FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) have created a syndicate to invest $1.25-million in Virtual Expert Clinics (VEC), a Fredericton-based start-up company specializing in innovative Internet-based solutions for supporting therapeutic services. 

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The announcement was made today by Warren McKenzie, Chairman of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation; Greg Phipps, Director of Technology Seed Investments, BDC Venture Capital; and Cynthia Howroyd, President and Founder of Virtual Expert Clinics Inc.

“This unique partnership we have created with BDC will not only mean that an outstanding young company like VEC will now be able to grow and create wealth but also that there is now a greater opportunity for innovative New Brunswick entrepreneurs to access venture capital in the future,” said McKenzie. “The investment we are announcing today will allow the company to continue its research and development efforts in New Brunswick and begin generating sales and becoming profitable.”

VEC is developing and marketing a suite of Internet-based products to support the treatment of learning disabilities and developmental disorders. The company’s current focus is to develop and market an innovative web-based product called Virtual Autism Clinic, servicing parents and staff in preschool autism intervention programs. The Virtual Autism Clinic will feature expert system software, e-learning and tele-health technologies.

“This is BDC’s fifth investment in New Brunswick, but the first through BDC’s Technology Seed Investments Fund in this province. It shows the confidence we have in this company, its innovative use of technology and its approach to autism treatment,” said Phipps. “With a partner like the NBIF, we hope to make even more investments like this one in New Brunswick in the future.”

 Pioneering with a number of leading autism experts, the company is developing a new means of using technology to support and enhance an internet-based expert solution to help a child's team therapy program. The company intends to make a valuable contribution to therapeutic services not only here in New Brunswick but throughout North America and beyond.

“The goal is to make therapy supports more accessible for families and more successful,” said Howroyd, a speech language pathologist with 14 years experience who founded the company in early 2004. “Both the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and the Business Development Bank of Canada bring considerable expertise and knowledge to the table providing the company with a solid footing for future growth.”

BDC Venture Capital is a major venture capital investor in Canada, active at every stage of the company’s development cycle, from seed through expansion, with a focus on technology-based businesses that have high growth potential and that are positioned to become dominant players in their markets.  BDC Venture Capital has been involved in venture capital since 1975 and has to date invested in more than 400 different companies. It currently manages approximately $550 million in venture capital assets invested in the areas of Life Sciences, Telecommunications, Information Technology, Advanced Technologies and Funds Investments.

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, an independent corporation, contributes to building New Brunswick’s innovation capacity. The Foundation supports targeted and leveraged investments in innovation, and in research and development in New Brunswick. Through its Enterprise Innovation Fund and Venture Capital Fund, the NBIF supports start-up and early stage innovative companies by providing access to venture capital, business expertise, support, and networking opportunities.

MEDIA CONTACT: John White, communications, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (506) 452-2884 www.nbif.ca; Gregory Phipps, Director, BDC Technology Seed Investments (902) 426-7868 www.bdc.ca; Cynthia Howroyd, Virtual Expert Clinics (506) 474-8131) www.vecinc.com .

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