Montreal Start Up

Twenty startup’s were in Y-Combinator’s Summer 2008 funding batch. Here is my take on the first half of them (the rest will be in the next post) and where appropriate a mention of Montreal companies I am aware of that are competitive or complimentary.

Posterous

A hosted blogging platform that allows you to post many different media types via e-mail. Great software, ultimate in simplicity - but perhaps it could have worked even better as a Worpress or Typepad plugin ? Nice software.

Ticket Stumbler

Vertical (sports tickets) search technology with a referrals based revenue model – nothing innovative per se, but there is a chance of success if they can simplify a complex issue that enough people have – it certainly worked for Kayak. Montreal’s TIBConcerts does a similar thing for concert listings.

A N Other Company

A company yet to launch but with a similar concept as Montreal’s BoostCast which already has over 17,000 communities (according to it’s website). These guys (who did seem smart and capable in general) made the mistake of starting their presentation by saying they were the “only one’s able to simple generate video-sharing site”. Anyone making a pitch to investors please remember that we see deals all the time and it’s just too risky to say you’re the only one – because it’s EXTREMELY rare that you are.

A N Other Company

A company yet to launch that may benefit from the progress being made at Montreal based Identi.ca , a company that has developed a version of Twitter that runs on the Laconi.ca open source micro-blogging platform (Our very own Evan Prodromou of Wiki-Travel fame is the driving force behind it’s development). The guys had heard of Identi.ca and were excited by the possibilities that could arise from having many vertically focused, but networked, micro-blogging sites.

People and Pages

Website builder (another one!) with member management. Just screams me2. The most interesting business I’ve seen in this space in Montreal (well the CEO is based here) is Kyube.

A N Other Company

PhD brainpower put to good use. This company yet to launch may have some interingsting synergies with Reasonably Smart, a Montreal based startup that is looking to make a name for itself in the cloud computing space.

PicWing

An integrated hardware and software solution for delivering photos (and in the future other media …. interesting possibilities) directly to an electronic picture frame. I’d be contacting Kodak and Fuji Film to start a bidding war !

MeetCast

Web-based video-conferencing and screen sharing solution. It’s a competitive / crowded space but no solution out there does it all yet. Very similar in functionality to Montreal’s Oneeko (previously Camwii) – whom I hear will soon have some very interesting news on getting their solution more widely distributed!

CO2 Stats

These guys can actually measure the environmental footprint of your website. It seemed like a gimmicky business at first but, once explained, it actually struck me as pretty complex to do accurately. It might actually fly !

More reviews to follow but I’d be happy to hear about any other Montreal based startups that are complementary or competitive to the companies profiled above.

(NOTE: This page has been edited to remove references to companies that have yet to launch)