VANCOUVER, BC (April 20, 2016) – The BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) today announced the five companies selected to join its HyperGrowth program. An immersive, six-month, cohort-based program, HyperGrowth is BC’s only second-stage accelerator, focused on building the next generation of anchor tech companies through advanced sales, marketing, and business process-related programming. Building on the success of 2015’s inaugural cohort, the BCTIA has increased the number of companies for cohort two from 3 to 5. The cohort, nicknamed ‘HyperGrowth 2.0’, includes:

Arkit is a web app that makes it easy for teams to work together on map-based projects, by combining intuitive mapping features with collaborative project management tools. It gives users a visual, map-based system to plan and organize projects, track location-based information, manage and complete work, and share across teams and companies.

Picatic is an innovative online ticketing and registration platform empowering event planners and event goers by completely eliminating service and convenience fees.

TalentClick provides a risk-based personality testing platform to hire and train better employees and create happier, safer, and more productive workplaces.

ThinkCX is a predictive analytics company that uses social intelligence to help companies optimize the lifetime value of their subscription based or recurring-billing customers. ThinkCX finds relevant, publicly available social media content for each of the brand’s connected customers, and constructs a social graph for those individuals.

Wiivv is a bionics company that creates custom, 3D printed gear using body-perfect capture technology, accessible by everyone from a smartphone. Founded in the summer of 2014 by Forbes’ 30 Under 30, recipients Louis-Victor Jadavji and Shamil Hargovan, Wiivv is using the best in computer vision, mechatronics and biomechanics, to promote body alignment and enhance athletic performance starting with its inaugural product line, BASE insoles.

“When we launched HyperGrowth last year, we knew there was a need for second-stage programming, but we had no way of predicting the incredible successes companies would see from the program,” said Bill Tam, BCTIA President and CEO. “This success energized us to expand the program and now we have a strong second cohort who are eager to get started. We look forward to sharing their achievements along the way, and to continuing to make the program even more impactful for future cohorts.”

In all, more than 30 second-stage companies applied to participate in HyperGrowth 2.0, with eight being selected as finalists and invited to pitch for a panel of industry judges. The final cohort was selected based on market potential and ability to execute, owing largely to the strength of the teams and the unique products being produced by each of the companies.

“We could not be more excited to have been selected for the HyperGrowth program,” said TalentClick CEO and Co-Founder, Greg Ford. “We are ready to take the next step in our business and having access to the industry connections and mentorship that the program has to offer will be invaluable to us in the coming months.”

Throughout the program, companies have access to mentorship from active technology CEOs, as well as functional leads and executives from the best tech companies in Vancouver, including BuildDirect, Recon, Mobify, Cymax, Payfirma, Microsoft, TELUS, Hootsuite, Global Relay and ACL.

“Despite being experienced entrepreneurs, there is always a need to have more outside experience, coaching, and Rolodex’s at the table,” said Aaron Nielsen, Founder & CEO of ThinkCX. “We have a pile of large enterprise deals in front of us and know that the HyperGrowth program has some of the best enterprise sales mentors in the country who are now at our disposal, to support us in this next phase of growth.”

HyperGrowth operates at no cost to the cohort companies, and is made available by the generosity of its program partners: ACL, Alacrity Foundation, BuildDirect, Global Relay, Microsoft, and Vancity. Programming for the second cohort will begin May 2^nd.To learn more about the program, including HyperGrowth 2.0 companies, visit HyperGrowth page.

BCTIA & HyperGrowth Media Contact:
Wendy Turnbull
Director, Marketing & Events, BCTIA
wturnbull@bctia.org

Arkit Media Contact:
Jessica Hurford
Digital Marketing Specialist
jessica@arkit.io

Picatic Media Contact:
Esther McIlvain
Uproar PR for Picatic
emcilvain@uproarpr.com

TalentClick Media Contact:
Greg Ford
CEO & Co-Founder, TalentClick
gford@talentclick.com

ThinkCX Media Contact:
Ron Smouter
VP Sales and Marketing, ThinkCX
rsmouter@thinkcx.com

Wiivv Media Contact:
Jen Riley
Head of Marketing, Wiivv
riley@wiivv.com