Notables October 31, 2018

  By Craig Bamford

New Brunswick cybersecurity firm joins

international accelerator

Welcome to Notables for October 31, 2018!

First this week: New Brunswick cybersecurity firm gets international attention.

New Brunswick-based Beauceron Security, a firm which helps organizations manage cyber-risk, announced that they've raised $1.5 million in a second seed round. The round was led by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, and also included Opportunities New Brunswick, East Valley Ventures, First Angel Network, CyLon, and Mariner Partners, who produced a release on the investment.

Beauceron's cloud-based cybersecurity platform has received a lot of attention since it was originally developed at the University of New Brunswick's IT department, doubling its client base in the last three quarters. What is more striking, however, is the involvement of CyLon, the prestigious global cybersecurity accelerator based out of London, UK. Despite the burgeoning tech scenes across Canada in places like Waterloo, Toronto and Montreal, it was New Brunswick's own Beauceron that became the first Canadian firm accepted to CyLon; CyLon managing director Kirsten Connell said that "we saw something special in Beauceron's approach to managing cyber risk", citing its innovation and scalability.

Beauceron CEO David Shipley said that "it has been a pleasure to work with dozens of clients across North America and now in Europe to help change the cybersecurity story for small, medium and enterprise-size businesses."

MaRS profiles women in cleantech

Next: profiles of women in cleantech.

Innovation This Week has already noted that MaRS Discovery District has  announced the finalists among the nominees for the Women in Cleantech Challenge. The Challenge is intended to introduce and reinforce diversity of thought into the cleantech scene, to help produce real technological answers to our biggest global problems. Applications were sent, and the six finalists were chosen: including specialists in nanofilms, oceanography, lithium extraction, and bioplastics.

On October 4th, however, MaRS revealed that they would began providing showcases for each of the finalists in turn. They began the profiles with oceanography expert Julie Angus. Julie's already made stunning achievements - she became the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean with her partner in 2006, at the conclusion of a 156-day, 10,000 kilometer odyssey from Portugal to Costa Rica - and so its not surprise that she's been drawn to cleantech. It may be her experience on the open ocean that led her to create Open Ocean Robotics, which designs and sells autonomous boats that harvest energy and collect data in realtime. It may also be the opportunity: as Julie puts it "our technology tackles some of the world's greatest environmental challenges."

More profiles are promised "over the coming weeks".  For upcoming profiles, and more information on the Challenge and MaRS Cleantech,  click here to access their blog.

Engineers Without Borders Canada raises global justice issues with Innovation Agenda

Engineers Without Borders Canada, the prestigious and accomplished NGO focused on global development, has produced a new report on Canadian innovation in a global context. In line with that focus, and in partnership with the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, the report, Innovation for Global Benefit, takes a close look the need to ensure that Canadian innovation will produce global benefits.

The report points to the Government of Canada's Inclusive Innovation Agenda, and how it spells out how Canadian innovation is intended to benefit not just Canada's businesses or its elites, but all Canadians. The agenda both promotes diversity's role in accelerating innovation, and anchors Canada's efforts in ensuring "that all Canadians share in the economic opportunity and gains from economic growth". EWB supports these efforts, though it does recognize potential issues in the Agenda's applicability to marginalized groups beyond women, Indigenous peoples, and rural populations.

Yet, at the same time, Engineers Without Borders notes that the focus on Canadians may be coming at the expense of Canada's commitments to Global Justice.  The report says that the Government's consistent message is that Canada is part of a competitive "innovation race" against other countries, and that Canada's programs "do not...incentivize or encourage firms to take seriously global opportunities and responsibilities". In particular, the Agenda does not consider or address the potential harms that may be done by Canadian firms abroad. They suggest that Canada include a "global impact lens" into its agenda, addressing issues of global harm and the duty to assistance, in order to ensure that Canada's innovation policy and practice no longer "fails to meet standards of global justice". Considering Canada's international obligations, this is an issue that well deserves attention.

Notables is a weekly collection of interesting science, technology, investment and innovation reports, press releases and other news bytes from around the web. Notables are curated and written by Craig Bamford.

Have a report or press release you want to share? Let us know!

The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of RE$EARCH MONEY.