Ottawa, ON: ChargerQuest, a Pycap portfolio company, and Place d'Orleans partner together to create an electric vehicle charging hub with five (5) public EV charging stations installed and many more planned in the future. Place d’Orléans is a beautifully designed regional shopping centre with an extensive selection of retailers to meet the needs of the surrounding affluent market. Anchored by Hudson’s Bay, Sport Chek, Mark’s, Farm Boy and AUB44, Place d’Orléans is one of the largest shopping centres in the Ottawa area. The centre is located in the east-end of Ottawa in the
growing suburb of Orléans. "Place d’Orleans is excited to be working in partnership with Charger Quest to offer five new EV charging stations on site, in keeping with our green initiatives for a better tomorrow." - Emma Martin - Marketing Manager, Place D'Orleans "ChargerQuest is pleased to partner with Place d'Orleans, a remarkable destination for local residents and a great place for EV owners to stop, shop, dine and re-energize their vehicles." Christopher Misch - Founder, ChargerQuest

ChargerQuest (CQ) is Canada's EV Charging Network. CQ owns and operates smart EV charging infrastructure hosted at premier properties, businesses, and high-traffic hubs. CQ leverages the most innovative charging technology, placing electric vehicle

charging stations everywhere YOU want to be.

Pycap CEO Stuart Browne joined numerous other venture capitalists, angels and entrepreneurs to mentor startup tech companies for Together 2021, an international pitch competition in association with the Schulich School of Business as well as Startup India.

The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp and Venture Competition (7-days, week of January 4th, 2021) will feature 50 pairs of inspired student entrepreneurs handpicked from over 17,000+ Indian colleges and 700 + universities as they attempt to innovate across several sectors of national importance to unlock business opportunities fit for the Indian commercial landscape.

The theme of this year’s event is ‘Self Reliability, Sustainability, and Social Purpose’, with eight sectors as follows: e-mobility, environment and energy, healthcare, income security and fintech,  as well as food and agriculture. 

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. The Government through this initiative aims to empower startups to grow through innovation and design.

​Several programs have been undertaken since the launch of the initiative on 16th of January, 2016 by Hon’ble Prime Minister, to contribute to his vision of transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers. These programs have catalyzed the startup culture, with startups getting recognized through the Startup India initiative and many entrepreneurs availing the benefits of starting their own business in India.

TorontoStarts brought together investors to talk about what the startup investment landscape looks like in 2021 and what startups should be doing differently to get funded.

Panelists included Allison Weil - Hyde Park Venture Partners, Stuart Browne - Pycap Venture Partners
and Alex Morsink - Equivesto.

A key take away from Stuart Browne at the event was that the pandemic has resulted in "investors increasingly preferring more established business models as it will lessen the risk, a necessity considering the added risk in the economy." In addition, Browne mentioned "the new litmus test for entrepreneurs will be what they did during the pandemic - did the entrepreneur adapt successful and find a new opportunity, did they close down their business, or try to wait it out?"​ 

Pycap portfolio company ChargerQuest is ranked in StartupPill's list of the Most Innovative Companies Specializing in Electric Modes of Transport. Pycap CEO Stuart Browne is also the CFO of ChargerQuest and, along with Chris Misch, one of its Co-founders.

The StartupPill article showcases Startup Pill’s top picks for the best Electric Modes of Transport startups. These startups are taking a variety of approaches to innovating inside of the Sustainable transport sector and around the world. They are all exceptional startups well worth a follow.
We selected these startups for exceptional performance in one of these categories:

• Innovation
  • Innovative ideas
  • Innovative route to market
  • Innovative product
• Growth
  • Exceptional growth
  • Exceptional growth strategy
• Management
• Societal impact

Welp Magazine  hosts a yearly startup award honouring the most outstanding entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses in the world. 

CBC Dragons Den investor Vincenzo Guzzo (aka "Mr. Sunshine") will be a guest speaker for Pycap CEO Stuart Browne's MBA class at York University's Schulich School of Business. The course 'Venture Capital & Private Equity' teaches business students about the VC and PE industry as well as how to manage a portfolio, evaluate investment opportunities, and the parameters involved in a transaction.

Vincenzo Guzzo is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and television personality. He currently serves as CEO of Cinémas Guzzo, Groupe Guzzo Construction inc., Guzzo Medical and Guzzo Hospitality. He has become also a restaurateur with the opening of a chain of Neapolitan pizzerias called Giulietta in Montreal. He and his wife raise money for charities through the Guzzo Family Foundation. Guzzo was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, he was knighted by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and is a member of the Order of Malta.

Guzzo received national attention in 2018 when he joined the cast of the CBC Television business reality show Dragons' Den as one of the investor "Dragons" in season 13 and season 14. 

COVID-19 has changed the professional work place in which we operate, arguably forever. The remote worker founders of RemoteBuddy.io saw a gap in the corporate well-being market long before the pandemic hit.

Remote Buddy is a pro-active, well-being AI chatbot that checks in with remote employees on a daily basis to support their well-being and encourage positive habits. This will allow employers to see data on a rolling basis so they can make actionable improvements in real time to support their workforce's well-being.

An important stage in every new technology company is piloting the solution with arms length users who can give objective feedback on the product and business, pre-market.

The Schulich MBA Program, Venture Capital & Private Equity class began a pilot project of the Remote Buddy solution last week and will continue to demo the software over a two-week period. They will then give feedback on the product from a user perspective and from a VC/investment perspective on how the company can improve their viability in the corporate wellness market in North America. This is a unique opportunity for the students to get hands on experience with a real-life, emerging tech company for investment consideration.

“Remote Buddy’s technology has great potential to disrupt an industry for social good and corporate profit. If the well-being of people working at home can increase by having the proper supports in place then we will see more creative, productive, and loyal work forces arise at a time in history where innovation and cooperation are critical to the advancement of positive change. From a corporate culture standpoint, Remote Buddy brings hope to employees and employers transitioning to a remote work environment. It’s what good CEO’s should care about.” says Pycap CEO and Schulich Professor Stuart Browne.

Mississauga, ON: In collaboration with Hyatt Place Toronto/ Mississauga Centre, CHARGERQUEST installs publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations at this brand new hotel property. Located at 5787 Hurontario Street, in the heart of Mississauga's business district near Hwy 401, the property boasts modern decor and amenities including a restaurant and stateof-the-art conference facility. The hotel offers contemporary design and an energizing vibe that encourages travellers to connect, collaborate, and socialize over coffee and cocktails.

"Hyatt Hotels continues to provide services and facilities in line with our mission of Care. We care for the environment so that you can be your best! The addition of two EV charging stations bring advanced technology highly appreciated by our guests." - Celso Thompson, General Manager

ChargerQuest (CQ) is Canada's EV Charging Network. CQ owns and operates smart EV charging infrastructure hosted at premier real estate properties, businesses, parking lots and high-traffic hubs. CQ leverages the most innovative charging technology, placing electric vehicle charging stations everywhere YOU want to be.

​info@chargerquest.com

On November 9, 2020 Be-Hive Inc. competed as a finalist for the 4th China (Shenzhen) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in Shenzhen. Out of hundreds of applicants from 20 different countries, put through a rigorous screening process Be-hive was within 13 candidates selected to present its technology and business model and compete for $230,000. Although Be-Hive did not win this round, it received an impressive score of 83.44/100 and has received interest from a Chinese institutional investor for further discussion and to explore possible synergies.

Be-Hive is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform company that monitors and tracks environmental conditions and assets for manufacturing, warehousing, food services, agriculture and, commercial building applications using sensors, edge computing and AI.

Be-Hive helps users wirelessly monitor temperature, humidity, critical assets, location and much more without changing your existing infrastructure in a simple, reliable and affordable way.

How To Increase Your Chances of Securing VC Funding E11

In this episode, Chris Yap featured the CEO of Pycap Venture Partners, Stuart Browne. Stuart described how his experience as a CFO of a multinational company prompted him to establish his own VC company were evaluating multiple investment opportunities excited him versus focusing on only one.

Stuart articulated what entrepreneurs need to be mindful of when trying to raise capital from Venture Capitalists. Stuart emphasized the importance of having revenue traction prior to pitching to VCs.
This episode will provide entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs looking to secure VC funding practical advice on how to increase their probability of success in raising capital.

Pycap Venture Partners is a venture capital and corporate finance firm providing financing and value creating solutions for early stage companies, administrative, investment and management services for venture capital and private equity investment vehicles, and educational courses for universities, incubators, events and conferences

Stuart Browne is the CEO of Pycap Venture Partners, a venture capital and corporate finance firm. Stuart is also interim CFO of numerous tech companies and an Investment Committee Member of a $350M Ontario Government backed Fund.

In addition, Stuart instructs courses related to venture capital, corporate finance and entrepreneurship at the Schulich School of Business, MBA and MFIN programs, as well as UofT School of Continuing Studies. Stuart has been featured in news outlets including BloombergTV, BNN, Globe & Mail, the Toronto Star, and Techvibes.
Connect with Stuart on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About From Zero 2 RevenueFROM ZERO 2 REVENUE is an avenue for successful entrepreneurs around the world to tell their stories on how they transformed their vision into reality.  We’ll learn about their products and services; and, the passion and character behind the leadership of the organization.  The show is designed to inspire and encourage struggling and future entrepreneurs to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
At the end of each episode, our listeners can expect plenty of takeaways! As the late Stephen Covey said, “All things are created twice – first in the mind, then in reality”.

The Host Chris Yap is a seasoned BPO executive with over 17 years experience in the industry. Chris came to the US in 2005 to actively promote the Philippines, a preferred outsourcing destination of the world. In doing so, Chris was able to help generate over 40,000 jobs in the Philippines for companies like Dell, Covergys and West Teleservices, which are now consolidated with other large BPO companies in the world.
​
Chris has been happily married to Eizel for over 16 years and is blessed with 3 wonderful boys. In addition to his passion for business, Chris is also very passionate about helping to solve the child poverty problem. He is doing this by partnering with Food For The Poor where his company sponsors the feeding of children ages 5 and below on a monthly basis.