The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in - WAT’HHUU CHRONICLE ‘Wednesd-y, August 21. 2013 Taking a flyer Reebee helps University ofWaterloo engineering grads deliver on promise BYSANDMDmoaim - e a" ~' tureStan. it would be much more difficult for Special» the Chronicle companies like Reebee to ever achieve such high levels of success" s youngsters, Tobiasz Dankiewicz The pair is already seeing the rewards of Amd Michal Martyniak delivered fly- their efforts ers to homes in their neighbourhood. “Every day we receive tons of incredible Sure, they made some decent pocket feedback from our users." Dankiewicz said. change. but the best tip they received was “it’s extremely rewarding knowing what we‘re finding out how much people loved getting doing is being adopted in tens of thousands those sales flyers, which were packed with of households across Canada. it's encourag- weekly deals. ing to wake up in the morning and see that Flash-forward to 2013 and Dankiewicz thousands of users have already used the and Martyniak. now University of Waterloo Reebee app before you even finish breakfast. Mechatronics Engineering grads, are the and tens of thousands join throughout the minds behind Reebee â€" an app that allows day.” users to browse relevant fiyers from theirarw User experience gives them the incentive retail outlets on their smanphone or tablet. and encouragement to continue with the To help make Reebee a reality. the co- app's development and continually improve founders turned to VentureStart. a program it. So far. users have given Reebee high funded by the Federal Economic Developâ€" ,7 , marks With 4.5 plus star ratings on both the ment Agency for Southern Ontario. Ven» . Apple and Android app stores. Reebee cure tureStart received $7.5 million in funding fi " ‘ rently stands as the best retail flyer app avail» through FedDev Ontario's Scientists and - - able and surpasses most dedicated retail Engineers in Business initiative. The program uw engineering grads Michal Martyniak and Tobiasz Dankiewia an: the brains behind Reebee, apps. Launched for :05 (Apple App Store; provides emerging entrepreneurs in the sci- WWYD and Android. the app has national distribu- ence. technology, engineering and math the appeal ofa “digital news stands for flyers" tureStart funding enabled Dankiewicz and tion and reaches over l00,000 Canadians fields with training. mentoring and seed in an industry where print todigital. especialâ€" Martyniak to hit the ground mnning, With through Reebee installs. The entrepreneurs financing to develop their ideas, commercialâ€" ly mobile, is a common trend. Retailers are $30,000 in seed funding, Reebee creators also have working agreements with thritir ize their products and grow their companies seeing a need to go mgr-tech to cater to spe- could hire engineering interns and make sands of retail locations “Our govemment recognizes that innova- cific consumers and many have started to connections in the industry. They were also Dankiewicz and Martyniak are deter rive ideas. combined with a mlture of entre- experiment with mobile apps But. starting a accepted into Y-Combinator. a prestigious mined to set a new standard for how retailers preneurship. are the key to Canada's long- business has its challenges and a great idea program for budding digital entrepreneurs engage with their consumers by offering a term prosperity.” said Waterloo MP Peter doesn't necessarily translate into a successful based in Silicon Valley. Calif. platform that enables a personalized expert Braid. “Our investments in innovative start- company. The co-founders found themselves wear- ence. ups like Reebee will help them grmvand suc- “Going from the idea phase to product ing many hats in the start-up process. "As "Our vision for Heebee is to be the gum coed, creating high quality iobs in our com- launch was the most challenging part.” said engineers. we had to adapt and learn new solution for consumers to engage with local munity, and ensuringa prosperous future for DankiewicJ. “We had a sound concept. but skills quickly and efficiently." said retail promotions.” said Dankiewicz. The Canada" no users that could persuade retailers to par- [)ankiewia. 'When it was time to incorpo- same way Kijiji and eBay made a mark in the VentureSlart. coordinated by the thl ticipate; no retail content to offer consumers; rate. we put on legal hats to learn the basics buy/sell space, we envision Reebee being the tResearch. Innovation, Commercialization) and no applications in the app store." This is of corporate law, We wear developer hats shopping discovery and management tool (‘entre in M ississauga. is delivered through where VentureStart could make a difference. when programming. sales hats when selling, that consumers rely on. On the retail side. we 13 provincially funded Regional Innovation Duncan McDowell, Reebee's assigned customer service hats when talking with want to give retailers a platform for engaging (Zentres in southern Ontario This includes Entrepreneur in Residence. helped the entre» users, and finance hats when managing common on a regular basis while providing Waterloo's (hmmunitech. where the Reebec preneurs work through the important Critical finances" timely and accurate insights that are not pos- founders received mentoring from an Fritre- Factors Assessment funding review and These skills are honed under the guidance sible byother means“ preneur»in~Residence. Through FedDev pointed them in the right direction to get the of mentors like McDowell. who have years of These are ambitious goals. but the Ree-bee Ontario's support, VentureStart is helping marker research data they needed to business experience and impressive creden- coâ€"founders are well on their way to success. program participants increase their business strengthen their submission. “Ultimately. it rials "It's pretty special when you get to see A unique idea, the smarts to implement it, and management skills and their capacity to was Duncan's belief in our team and produn two raw talents like Tobiasz and Michal go and mentorshiplfunding programs like Venr create successful companies and career that helped us get approved for Venture-Start from a basic prototype. to being accepted tureStarr have given the former fiver carriers opportunities funding,” said Dankiewicz. into Y-Combinator.‘ said McDowell. ”With- an impressive start in the high tech business Dankiemr / and Martyniak could fort-sec While the app was in its minor v. Von out early stage funding programs like Vch world. ‘ . w..â€" l,"’l '2 v H 0 - a r . râ€"‘i VINYL CLEANER KlT a... .89 79 :35?” 111.. m... “1.67 . . 2.99 INN-om :7 Uh! «urn-nu... at ‘ “at. 'SIMPSONSEF t. ~ Cit?) “""~"- 1;“ _