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From the President's Desk

With Pitch'Day just around the corner and the entrant deadline being today, I wanted to take a moment to personally reach out to our network of entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers and innovation supporters.

We already have a full slate of applicants for Pitch'Day, and as you read this, last minute entries are rolling in. That said, every year we receive calls after the deadline from entrepreneurs enquiring as to why they did not know about the event. We want to encourage as many aspiring entrepreneurs as possible to enter Pitch'Day, to potentially start or accelerate their new business journey or simply to become exposed to Manitoba's amazing startup and innovation community. As further inspiration today, we are pleased to feature Vastcon and its founders, Dr. Shailly and Anuraag Shrivastav in the story below. These researchers started their entrepreneurial journey with 'Best Researcher Pitch' at Pitch'Day. As founders, they have grown immensely since then and their innovation has the potential to make a global impact on the early detection of cancer.

Finally, Pitch'Day is one event you don't want to miss — it's fun, interactive and all about the community. I hope to see you there.

Jan Lederman
President, Innovate Manitoba Inc.

PITCH. VALIDATE. CONNECT.

Pitch'Day is Manitoba's foremost quick pitch competition, where hustling entrepreneurs, academic innovators, and businesses with innovative new ideas come to pitch, validate, connect, and win awesome prizes!

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Time: 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: RBC Convention Centre
Register/Enter: Online
Competitor deadline: Friday, October 31, 2014

Manitoba biomedical company set to improve cancer outcomes with innovative diagnostics

Dr. Anuraag Shrivastav, co-founder of VastCon, admits he knew very little about business when he first launched his biomedical company that aims to be a global leader in early cancer diagnosis and therapies. He credits Innovate Manitoba for helping to change that.

"When we started we didn't realize the resources available to us," said Dr. Shrivastav.

Shrivastav's co-founder and partner is his wife, Dr. Shailly Varma Shrivastav.

"We're scientists and didn't have any kind of business background," Dr. Shrivastav said. "This all changed when Shailly participated in Pitch'Day 2012 and won for best researcher pitch."

The Shrivastav's went on to place in the top six at Innovate Manitoba's Launch'Pad Bootcamp and second in Venture'Challenge in 2013.

→ Learn more

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Upcoming Programs

Advolve Media, a startup 'rockstar'

Advolve made headlines multiple times this month, garnering national recognition, with the potential to compete on the global stage. Check out a few of their stories:

Advolve to get 'Get in the Ring' in Kansas City as a Top 5 Canadian Startup >

Advolve and Permission Click: Two of Canada's Most Promising Startups! >

Advolve gets more national recognition >

The Agri-Innovation Forum is a must attend for Early Stage Ag Businesses

Want to learn about the type of companies that large Ag businesses are looking to acquire, what Ag focused investment funds are looking to invest in, or about startup opportunities in this high-growth and investor-friendly sector? Make the most of this forum Nov. 18 & 19, 2014 at The Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, MB.

Learn more and get a 20% discount >

Do you really know your market? You better if you are looking for risk capital!

Innovate Manitoba has teamed up with MaRS Discovery District to create its Market Intelligence Program. This world-class program provides Manitoba's leading entrepreneurs and startups with access to the best market research available — and at no cost! A limited number of opportunities are available. Apply now!

Get intimate with your market >

Guided Market Validation for Early Stage Ventures

Why do startups fail? A vast majority of the time it's because they've built a product or technology that no one is willing to pay for. Fail fast by testing whether your proposed product or service will work in the market before you fully develop it. Use your interviews with potential customers to design the features that customers really want.

Validate your market! >

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Partner and
community events

Nov. 8, 2014 in Winnipeg, MB

Girls Learning Code Day: Intro to HTML & CSS (ages 8 – 13)

Bring a special girl in your life to this workshop on National Girls Learning Code Day and learn to create a website together from scratch!

More info >

Nov. 14-16, 2014 in Winnipeg, MB

Hacking Health Hackathon

Hacking Health is designed to improve healthcare by inviting designers, technology creators and healthcare professionals to collaborate on realistic, human-centric solutions to front-line problems.

More info >

Nov. 18-19, 2014 in Winnipeg, MB