This year’s rebooted Ottawa Bootstrap Awards include a wide range of winners, from a zero-waste grocery story to a new way to punch out at the end of the day.
Following a three-year hiatus for the annual event, the Ottawa Network partnered with Wesley Clover and Smart & Biggar to relaunch the Bootstrap Awards. David Stein, vice-president of the Ottawa Network, says the awards send an important signal that tightening one’s laces and self-financing a startup remains a viable business model.
“What we want to do is celebrate those people who are struggling, working their tails off, self-financing and doing it the hard way,” he told Techopia last month.
When the awards were run by Bruce Firestone’s Exploriem incubator, companies such as You.i TV and Shopify were among those receiving recognition. The next big Ottawa tech firm, then, may be among the winners listed below.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)

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Winners of the 2017 Bootstrap Awards:
Green Award: Spectrafy
Innovation Engineering & Technology Award: iBionics
Best Mobile Application: award shared by Bluink & Punchtime
Best Guerilla/Social Marketing Campaign: Grype
Bootstrap Capital Award: Ottawa Media Group
Community Impact Award: NuGrocery
The fastest growing startup award, sponsored by You.i TV, will be announced at the event. The awards reception will be held on March 7 at Marshes Golf Club as part of Wesley Clover’s regular Tech Tuesday event. For a free ticket to the reception, register here.