communities are local, grassroots networks on a mission to fuel a culture and environment of entrepreneurship at the local and industry level.

Demographic-specific Support

Women-identifying Support

• FLIK is a curated portal allowing ambitious women to take on a mentorship-based apprenticeship under a woman leader.
• Startup Women helps women founders through mentorship, events, and resources.

Rural Support

• Rural on Purpose is a social purpose business with a global mission to introduce a new era of rural entrepreneurship.
• Clearing a New Path Podcast amplifies the underrepresented voices of rural women founders across the country.
• Community Futures operates 267 non-profit offices across Canada providing small business services to those in rural communities.

Indigenous Founder Support

• Okwaho Equal Source is a social purpose enterprise on a mission to fuel social impact through human-centred design, innovation, and Indigenous-led research.
• NACCA is a network of over 50 Aboriginal Financial Institutions dedicated to stimulating economic growth for Indigenous people in Canada.
• Pow Wow Pitch is a grassroots community of Indigenous entrepreneurs purpose-built to provide a platform for education, celebration, mentorship, and reconciliation.

Black Founder Support

• The Black Entrepreneurship Program is a partnership between the Government of Canada, Black-led business owners, and financial institutions which includes an investment of up to $350.8 million over four years.
• Black Entrepreneurs BC provides advocacy, access to funding facilitation, advisory and mentorship services to help Black businesses grow, scale, and become sustainable.

LGBT+ Support

• The CGLCC is the only chamber of commerce uniting and advocating for Canada’s 28,000+ LGBT+ owned and operated businesses.
• Pride at Work uses dialogue, education, and thought leadership to empower Canadian employers to build workplaces that celebrate LGBT+ employees.
• TransFocus Consulting brings systems-thinking to gender inclusion, helping organizations transform from the inside out.

Disability Support

Liberty Co is a consultancy focused on increasing the participation of Neurodiverse individuals in the workforce.

Youth Support

Futurpreneur provides financing, mentorship, and support tools to aspiring founders aged 18-39.

Specialized tools and resources have their benefits, but to truly empower Canadian entrepreneurs we need centralized, reliable, dedicated support spaces where founder success is central to mission and mandate.

Kayla Isabelle is the Chief Executive Officer at Startup Canada, the gateway to Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem that points you in the right direction, eliminates barriers, and champions your needs to private and public sector partners. Startup Canada’s mission is to connect Canada’s entrepreneurs with the tools, community, and support they need to start and build their businesses. Kayla has dedicated her career to supporting entrepreneurs, both in Canada and internationally. As an award-winning strategic communications consultant and change management facilitator, Kayla is passionate about leveraging the power of storytelling in the entrepreneurial community.

The post Entrepreneur Support Organizations: Helping to Understand the Ecosystem appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Since the very first modern computer appeared in office, we’ve all been asking, “Do we still need all this paper?” It’s a harder question than it seems. If we want to limit the waste, the ecological impact, and the productivity drain of paper, we need to step back and ask ourselves what it is that keeps drawing people to the printout. We need solutions that ease the transition to an enhanced digital workflow while understanding real-world business needs.

The reality of paper

The invention of paper ushered in a never-before-seen age of literacy and education. It’s a cheap, portable, accessible, and lasting vessel for information. Those qualities still drive its use today. But, in an era where workers are spread across the globe, handing a sheet of paper to a colleague is rarely convenient. This is a world where information may as well not exist if it can’t be accessed from your phone. This is a moment when costs are measured not only in dollars, but in time and tons of carbon.

The advantages of going paperless are clear. The Association for Intelligent Information Management has reported that 84 percent of organizations that undertook paper-free projects achieved payback in less than 18 months. But that value is only realized when the undeniable power of print is preserved through this transition.

Canon has spent decades perfecting the philosophy and the practical reality of how people and businesses create, preserve, use, and share information. They’ve leveraged this experience and insight into the creation of new suites of tools that aren’t just paper replacements, but reinventions of the business information ecosystem. And, critically, these systems are informed by a deep understanding of what businesses and employees want and need.

A complete digital transformation

According to Gartner, every time an employee touches a piece of paper, it costs the company $20. Gartner further estimates that the average employee loses almost four weeks of productivity every year searching for lost and misfiled documents. There’s real money and time to be saved here.

But, when the office is a maze of filing cabinets, and home work spaces are chaotic mountains of paperwork organized only by memory and hope, the gap to a structured digital solution may seem unbridgeable. Going paperless is a process, not an event.

Canon’s flagship information management solutions provide an answer to this problem. And cutting-edge OCR, intelligent document fingerprinting, and high-accuracy indexing provide a seamless on-ramp for any document into the digital workflow the moment it’s needed.

These solutions provide workers with the ability to capture, archive, retrieve, edit, and process data at any point in the workflow quickly and securely. They turn every document into a transactable work space with a memory of its own, providing every bit of the power and flexibility of a paper and a pen while maintaining the accessibility and security of cloud-based collaboration.

And, just as importantly, the new digital paradigm to which these documents are transitioned, to has been crafted from the ground up for efficiency. After all, little is gained by replacing a stack of marked-up paper with a tangled email inbox housing dozens of threads with hundreds of versioned documents. A comprehensive solution gently and seamlessly tames this mess into a cohesively streamlined whole.

So, do we still need all this paper? Not necessarily, but we do need a knowledgeable and thoughtful guide to lead us away from it. We need a voice that is intimately familiar with the way businesses work and is unafraid to imagine ways they could work better. Reaping the benefits of the paperless transition requires not a leap, but a series of well-informed steps along a carefully crafted path, a path paved by companies like Canon.

The post Helping Companies Upscale As They Outgrow their Paper Workflow appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Canadian startups need to think internationally in order to succeed. Learn how the DMZ can help mitigate the risk involved in expanding to new global markets.

Despite Canada’s small market, many Canadian startups are not exploring the potential that global expansion may bring to their company.

While every founder wants their company to access new customer bases and capital, only about 12 percent of small businesses in Canada currently export their goods and services. However, for companies who want to look into expanding, it might be time to start looking global from the get-go.

“The majority of tech startups don’t realize it, but they are in a business that can be global from day one,” says Abdullah Snobar, the Executive Director of the DMZ. “We need to help tech startups and early entrepreneurs see themselves as exporters, even if they don’t have a physical product.”

The DMZ has helped to raise over $1.5 billion in seed funding for startups and has provided mentorship and support, utilizing its worldwide network, to turn Canadian startups into world-class, global tech businesses.

Looking beyond Canadian borders

According to Snobar, for Canadian startups in a small domestic market, considering global expansion is a necessity, not a nice to have. This was the case for Softdrive, a DMZ incubator company, where only 3 percent of their total addressable market was in Canada.

“The US has about 24x the amount of organizations than Canada, making it critical for Softdrive to expand internationally,” says Leonard Ivey, Founder of Softdrive. “If we don’t, we’d be stunting our growth significantly and mitigating our chances of success.”

However, there are a few barriers that make global expansion difficult for Canadian startups. For pet-tech company Charmy Pet, navigating the regulations to comply with federal agencies like the CFIA and U.S. FDA was one of them—but the support of the DMZ and their connections made the process much easier.

“We were fortunate to have the support of the DMZ and their in-house supply chain experts to help us expand,” says Zach Sheng, Co-Founder and CEO of Charmy Pet.

Building a reputation in a new market, while trying to find support, trustworthy global partners, and dealing with cultural differences, can be difficult. “It can take a few years for a startup to build a solid reputation in their local market and transferring that trust to a global market is challenging,” says Mohsen Omrani, Co-Founder and CEO of OPTT. “A good way to bridge local trust to a new market is being associated with reputable organizations, like incubators and VCs, with proven track records.” It helps to have a team like DMZ in your corner where these past experiences can be used as leverage.

How the DMZ’s network can help

But Snobar says one of the biggest barriers to expansion is the founder’s own mindset. “If they don’t want to go global, then they’ll find every excuse not to go. But there’s always risk anywhere you operate,” says Snobar. “If you don’t look to expand into a new market, someone else will.”

For those who do want to expand globally, the DMZ offers founders a deep understanding of different local ecosystems, countries, and economies through their network of global offices and incubators in over 10 countries. For example, if a Canadian startup wanted to expand into India, the DMZ could connect them to other founders and partners in their field who are already involved in the Indian market. This is due to the DMZ being an enabler to global expansion—they can help founders access peers who’ll understand their journey and their struggles.

“There’s never been a more important time than today to think about how to take your business and expand to your full potential,” says Snobar. “The whole team is glad we’re helping in that journey with creating opportunities for founders entering these new markets.”

The post Why Canadian Startups Need to Look Beyond Borders appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Community boosters are worth a lot. Schools, arenas, parks, and libraries in Strathmore share stories of people pulling together to get the project finished. More businesses are discovering that the community is proud to help them grow, too.

Investments in agri-business, manufacturing, and renewable energy are setting records for the largest volume of capital investment in Strathmore’s history. It’s a town focused on the future and growth that welcomes a variety of startups but has retained its rural roots and a commitment to its community.

More businesses are discovering what Strathmore offers

That is just one reason why Borea Construction has been so pleased with its partnership with Strathmore. It is constructing two major solar projects in the area and has received an incredible level of support from the town. “Strathmore is really willing to go farther to help us succeed,” says Chelsea Million, the company’s talent advisor. When explaining what sets Strathmore apart from other places, she cites the successful job fair hosted locally, the quality of local candidates, and the town’s willingness to share resources in order to help meet the firm’s goals.

The town has a long tradition of being innovative and solution-focused. Its Marigold Library System, established in 1981, was a game-changer. The not-for-profit municipal collaboration provides state-of-the-art library services, now serving over 300,000 people across 44 municipalities. It joined forces with Western Irrigation District (WID), which supplies irrigation water to almost 100,000 acres of farmland, to build a new shared headquarters this year. It’s a prime example of Strathmore’s strong collaborative spirit.

Focus on success and innovation

Local businesses are expanding their reach. Origin Malting drew on five generations of farming expertise when they launched their malting plant in 2016. As pioneers of soil conservation and traceability, they brought a focus on sustainability to their operations. Producing the finest malt for craft brewers has brought customers from across North America.

We have great people that work hard here. Some of the finest people you’ll ever meet…they work right here. We’re much like a family I guess.

An unexpected start-up has its origins in a local farm as well. G&S Airport Conveyor, which builds and maintains baggage conveyor systems for airports around the world, started out of a garage on an area farm. Since moving into Strathmore, the company has grown and invested in newer, more advanced technology. Owner Jim Goertz appreciates how business-friendly Strathmore is. He also likes the inviting small-town feel, something that makes it easy to attract and retain employees. It’s a desirable place to work and to live in. “We have great people that work hard here. Some of the finest people you’ll ever meet … they work right here. We’re much like a family I guess.”

Strathmore is well-positioned to keep the momentum going. “Strathmore offers start-ups a great place to grow. Our team offers personalized support you can’t find in large centers” says Mayor Pat Fule. “We’re a friendly, welcoming community that helps each other to succeed.”

The post Small Towns Are Friendly — And Startups Succeed with Lots of Friends appeared first on HiveInnovates.

In addition to salary and benefits, employee perks elevate the employee experience. How do you find the right ones for your business?

Perks are additional offerings beyond salary and benefits that employers tack on to their compensation packages as part of their total rewards programs. Perks can be as simple as complimentary movie tickets or dinner, or as elaborate as insurance discounts, gym memberships, or vacations.

Leading organizations use perks to help them stand out in today’s competitive marketplace. Being able to offer appealing perks gives employers a competitive edge in attracting and retaining talent, re-energizing existing employees, and boosting employee morale. In effect, perks are a great way for companies to build employee engagement, elevate the employee experience, and earn a reputation as a great place to work.

Increasingly, these perks come in the form of employee group discounts. Offering employees discounts on the brands they love is a great way to make them feel valued, appreciated, and rewarded for their loyalty.

Which perks are right for your organization?

Knowing which perks or employee group discounts to offer and where to find them can be challenging. When evaluating a group discount perk, the company’s HR professionals need to consider its future potential impact on the firm, whether it offers the best value to the highest number of people, and whether it’s affordable to the company — especially if it happens to be a small or mid-sized enterprise (SME). In essence, finding high-quality perks takes time and effort for HR professionals.

Helping employers find great employee discount and rewards

Finding the right perks for organizations is the dilemma that Venngo set out to solve over 20 years ago when it first started. A passion for finding great deals led the company to pioneer the concept of employee discount programs to connect people to their favourite brands.

Today, the company is one of North America’s leading providers of group discount programs, curating exclusive discounts from over 350,000 U.S. and Canadian merchants in keeping with its mission to help employees save money anytime, anywhere. Essentially, Venngo sweats the details so that employers — and their employees — can reap the benefits.

Venngo provides fully-managed discount programs for employee, member, and customer groups in a wide range of categories, such as apparel, electronics, dining, wellness, entertainment, and travel.

The WorkPerks program is a unique employee benefit program comprising thousands of exclusive discounts from famous brands and local stores across North America. Available for groups from large enterprises to SMEs, WorkPerks’ offers are redeemable online as well as in-store at over 25,000 locations across Canada.

Employee groups access their private discount programs via Venngo’s proprietary, easy-to-use online platform and exclusive mobile app. The perk platform is designed to drive program engagement with targeted delivery of perks based on location and customizable content driven by the organization’s needs. If your employees are on the move, no problem. Venngo provides a discount program that’s designed to move with them.

From setup and launch to ongoing communications and end-user support, Venngo works with organizations to maximize the program’s value with the aid of a dedicated Success Team Manager. Organizations also receive timely insights on their program engagement, which discounts are most popular, and statistics on how much their employees are saving.

Programs can also be shared with the employee’s entire household to take advantage of the savings. Family members can be added to the program for no additional cost. Whether for a large enterprise or a small business, Venngo’s discount programs are there to connect employees with big national brands and their favourite local businesses across North America.

The post Great Perks Can Differentiate Companies in a Competitive Marketplace appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Markham’s drive for innovation is in its DNA. Located in York Region at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area, Markham is a vibrant, rapidly-growing city, thanks to leading companies that have recognized its pool of world-class talent and entrepreneurial spirit.

At the centre of Canada’s second-largest technology cluster, Markham is home to more than 650 corporate head offices, over 1,500 high-tech and life science companies, and 240 international companies. Canada’s most diverse city is blessed with ample urban amenities, low tax rates, and exceptional quality of life.

Global innovators in Markham include IBM, Aviva Insurance, AMD, GM Canada Technical Centre, Bank of China, GE Grid IQ Innovation Centre, Honeywell, Huawei Technologies, Lenovo, Johnson & Johnson, Toshiba, Honda, Qualcomm and Hyundai.  Markham is also home to IBM’s Canadian software lab—the largest software development lab in the country.

“Innovation is our central way of life in Markham, where residents hold the greatest number of patents per capita in Canada,” says Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “The city has a highly-educated and skilled workforce in the technology, life sciences, financial services, design and engineering, science, and information and cultural sectors.”

ventureLAB empowers ingenuity

As one of Canada’s top accelerators, Markham’s regional tech hub ventureLAB has a mission to power local startups into becoming the next generation of globally-competitive tech titans. In its 10-year history, it has enabled more than 2,000 ventures to raise in excess of $200 million in venture capital. According to ventureLAB Chief Operating Officer Matt Skynner, the tech ecosystem in Markham is a true community of collaboration that’s led by a municipality that strategically supports innovation.

Working with companies across the spectrum, ventureLAB concentrates on hardware and enterprise software technology. Its signature initiative is its Hardware Catalyst Initiative (HCI), Canada’s only lab and incubator for hardware and semiconductor startups, including a $7 million state-of-the-art lab to drive innovation from prototype to product.

Another key ventureLAB initiative is Tech Undivided, which helps women-led companies to refine product-market fit, amplify sales, and navigate relevant sources of funding, and its Capital Investment Program that streamlines the connection between investors and investment-ready ventures.

Setting the stage for success at Seneca Innovation and HELIX

Seneca Innovation is a hub for industry and community partners wishing to engage in collaborative applied research projects with college faculty and students. The full-service applied research operation includes research managers who work with companies to obtain grants, strategize and build research plans. According to Ben Rogers, Dean at Seneca Innovation, its applied research focuses on small- to medium-sized enterprises to solve technical challenges through the college’s expertise and infrastructure.

Seneca also encourages innovation through its on-campus incubator HELIX, launched in 2014 to help entrepreneurs design and launch a startup, and foster innovation within employees. HELIX has helped to accelerate 560 new ventures from cosmetics to virtual reality. Its signature, program, Career Recharge, offers a series of free upskilling sessions designed to help mid-career professionals re-enter the workforce, advance in their field, change careers, or start new ventures.

“The City of Markham has been a really strong supporter of HELIX from the very beginning,” says Chris Dudley, Director of Entrepreneurship at Seneca College. “They are extremely strong players in the ecosystem. By collaborating and exchanging ideas, we all move farther faster.”

York University’s next-generation campus coming soon

The $276-million York University Markham Centre Campus, slated to open in fall 2023, will focus on technology and entrepreneurship. It will offer new undergraduate and graduate academic programs geared to produce highly qualified graduates and research leaders committed to solving society’s complex challenges.

“For many of us, it is a lifetime opportunity to create an exemplary catalyst for learning, research and innovation in the region,” explains Amir Asif, Vice-President, Research and Innovation at York University. “We aspire to make Markham the Silicon Valley of Canada.”

YSpace Markham, a 10,000-square-foot accelerator innovation hub, opened to entrepreneurs in January 2018, supports growth-ready technology ventures, as well as and food and beverage start-ups. In just three years, it has supported the development of more than 100 new ventures. “The opportunities for collaborations and demand for our entrepreneurial supports in Markham have blown us away,” says Sarah Howe, Assistant Vice President of Innovation and Research Partnerships at York University.

YSpace’s Food and Beverage Accelerator – unique in Ontario – helps high-growth consumer packaged goods ventures scale up operations and acquire new distribution channels. “Making a direct contribution to the local economy through innovation and entrepreneurship, are key priorities for York in Markham,” Howe adds. “The new campus is only going to take that to a whole new level.”

The post Global Ventures Discover Strong Support for Innovation in Markham appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Stephen Poon

CTO of Korah Ltd

Chatbots free up resources for companies, but is that enough to enable business resilience and achieve objectives? First and second-generation technology is rigid and limited. Here’s how Korah Ltd.’s ccRobot uses machine learning to streamline customer support, integrate business processes, and generate real value.

In the digital world, customers increasingly expect round-the-clock, real-time support from the companies they interact with. Chatbots have been an integral part of that picture in their five years or so on the market, providing prompt responses to customer questions while freeing up customer support resources. However, first and second-generation chatbots suffer from important shortcomings that have led some firms to disable them altogether.

First and second-gen chatbots lack the sophistication needed to generate value

“Originally, chatbots were meant to reduce the volume of call interactions for customer care, but this didn’t generate good user experience,” says Ricardo Atlaco, Business Development Manager at Korah Ltd., a Markham-based IT solutions provider that works with the largest telecommunication company in Canada and different government agencies.

Keyword and rule-based first-generation chatbot typically simulated basic inquiries to a call center. They were capable of answering queries like: “What are your business hours?” or “What is your store’s address?” But their lack of sophistication and flexibility to answer more complicated queries, or to personalize the experience, sometimes did more harm than good for customer experience.

“Companies moved to solve this by adding personalization with second-generation bots,” says Atlaco. Real-time insights, context-sensitivity, and product recommendations entered the picture. These bots could interact with information in a customer profile (CRM) and make predictions, like recommending a type of wine they’re likely to buy based on past purchases. Here, the business case was to generate revenue and reduce churn.

Unleashing workforce productivity with Robotic Process Automation

“Companies need to understand that the circle won’t be complete until they move towards third-generation bots, which not only streamline customer support and enable front end engagement but integrate the company’s business processes to generate real value,” says Atlaco. By moving towards third-generation chatbots, companies can maintain active engagement with customers without increasing their budgets. This will be key for companies of all sizes to survive and thrive through digital transformation. 

The key is robotic process automation (RPA), a sophisticated software robot that emulates human actions in a given system. ccRobot, an innovative chatbot from Korah Ltd., uses RPA to surpass many of the hurdles faced by first and second-gen chatbots.

Now, the chatbot can not only draw on the customer profile to predict their next purchase, but complete the fulfillment process by connecting ERP-CRM and the supply chain with the front-end. If a customer asks the system for red wine from Argentina, it can respond: “We don’t have red wine from Argentina, but we do have red wine from Italy that could be delivered today.” The system can also provide delivery alternatives and offer upgrades for buying two cases instead of one.

In other industries, healthcare providers can use ccRobot to gather detailed information and facilitate diagnosis, governments can use it to streamline support for citizens, etc.

Agility and flexibility are the pillars of next-generation chatbots

Another key feature of ccRobot is its agility—built on powerful machine learning technology, the chatbot learns from its interactions with clients and provides valuable business insights for the service provider. “Enhancing the ability for a company to learn and react quickly is a very important feature of the next generation of chatbots, as the pandemic has demonstrated,” says Stephen Poon, CTO of Korah Ltd. “Many companies face rapid changes on a daily basis. A system that can help you automate conversations while adapting to the problems your customer wants to solve is crucial for business resilience.”

“Let’s say the system has been trained to answer 100 questions. But over the course of a month or two, depending on the number of interactions, the system learns that 110 topics need to be addressed. That could be anything from new regulations to questions about a competitor,” says Poon. In the case of the pandemic, COVID-19 related queries would be an obvious example. “The company can react to that information quickly since the system will flag that there are new problems that require new solutions. An administrator can then easily assign the proper answers to the new topics.”

“Agility isn’t just a feature of the product. It’s in the DNA of the service we provide,” says Ricardo Atlaco, Business Development Manager at Korah Ltd. “We know that time is money for companies, so we pride ourselves on quick implementation and excellent service.”

Get in touch with the Korah Limited development team

The post New-Gen AI Chatbots Key for Business Resilience in Post-pandemic World appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Stephanie Terrill

Business Unit Leader of Management Consulting at KPMG in Canada

What’s in store post-pandemic? No one knows for sure, but the KPMG CEO Outlook report offers a unique lens on evolving attitudes.

Canadian business leaders and decision-makers have faced myriad challenges throughout the pandemic, from building financial and operational resilience to digitizing their businesses and processes to managing employee engagement and customer interactions. Every industry has been impacted differently by the pandemic — for example, an airline’s challenges are vastly different from the challenges that a financial institution has faced over the past 15 months — but most Canadian companies have something in common: they’ve navigated business resilience, risk management, and unprecedented disruption in an entirely new way.

A fine balance: responding to uncertainty and unique risks

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought extraordinary unpredictability to the world’s business landscape. Business leaders have had to learn how to maintain agility while responding to uncertainty and unique risks across the enterprise.

In its 2021 CEO Outlook Pulse report, KPMG in Canada — a leader in delivering audit, tax, and business advisory services — found that according to global CEOs, the top five risks are climate/environmental risk, disruptive tech risk, supply chain risk, cyber risk, and regulatory risk.

The report also found that despite these challenges, Canadian leaders are moving forward with a sense of confidence and persistence.

“In our report, 84 percent of Canadian CEOs said they’re confident in the growth of their company over the next three years,” says Stephanie Terrill, Business Unit Leader of Management Consulting at KPMG in Canada. “This confidence is a sign of resilience and optimism. Wherever there’s disruption, there’s always opportunity. Having a growth mindset and an agile mindset is critical.”

Evaluating the future of work and embracing a hybrid model

Canadian business leaders’ resilience has also come to the forefront when evaluating the future of work.

Will knowledge workers return to the office? A KPMG poll released in March 2021 showed a trend of virtual fatigue and declining satisfaction with work-from-home scenarios, and its team expects to see more hybrid workplaces in the future. In fact, 77 percent of Canadians believe a hybrid workplace, or hybrid office, should be the standard model for all organizations.

“When it comes to remote working and virtual transactions,
flexibility is the number one benefit,” says Doron Telem, National Leader of Risk Consulting at KPMG in Canada. Access to specialists and talent from around the world is another benefit. But there are risks to virtual work environments, too.

“We see many employers working to foster greater resilience among their people: maintaining culture in a digital world, onboarding new talent, retention, and loyalty,” says Terrill. Cybersecurity is another key concern, with ransomware, identity theft, payment fraud, and other cyber incursions on the rise as a result of more employees working remotely. Employee mental health issues also need to be addressed. In the same March 2021 poll, 54 percent said their mental health has suffered during the pandemic. Leaders must consider their role in terms of helping their team deal with stress and burnout.

Supported by the right technology tools and digital processes, a hybrid work environment will allow teams to collaborate efficiently when needed, while also accommodating flexibility and independence.

Improving resilience and business continuity

Real-life scenario testing can go a long way toward improving operational resilience and business continuity — whether it’s a “what if” simulation around supply chain disruption or war-gaming for cybersecurity.

“Operational resilience scenario testing has become much more sophisticated now that organizations have seen a ‘black swan’ event,” says Telem. “Using stress testing and simulation technology, we run different scenarios and look at how they would affect a business’ various departments. Often, there’s a solution and a company can pivot.”

It’s important for organizations to define and adopt a risk appetite level, too. “Have a framework where you define the areas where you absolutely won’t accept risk,” advises Telem. “Then, you can focus more on protecting your most critical systems and information.”

The importance of optimizing costs and driving innovation

Despite their overall confidence and optimism, 43 percent of Canadian CEOs say the pandemic “forever changed” their business. It’s never been more vital for business leaders to optimize costs, stay agile, and innovate.

“Financial resilience is about keeping your eye on the balance sheet and your cash flow, and ensuring that you’re maintaining adequate liquidity,” says Terrill.

“It’s also about becoming hyper-flexible,” adds Telem. “Organizations with the ability to pivot and rapidly scale their expenses up or down as required can build stronger resilience.”

Operational and performance improvement, such as automating workflows to create efficiency, is also vital to optimize costs and efficiency. Encouragingly, KPMG’s study found that 84 percent of Canadian CEOs are placing more capital investment in buying new technology.

Investing in innovation and disruptive technologies

“We’ve seen organizations looking for new online revenue sources, so the disruption has also really driven a focus on innovation, which has been great to see,” says Terrill. “Our data indicates CEOs are planning to continue to invest in innovation and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital communications platforms, and data and analytics. We’re hoping that this will remain post-pandemic, and put Canada in a good place on the global economic stage.”

With 91 percent of CEOs wanting corporate Canada to think bigger by making significant investments in technology and people, and with Canadian organizations embracing digitization and agile operating models, it’s clear that many business leaders are rising to the challenge of our new reality.

The post Staying Agile and Innovative Post-COVID: Critical Insights for Business Leaders appeared first on HiveInnovates.