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OTTAWA (November 16, 2011) – Exploriem today announced that the Royal Bank of Canada and Welch LLP have teamed up as title sponsors of the 2012 Bootstrap Awards, which celebrates the achievements of self-capitalized enterprises. “Ottawa is home to a growing number of entrepreneurs who bootstrapped themselves and we want to help showcase them,” says Royal Bank of Canada’s David Gilbertson. “We know from our clients that an entrepreneur’s journey takes a unique mindset and a lot of determination – so we want to help Ottawa celebrate its entrepreneurs,” added Bryan Haralovich of Welch LLP Chartered Accountants.

The Bootstrap Awards is an annual event hosted by Exploriem, a not-for-profit organization led by Executive Director and serial entrepreneur Dr Bruce M. Firestone. The awards are intended to honour entrepreneurs in the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau as well as Eastern Ontario and West Quebec. “VC-funded startups get a lot of attention, while bootstrapped entrepreneurs—people who basically start with nothing—fly mostly under the radar. These awards recognize the sacrifice they make in order to create their new enterprises,” says Firestone.

New award categories were added for 2012 in response to requests from the entrepreneur community. The Lead to Win for Women Award, sponsored by Lead to Win, aims to inspire women considering entrepreneurship. Select Start Studios, encouraged by the talent they see in Ottawa, are sponsoring the Best Mobile App/Website Award and Babcock Canada, a naval support services company, are sponsoring the Customer Service Award. Also new this year are the Green Award and the People’s Choice Award.

Other award sponsors include GGF& L for Fastest Growing Startup; Babcock Canada for Best Innovation in Engineering and Technology and NITRO Business Solutions for Best Business Model. More information on the awards is available at Exploriem.Org/2012-bootstrap-awards. Event partners include the Telfer School of Management, OCRI and Algonquin College.

In 2011, Exploriem saw a record number of nominations for awards.  Winners will be announced at the Bootstrap Awards and Adawe* Tradeshow taking place from 10.30am to 2pm at the Centurion Conference Centre on the 23^rd of February, 2012.

(* ‘Adawe’ is Algonquin for ‘Trading Post’.)

Notes to Editors

About Exploriem

Exploriem is a registered Canadian not-for-profit organization. It provides mentorship, conducts events, creates networking opportunities and provides early stage funding and office incubator space to assist young entrepreneurs in Eastern Ontario and West Quebec.

Today, Exploriem is led by its Executive Director, Professor Bruce M. Firestone who is best known as the Founder of the Ottawa Senators. He is also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa and Real Estate and Mortgage Broker with Century 21 Explorer Realty Inc.

About the Bootstrap Awards

The Bootstrap Awards and Adawe Trade Show is an annual event hosted by Exploriem to honour entrepreneurs in the city of Ottawa. The Bootstrap Awards are unique in that they focus on businesses that use self-capitalization techniques to fund their enterprise.

Gold Winners of the 2011 Awards:

1. Favequest
2. Jennifer Lee Promotions
3. Manpacks
4. VertiGrow Vertical Gardens
5. PatientWay
6. Ideavibes
7. Zeebu.com
8. Ottawa Humane Society
9. Sokjok
10. Innovatech Engineering

For more information contact:

Alana Kennedy
Marketing & Communications
+1.613.315.4537

kennedy.alana@gmail.com

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