start-ups

Small retailers at risk of getting crushed by Internet giants like Amazon turn to a Canadian start-up

Fans say a takeover will destroy the hip urban start-up. Others say it’s already dead.

Six programs for ambitious undergrads

How a growing number of tiny Canadian-based start-ups are making the leap into big foreign markets

Waiting could soon become a thing of the past. A new Canadian technology venture, called Blink Connect, seeks to eliminate “waiting-line frustration” with the use of a Web-based text messaging system. Rather than sit in a doctor’s waiting room or pace a restaurant parking lot, patrons receive a text message exactly when it’s their turn. Blink Connect also acts as an automatic Day-timer, says the company—providing clients with text reminders leading up to their appointments. According to company CEO Harry Battu, Blink Connect has an ancillary benefit as well. “I don’t know about you,” he says, “but I’d rather not go to the doctor’s office to get better and catch something even worse from the person sitting next to me.” The company has already licensed its service to a number of downtown Toronto restaurants, and plans to expand in the next few months. “Restaurants are just the beginning,” says Battu, “and the medical and salon sectors are the future.”

Investors are once again enticed by the rapid growth of online companies