Angling for innovation in the salmon capital of the world

Reminder: Applications for the second annual NexStream Tech Competition are due Oct. 31.

This year’s NexStream Tech Competition is offering up to $300,000 in total prizes.

Ready to participate? The first step is to submit your expression of interest online, before the Oct. 31 deadline. This is your chance to tell the judges about yourself, the challenge you plan to tackle and the business opportunity you think that challenge presents. Complete the form at nexstream.is/expression-of-interest.

Applications are being accepted in four challenge categories inspired by our coastal region. Challenges are: health and emergency preparedness, sustainable resource innovation, food security and wildcard. For more information about the challenges, visit nexstream.is/current-challenges.

“The NexStream Tech Competition grew out of a vision, shared by the City and the Campbell River Area Angel Group, to foster a culture of innovation, support our regional industries and showcase our community,” says Rose Klukas, the City’s economic development officer. “Technology comes in many different forms. Whether it’s high-tech or low-tech, we are looking forward to how technology is applied to solve this year’s industry-inspired challenges.”

The NexStream Tech Competition is an international competition that invites applications from individuals and groups, academic institutions and businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Teams can enter more than one category.

“One of our goals was to develop a program that supports a broad range of innovators, from individuals with compelling concepts through to mature companies with proven track-records in sales. We also hoped to show that innovation is possible across a broad range of industries relevant to our area,” says Andreas Hagen, angel investor and member of the Campbell River Area Angel Group (CRAAG). “We believe that the breadth of entries that made it through to last year’s finale are evidence of success along both of these dimensions.”

“The competition in last year’s NexStream challenge was very robust and the winners have realized not only $125,000 in prize money but over $700,000 in additional investments to date,” adds Dana Kammersgard, angel investor and CRAAG co-founder. “We look forward to meeting and working with the NexStream 2.0 entrants soon!”

Read about previous competition’s finalists and winners at nexstream.is/finale-2020. Find more information about how to participate at nexstream.is/participate and nexstream.is/faq.

Winners of NexStream 2.0 will be announced in June 2021.