WATERLOO REGION, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Canada’s Open Data Exchange (ODX) is pleased to announce the first eight companies selected for the ODX Ventures program. Launched in the fall of 2016, ODX Ventures supports Ontario-based startups and small-to-medium businesses who use open data by providing up to $50,000 in financial support for product development, market traction, and scaling their company.
The eight companies include:
Envionx
Inc (Fishbuoy)
Ecopia
MapYourProperty
Peekapak
Pitstop
ThinkDataWorks
Plasticity
Labs
Chillwall
Open data is data that can be used and re-distributed freely, by anyone. It extends to multiple sectors, such as weather, education, traffic and real estate. While there are many programs that look to help startups and scale-ups in North America, ODX Ventures looks to raise awareness of open data by focusing on businesses that use open data for commercial purposes.
“We introduced the ODX Ventures program to help companies access and use open data, a market that is projected to create value in the trillions of dollars over the next few years. We were very pleased by the response to our first call, so much so that we plan to extend another call in the new year,” said Kevin Tuer, ODX Managing Director.
“The ODX Ventures program provides us an opportunity to take advantage of the many business benefits open data provides,” said Jim Moss, Chief Happiness Officer at Plasticity Labs. “For Plasticity Labs in particular, it’ll help us gain a deeper understanding of what other factors impact people’s happiness in the workplace and across the rest of their lives."
For more information about the ODX Ventures program or how open data can benefit your business, please visit www.codx.ca.
About Canada’s Open Data Exchange
ODX is a public-private-academic partnership based in Waterloo Region serving all of Canada. The initiative presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to multi-national companies to be a global leader in the commercialization of open data. Founding partners include University of Waterloo, D2L (Desire2Learn), CDMN (Canadian Digital Media Network), OpenText and Communitech— with funds matched by the Government of Canada.
