Business innovation comes natural to Stratford

Hi, I’m Deb Krizmanich. I’m the CEO and founder of Powernoodle. Powernoodle is a flexible, customizable, very easy-to-use cloud software platform for decisive group collaboration and innovation. It’s used for things like transparent planning and problem-solving, knowledge-sharing, decision-making, and innovation. And because it’s in the cloud, it’s available for anyone, anywhere, anytime.

In January of 2011, it came to our attention through the Golden Triangle Angelnet that FedDev had actually announced a program that was dead-on for us, and it was called Investing in Business Innovation. We applied for the program and were successful in our application. It has had a huge impact on where Powernoodle is today. I’d love to share a little bit about that with you. 

It has helped us attract over 22 private angel investors as a result. It has helped us build our bench strength of our team and attract key talent and that’s allowed us to actually grow our team. We started with 2 and we’re now over 14 people. It’s also helped us attract and partner with some very large blue-chip clients at a level that would really help them create value in their organizations as well as ours.

I think another important area where the FedDev IBI funding has had an impact on us is that it’s allowed us to accelerate our product development plans, which is really key in a competitive market. We’re in a global space and we have to be able to move very quickly.

The other interesting aspect to this is that 95% of the funding that we received through IBI is actually going into the local ecosystem here in Stratford. It’s having a double effect, not just on Powernoodle but on the local ecosystem and economy as well.

I chose to locate my business in Stratford because of the commitment to broadband and the commitment to digital media that’s here. What the IBI program has really helped us do is stimulate not only what’s happening within Powernoodle but also the local economy. For instance, a third of my investors come from the Stratford area. Our developers here, so 95% of the funding that we received through the IBI program is actually going right back into the economy to create jobs and to provide really great opportunities for other organizations that are working with us in partnership to bring Powernoodle to a global stage. 

I think that in order for Canada to be extremely competitive on a global stage, we really need to figure out how to partner in our ecosystems. I want to send out a huge thank-you to the Golden Triangle Angelnet for the support in working and partnering with FedDev to make the IBI program available because it’s made all the difference to a company like ours.

The other point I’d like to make is that I was amazed, working with the actual FedDev team; they are so business-minded and been absolutely great to work with. They understand business and their approach has been really direct and logical and very timely, which is key to being successful in the competitive markets we operate in.