Meet Ottawa’s 2021 Bootstrap Award winners

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Work boots

A manufacturer of ultra-efficient solar panels, a fast-growing software firm that sells an e-commerce bug-detection platform and a pharmacy dedicated to cancer patients are among the companies being honoured at this year’s Bootstrap Awards.

The annual event, sponsored by Smart & Biggar and The Ottawa Network, is a celebration of self-funded startups and entrepreneurs from a variety of categories. 

To be considered for a Bootstrap Award, entrepreneurs must hail from Eastern Ontario or Western Quebec, have been in business for less than seven years, and have received less than $500,000 in outside funding.

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Due to the pandemic, this year’s award ceremony will be held virtually on June 17.

Here is the full list of 2021 Bootstrap Award winners: 

Green Award: greenre 
President: Keith Loiselle
Product/service: Greenre is an eco-manufacturer and consumer brand that specializes in licensed and private-label stationery, activity, craft, back-to-school, novelty, office and select home products. All products are made of recycled natural materials, recyclables, non-toxic materials and new-age biopolymers.

Innovation Award: CoGenerate Solar 
CEO: Ra’ed Arab
CTO: Bruno Rocha
Product development lead: Abdullah Arab
Product/service: CoGenerate Solar makes cost-effective solar panels that capture four to five times more solar energy from a rooftop than traditional photovoltaic panels.

SAAS Award: Noibu 
Co-founders: Robert Boukine, Dan Cardamore, Kailin Noivo and Filip Slatinac
Product/service: Noibu’s platform monitors e-commerce sites, helping customers detect, prioritize and resolve bugs that can hurt sales and checkout conversions.

Marketing Award: Wicket
Co-founders: Jeff Horne and Laura Mindorff
Product/service: Billed as the world’s first member data platform for associations and professional societies, Wicket allows customers to manage their membership data and integrate with third-party marketing, e-commerce and learning management software. 

Bootstrap Capital Award: RedLore
CEO: Niek Van Dierdonck
Product/service: RedLore offers Internet-of-Things solutions for supply-chain monitoring and tracking aimed at mitigating losses. The company offers an end-to-end solution consisting of IoT sensor devices, a cloud analytics platform and a customer-facing dashboard platform.

Disruptor Award: Extend Pharmacy Specialists 
Founder: Jason Wentzell
Manager: Meghan Hayes
Product/service: Founded in 2019, Extend Pharmacy is dedicated to serving cancer patients and their caregivers. The pharmacy’s goal is to help bring specialized cancer care to those in the community by providing extended cancer care services for patients and their loved ones experiencing cancer treatment and its impacts at home.

Community Impact Award: Treehouse Medical 
Founder: Julia Slanina
Product/service: Treehouse Medical’s subscription-based software helps maternal health providers such as midwives, doulas and lactation consultants connect with their clients. The platform stores electronic medical records, helps health-care professionals better organize their practices and provides an easy way for midwives and other providers to communicate with patients. 

Founder of the Year: Jason Lee
Company: SmartCone Technologies 
Product/service: SmartCone uses industrial Internet of Things and AI technology in various products including sensors that help self-driving cars detect obstacles as well as track the movement of packages at e-commerce fulfilment sites.

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