Toronto MobileMonday brings VCs and tech startups together

^{Attention in Canadian media} Toronto MobileMonday brings VCs and tech startups together

25 Mar 2008 at 15:02 GMT Timo Poropudas

MobileMonday Toronto made headlines in national media after its last meeting. Financial Post published Sunday an article about venture capital firms and tech companies meeting eaach other.

David George-Cosh starts his article from Toronto meeting:

“The last place one would expect Malik Yacoubi to pitch his mobile software company to a group of venture capitalists would be inside a room filled to the brim with military regalia.

“Yet, there he was inside Fort York's barracks rapidly explaining to his audience why he thinks someone should invest several million dollars for a stake in his company, Mobilito. Five minutes later, it is the venture capitalists' turn to pepper him with questions about his finances, personal background and viability of the Montreal-based company's technology.

“Call it a Dragon's Den of sorts, but watching the exchange are dozens of like-minded entrepreneurs, industry representatives, investors and interested geeks, brought together in an event dubbed ‘Mobile Monday.’

He writees that Mr. Yacoubi may have returned to Montreal without conducting a deal, the sheer amount of networking he did among some of the industry's heavy-hitters has led to more interest in his startup company.

George-Cosh points out that Canada is a far cry from Silicon Valley, California's tech hotbed.

“The Canadian tech community is seen as a farm team of sorts for firms such as Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. who are looking for top talent outside of their backyards.”

To stop this tech brain drain, local wanted to create a community to talk about each other's technology in an environment that opens the door for investors and businesses alike to get to know one another.

"There is no other real way for anyone to get the critical mass of talking to people in our industry," said Alexander Bosika, who helped bring Mobile Monday's to Toronto from a concept created in Finland.

The full article