WEtech is pleased to announce that it has provided direct dollars through the WINnovation Fund totaling $15,389 to six of its youth clients (ages 18-29). Formerly known as the Regional Advisory Service Fund (RASF), startup related activities undertaken by youth clients included specialized service provider support, search engine optimization, product development, and marketing/communications activities. The 2014-2015 recipients include:

1. Jump Q – JumpQ utilizes mobile payments, cloud technology, and wireless beacons along with proprietary hardware to make checkout lines in a thing of the past.
2. DTP Tech – DTP Tech has developed a technology that helps streamline financial reporting in the marketplace.
3. Rent2Who – Rent2Who is a company that gathers tenant and landlord information in order to match landlord and tenants online.
4. Crescemt – Crescemt has developed an educational software technology for peer to peer student tutoring.
5. Platemaster – Platemaster Metal Finishing Inc. is a plating and metal finishing company.
6. Apartmint – Apartmint is a new platform dedicated to help you search, apply and pay for rentals. Their map-based search allows you to actually see homes in the area you’re looking in, to call your own.
7. MAInnovations – MAInnovations has developed a device that connects to your car in order to automatically transfer kilometers to your smartphone application in order to automatically notice you of your maintenance schedule.

Tracy Mysyj of JumpQ: “RASF helped us launch our pilot program for our app. With the funds we received, we were able to purchase marketing materials, flyers, and signage to get the word out as well as get our app up and running at a local restaurant in Windsor. All new merchant signups are equipped with an integrated JumpQ hardware pod consisting of a tablet and a receipt printer which allows them to instantly receive their orders once a customer places them. You can now actually download our app from the Google or Apple app store and place an order using it at Chanoso’s. We are planning to expand quickly in the Windsor area and are very close to opening up two more locations. Without this funding, we would not have been able to reach these milestones and get our pilot program off the ground! This is a great program that we are proud to be a part of.” Jimmy Truong of Crescemt: “RASF afforded us the opportunity to, not only, launch the first version of the InQuis mobile app, but also lead us to finding our technical co-founder! Through the Product Development Project made possible by WEtech via RASF, our technical co-founder and I were able to start working together. We are excited to share that, as of May 27, we were able to launch a private beta to the Google Play Store!” Margaret Chichosz of Apartmint: “We were thrilled we received the RASF grant. We just launched our platform in Windsor and were able to do local marketing and promotions to target tenants and landlords in the Windsor Region. WEtech has been fantastic in supporting local businesses like Apartmint!” The WINnovation Fund is supported by the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE). The ONE is made up of regional and sector focused organizations that the WEtech Alliance is proud to represent for the Windsor Essex Region and is designed to help Ontario-based entrepreneurs rapidly grow their companies to facilitate job creation.