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FoalPoint 2018: A Year In Review
We figured it's about time to catch our dedicated followers up on our business happenings! It has been a great (and crazy) true "first year" for PFERA.
First off, thank you to all the farms who took the time to speak with us back in early 2018 regarding our research project. Unfortunately, we were unable to accept all the farms who applied but we are extremely grateful for the interest and for those who participated. We wouldn't be able to further our research without the cooperation of breeders like you. If you didn't get selected, don't worry! You now have the opportunity to be a pioneer user of FoalPoint.
February
2018 was a year of growth. PFERA competed and was selected as one of the top eight in the Fierce Founders pitch competition. Our 2nd place secured us office space at Communitech. Communitech is an innovation center in Kitchener which houses hundreds of tech start-ups, rapidly growing, and large global companies. Communitech is located in the previous google office space and is designed to maximize productivity and employee well-being. We are fortunate to call Communitech home as they offer many workshops, conferences and speakers to help businesses stay on the correct path. We also enjoy the opportunity to network, receive mentor-ship and watch the ideas of others develop alongside our own.
March
We were graciously invited to present our technology at the United States Trotting Association Board of Directors meeting in Columbus, Ohio. It was an honor to present and we were warmly received by the Standardbred racing community.
We also started our research study in March by collecting milk samples from the breeding farms we selected back in the winter. If you still have milk samples that you would like to send in and have analyzed by the PFERA team, let us know!
April
In April we started Fierce Founders , an accelerator program at Communitech. Accelerator programs support start-up companies through education and mentorship for a fix period of time and are intended to condense learning so that businesses can achieve rapid growth.
June
In June we were lucky to receive some students from the University of Waterloo's BETS program (Bridging Entrepreneurs to Students) for 10 weeks over the summer. These students gave us some extra help and learned what it's like to be working in a face paced technology company!
September
Our research team led by Dr. Marcelo Martinez, an adjunct professor at the Atlantic Veterinary College, was invited to present our abstracts at the Calgary International Equine Symposium. An event held by the University of Calgary which brings together equine experts from all over the world and gives them a platform to present their research on equine health and reproduction. This year, the symposium had a particular focus on innovation and discovery, a fitting theme for PFERA’s unprecedented technology. The research we presented included two abstracts; one on our foaling prediction method and another on our in-depth analysis of pre-colostral hormones and electrolytes. The results that were concluded allowed us to scientifically back our FoalPoint system and qualified us to join the symposium and mingle with other industry professionals.
October
In the fall we officially launched FoalPoint. Our record keeping and reproductive tracking software. FoalPoint became open for a 21 day free trial and subscriptions went live. With our software up and running, we got out of the office and began attending events like the London Select Yearling Sale to speak with Standardbred breeders.
November
Continuing with our breeder outreach, we attended the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in Kentucky, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto and the CTHS Winter Mixed Sale at Woodbine.
December
As the year was coming to an end, we focused on getting our FoalPoint Mobile App available for download on the Apple Store and Google Play and we succeeded! FoalPoint Mobile is out and ready to help you record and view your information anywhere, anytime. We also entered another accelerator program at Communitech called Edge as Fierce Founders concluded in September.
We will be kicking off the new year by heading back down to Kentucky and we have a pretty full schedule of events we will be attending throughout the year across North America. Keep following our social media to find out where we'll be next!
