Canada’s Wavefront Looks To Break Mobile Tech Companies Internationally

Wavefront, aka. Canada’s Centre of Excellence for Wireless Commercialization and Research (CECR), has begun accepting entries from small-to-medium enterprises for its Global Market Entry Program.

The program, which does pretty much what its title suggests, is operated under the Global Opportunities for Associations (GOA) program, operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), and is designed as a kind of trade mission to bring Canadian companies specializing in the wireless tech sector to international markets.

A primary challenge for SMEs or early-stage enterprises is scaling to meet demand, not to mention the kind of demand that might arise internationally.

Artin Youssefian, CEO of Push Science said, “We accompanied Wavefront on a market linkage trip to Japan and generated more than 10 qualified leads – all of which we are now pursuing.”

In collaboration with DFATD, Wavefront has brought over 70 Canadian companies to 17 countries since the program started four years ago, connecting them with potential international partners and distributors, as well as providing an entrée to difficult-to-crack markets.

“Through this program we have been able to take Canadian-built innovation into global markets to forge relationships with an impressive list of international enterprises,” says Brian Roberts, Wavefront’s VP of International Business Development. “The 2014 program builds on work done in previous years and promises tremendous opportunities for Canadian companies.”

In 2010, when an up-and-coming company called HootSuite sensed more demand for its service than it was able to provide, Wavefront loaned Ryan Holmes and Co. over 400 devices from its Device Library and access to its Usability Lab in order to test its product against every conceivable device and platform. What this saved HootSuite in costs, not to mention providing it a means of ramping up quickly, is incalculable.

It’d be a little too easy to suggest that since Wavefront provided a huge international player as HootSuite with crucial assistance early in its development that you could be the next HootSuite. But you’d be in good company. Wavefront is in the business of breaking local successes into international markets.

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