In Part II, we profile Kleer Semiconductor, Group IV Semiconductor, Menova Energy, neuroLanguage and Protecode

KLEER SEMICONDUCTOR

Year founded: 2002

Employees: 50

Venture capital to date: $7.4 million

Product: Wireless integrated circuits

"As exponential increases in storage capacity facilitates the ability for consumers to store their entire digital media library on a personal player, Kleer's low-power technology leads the way in the wireless transmission of that content in an error-free, high-quality manner."

— CEO Levent Gun

With most laptop users shedding the hardwired Ethernet cables for the more convenient Wi-Fi connection, Kleer Semiconductor hopes that portable audio users would rather go wireless too.

The company makes ultra low-power wireless integrated circuits for streaming content that brings the freedom of wireless listening to just about any audio device, from iPods to home theatre systems.

And it's getting traction with many of the top consumer electronics manufacturers, which got together earlier this month to endorse Kleer's wireless audio protocol. The group included heavy hitters such as RCA, Pioneer, and Sennheiser.

Kleer chief executive Levent Gun succinctly outlined the impact of the announcement: "Today, a new era of portable audio products begins."

The key to success so far has been the technology's ability to combine low power consumption with high quality sound, which led to the widespread recognition from the audio manufacturer community. While Bluetooth headphones got out of the gate first, Kleer's more refined technology quickly made its competitor look like a poor cousin when it was showcased at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January. Kleer was also named one of OCRI's 2007/08 Canada's Top 10 Technology Competition winners.

Wired Magazine chose Kleer's offering as the 2007 show's Best Portable Audio product just as RCA chose the company to help develop wireless headphones for its latest wireless MP3 audio player.

The technology transmits CD-quality digital stereo over a 2.4-gigahertz radio link between any Kleer-equipped device. Adding the company's adapters to various audio devices allows the user to listen to the selections loaded on their iPod on a pair of wireless headphones during a walk at lunch, through the car stereo on the drive home, or from the home system while relaxing on the couch.

GROUP IV SEMICONDUCTOR

Year founded: 2003

Employees: 20

Venture capital to date: Undisclosed

Product: Solid-state lighting

"As awareness grows of the enormous waste of energy caused by conventional lighting technologies, the race is on to create energy-efficient alternatives."

– CEO Stephen Naor

Consumers can't go anywhere these days without running into marketing that claims a business is "environmentally friendly." In many cases, companies are simply repackaging old products and services as green because they think it will make them more greenbacks.

On the other hand, Group IV Semiconductor has seen the light, and its founders didn't like the waste they discovered. So, they came up with the bright idea of bringing lighting into the digital age by replacing old incandescent and fluorescent bulbs with semiconductors.

And the green-friendliness of replacing filaments and gases in bulbs is not too difficult to see. Roughly five per cent of the electricity consumed by an incandescent bulb gets transformed into light, with most of the energy wasted as heat. Replacing incandescent bulbs with longer lasting, cooler fluorescents helps, but they still lose much more energy in heat than they create in light.

"Our vision is to create silicon-based light engines that are many times more efficient than conventional light bulbs and much more economical than today's LED [light emitting diode] alternatives," said chief executive Stephen Naor.

Replacing incandescent bulbs in Canada with solid-state lighting would bring annual energy savings equal to twice the electricity consumed by Toronto homes. At an efficiency of about 80 per cent, they not only use about one-tenth the energy of regular bulbs, but also last about 25 years if used for five hours a day.

And it's also lucrative, with a global US$12-billion market in play. But there are two keys to success for the company. It has to create a solid state light that's as bright as conventional bulbs and do it in a cost effective way.

Last August, the company moved closer to that goal when it announced a "substantial" investment led by Montreal's Garage Technology Ventures which also included Applied Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of Applied Materials Inc. Applied Materials role is to develop a low cost manufacturing process.

MENOVA ENERGY

Year founded: 2004

Employees: 24

Venture capital to date: $3.6 million

Product: Solar power technology

"Our world-class engineering team has expanded the capabilities and refined the outputs of our Power-Spar systems. Our new Solar Thermal Air Conditioning and Sun Source Heat Pump units will provide tremendous benefits to customers who are currently experiencing high energy costs during the middle of the day."

- CEO Dave Gerwing

With the world worried about global warming and looking for clean energy, Ottawa's Menova Energy may have hit the jackpot with its leadership position in the "point" solar product market.

Armed with its Power-Spar product that the company feels will change the economics of solar energy, Menova is positioned to become a significant player in the multi-billion dollar global renewable energy market, which many experts expect to experience tremendous growth for the next two decades.

"We certainly believe that we are one of the companies to watch in 2008," said CEO Dave Gerwing.

"One of our key strengths is that our integrated products provide holistic solutions in a variety of energy applications – from big box stores to solar farms."

Menova manufactures the Power-Spar, a solar concentrating system that may be deployed in flexible and scalable configurations to produce high-concentration Photovoltaic (PV) electricity, high- or low- temperature thermal energy and/or solar lighting.

The product has been delivering more wins this year in a number of countries around the world, something accomplished in part after the company expanded its sales force and added regional sales partners. The move ensured it has a sales presence in the fastest growing solar markets in the world, such as Greece, South Africa, Spain, and the U.S.

Look for the company to be one of the first Ottawa startups to announce a venture capital win this year, as negotiations with investors have reached the final stages.

"We are currently in discussions with a number of groups and expect to be able to announce significant rounds of new investments early in the new year," Mr. Gerwing said.

NEUROLANGUAGE

Year founded: 2004

Employees: 21

Venture capital to date: $4.2 million

Product: Software

"We have a tremendous opportunity at the crossroads of three major market movements – publishers looking for new business models, the growth in demand for online ad placements, and a global surge in the demand for English. We see great potential ahead."

– CEO Rene Faucher

With companies continuing to outsource many functions to cheaper locations around the world, having an easy-to-use and convenient tool to ensure the workforce communicates effectively simply makes sense.

That's where neuroLanguage comes in.

Its Practice Platform fits the bill. Targeted at companies providing services in English to customers, the company's language communication technologies help new hires and existing employees improve their English fluency.

The technology's approach is based on the idea that cognitive processing of complex tasks, such as acquiring a language, is best learned in a series of simple steps that grow in complexity until it becomes subconscious.

And while many Canadian and U.S. companies have made a point to expand into countries such as India where language is not really a problem, others have broadened their scope to get into more diverse markets where teaching English-language skills becomes more critical to success. For example, outsource software developer Macadamian Technologies is in both Romania and Armenia.

The Practice Platform enables the distribution of documents, audio files, and video clips to students learning English anywhere in the world. The package helps companies assess the needs and progress of students, increase the learner's mental processing speed of English, develop vocabulary including the words and phrases specific to the industries served by the employer, and ensure proper pronunciation.

In December, an independent panel of Canadian and U.S. venture capitalists chose neuroLanguage as one of the Canada's Top Ten Technology Companies for 2007-2008, a program sponsored by OCRI. It also made the 2007 Branham list of the Top 25 Canadian IT Up and Comers.

PROTECODE

Year founded: 2007

Employees: 12

Venture capital to date: None

Product: Software

"Intellectual property contamination whether real or perceived can delay projects, product sales cycles, and business transactions. As part of a software quality development process, we simplify intellectual property record-keeping and protect against accidental code contamination."

– CEO Mahshad Koohgoli

Mahshad Koohgoli is on a mission to educate the risk-taking high-tech world about the benefits of practising safe software.

Protecode's easy-to-install solution automates record-keeping and external content tracking as a company creates software. The product runs in the background and logs all the content being added to the mix, providing the customers using the solution with a software "bill of materials" so they know exactly what went into the code and where it originated.

Mr. Koohgoli explains the company's story by likening the development of software to creating a Powerpoint presentation. People often add content to their presentations from a variety of sources, such as the Internet, other people's work, and purchased content. But when the presentation is complete, sometimes it's difficult to remember exactly where every element originated.

That's where Protecode's ability to identify all the building blocks that went into the process leaves little doubt about intellectual property (IP) ownership.

With aggressive IP protection making patent lawsuits more common, many customers are asking suppliers to verify their offerings' pedigree before buying. And, Protecode hopes its ability to provide a verifiable catalogue of the elements that went into a software product will help bring customers to its door.

"Understanding, managing and safeguarding intellectual property is critical in today's world of open-sourced, outsourced, and easily copied code," Mr. Koohgoli said.

The company has attracted attention from a number of investors and should announce a modest venture capital win in the near future, which Mr. Koohgoli feels is enough to get Protecode's product to market. Along the way, the company hopes to up its employee count to 25 by the end of the year.

"With financing behind us now, we are starting our growth phase, planning to double our workforce this year," he said.

By Jeff Pappone

Special to the OBJ