Toronto-Based Accelerator Extreme Startups Introduces Its Third Class

It’s been more than a year since Toronto-based Extreme Startups raised funding and launched its Accelerator program. Now it’s ready to introduce the third group of five companies to have gone through the program.

Extreme Startups morphed out of Extreme University, with funding from Extreme Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, RHO Canada Ventures, BlackBerry Partners Fund, and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). The accelerator has two cohorts of five companies each, which go through the typical 12-week incubator program.

For participants, the accelerator provides funding, mentorship, and access to administrative and legal support. It gives teams $50,000 at the start of the 12-week program in exchange for 10 percent of equity, as well as an additional $150,000 convertible note upon exiting the program. In addition, participating startups get coworking space, will attend weekly classes, and will have access to more than 50 mentors that have signed up to help.

The first two cohorts included companies like e-commerce startup Shoplocket, couples app SimplyUs, and online ticketing startup Picatic.

With that in mind, the next five companies are a mix, from online craft marketplace BRIKA to business intelligence tool Polychart… With some vitamins and science research thrown in for good measure. The companies are:

  • BRIKA is a curated online shopping destination for discovering well-crafted lifestyle products from talented and inspiring makers.
  • Instaradio is a simple and powerful way to broadcast a live audio stream that can be listened to on any computer, phone, or tablet.
  • Køge is a vertically integrated vitamin retailer that provides a premium experience built around each customer’s unique background. Through personalized nutrition recommendations, Køge offers highly-tailored vitamin packages conveniently delivered each month.
  • Polychart is a lightweight Business Intelligence tool for SMBs, that allows any professional to explore, analyze, understand and visualize data without any technical skills. Polychart connects directly to your existing database to drive insights and is offered as both a SAAS and on-premise solution.
  • Sciencescape accelerates the discovery, organization, and sharing of scientific research. We use big data to curate research in real-time, allowing users to rapidly navigate thousands of papers and find out what’s happening in the world of research.

We’ll be keeping an eye on these companies as they go forward, and the Canadian startup scene in general. With incubators and accelerators popping up all over the country, we’re seeing a lot more interesting startups from up north.