BCTIA launches second-stage revenue accelerator with new HyperGrowth program

VANCOUVER, BC (July 6, 2015) – The BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) kicked-off the first day of programming for HyperGrowth, a second-stage revenue accelerator program developed to establish British Columbia’s next Hootsuite, Avigilon or Slack. Following a six week application process, HyperGrowth’s inaugural cohort features three growth stage companies: RentMoola, Thinkific and EDP Software participating in a six month accelerator with mentors and advisors from some of Vancouver’s leading technology companies.

Concluding the search for its first cohort, BCTIA hosted a standing room only pitch event on June 17^th to select which of the seven finalists would be part of the HyperGrowth program. In addition to RentMoola, Thinkific and EDP Software the finalists included Social Nature, Freightera, PageFreezer and CamDo.

“The calibre of companies applying to HyperGrowth was incredible,” said BCTIA President and CEO, Bill Tam. “It was clear from the volume of applications received that we have found an important niche that is currently missing from the market. There are several high-potential tech companies in our midst who are looking to grow to the next level, and they need more than startup-focused resources to help them get there. They’re ready to experience second-stage programming, they’re ready for HyperGrowth.”

The judging panel for the pitch event, comprised of some of Vancouver’s top tech companies, included Jeff Booth from BuildDirect, Dan Zitting from ACL, Matt Switzer from Hootsuite, Igor Faletski from Mobify, Dan Eisenhardt from Recon Instruments, and Michael McCarthy from TELUS. The judges, amongst other operating executives, will form the backbone of the HyperGrowth advisory team, providing coaching and connections to the cohort companies, helping them move the needle.

“The judges were amazed at the execution and polish of the HyperGrowth finalists,” said Jeff Booth, Founder and CEO of BuildDirect, “and we’re excited to engage deeply with these companies in the coming months to help them grow. If we truly want to reach our potential as a world class technology hub, we as a community need to rally around fast moving growth-stage companies like these and make sure they have access to every resource required to support them in becoming future anchors of our industry.”

“We have managed some really strong traction to date,” said Sachin Argrawal, CEO of EDP Software, “but our industrial customers are complex and have long sales cycles. We applied to HyperGrowth because we need to become even more sophisticated and focused in order to build a leading technology company here in BC.”

Following the pitch event, the winning companies were invited to participate in the cohort. “This month we have finalized the onboarding of our largest client to date, who is also one of the largest residential landlords in Canada,” said Patrick Postrehovsky, Co-Founder and CEO for RentMoola, “and we want to use this milestone, coupled with the support of mentors like Jeff Booth to continue growing even faster.”

“Our product is well positioned and our market is growing very quickly, so we want to make sure that we are aggressive and strategic in continuing to grow, and that’s why we are excited to be a part of HyperGrowth” added Thinkific CEO, Greg Smith.

The HyperGrowth cohort now begin their six month sprint to improve sales processes, grow revenue, and take their companies to the next level. Companies will be working together through programming and in-depth workshops, as well as competing for additional resources including funding and investment capital.

To download the a copy of the media release, click here.
For information on HyperGrowth, visit hypergrowth.bctia.org