October 15, 2014—FedDev Ontario is investing a total of $1.4 million in two London-based organizations, which will contribute to the growth of innovative businesses in London.
Voices.com, founded in 2004, operates an online marketplace where voice actors are matched with voice acting contracts. This business model offers a faster and more cost-effective alternative to traditional casting methods. The company also offers production management services for larger contracts that require multiple actors.
Voices.com is receiving up to $900,000 as part of a $3.6-million expansion project to broaden its customer base and expand into new geographic markets. Funding will be used for:
- Hiring business development specialists and account managers to handle growing demand;
- Translating websites, mobile applications and internal knowledge bases into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Mandarin and German; and
- Installing new office technologies to support a growing workforce.
The repayable contribution is through FedDev Ontario's Investing in Business Growth and Productivity initiative, which is aimed at helping established businesses to expand their operations, invest in productivity improvements and compete globally.
The Southwestern Ontario Angel Group was founded in 2008 and its founding board members have been involved with angel investing for a number of years. The network, which seeks and assesses early-stage investment opportunities, has to date made 28 investments in 13 companies for a total of $9.3 million.
The angel group is receiving up to $500,000 to support outreach and promotion activities, develop educational tools and seminars and improve reporting and monitoring systems. This will increase its capacity to identify, prepare and present better investment opportunities to its members, which will benefit businesses looking for capital. Beyond providing funding, angel investors also play a significant role in mentoring and coaching during the early stages of business growth.
The non-repayable contribution is through the Investing in Business Innovation initiative, aimed at strengthening the innovation ecosystem in southern Ontario by supporting new entrepreneurs, early-stage businesses and angel investors.
