News & Events

Two social networking ventures are the first graduates of Ryerson's Digital Media Zone.

Real-time photo sharing application Burstn and group buying site TeamSave are the DMZ's first graduate success stories from the university's innovative development environment. These two teams are among the 14 businesses launched at the DMZ since its doors opened in April 2010.

The news arrives in time for Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 15 to 21, meant to inspire young people to embrace imagination, innovation and creativity.  

Both Burstn and TeamSave are moving out of the DMZ and establishing their successful operations elsewhere. Burstn is currently recruiting for five new positions and readying an iPhone re-release of the app, thanks to a recently acquired capital investment. TeamSave quickly outgrew the DMZ space. With a current team of 12 young people, the company is fully established in Toronto, has just launched in Buffalo and is eyeing the Ottawa and Rochester markets.

"These two start-ups have taken an idea from concept to reality to the first level of success in just a matter of months, which is an incredible turnaround time," said Valerie Fox, director, Digital Media Zone. "That's really what we're doing here at the DMZ: removing some of the barriers that new start-ups face, so our entrepreneurs can focus on getting their products out the door. Both Burstn and TeamSave were with us at the beginning, so this marks a major milestone for the DMZ."

For background information on Burstn and TeamSave, please visit www.ryerson.ca/news/media/General_Public/20101103_back_dmzsuc.html.

In addition to Burstn and TeamSave, other projects in the DMZ include:

- Shape Collage Inc. - a software program that takes hundreds of photos and automatically creates photo collages in different shapes, in seconds. In just over a year, the Shape Collage software has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times by people from 200 countries.
- Soapbox - an online platform for community-based change that allows each person to get their idea in the hands of key decision makers.
- LeanIn - a medium for online video that transforms passive viewing to an engaged experience. This technology helps publishers create and grow communities and offer users a suite of tools that make video management and discovery fit their connected lifestyles.
-  What I'm Wearin' - an online community where people can share their fashion sense and explore styles from around the world. They can post their latest looks, take inspiration from others in their city or across the globe.

These companies and more are located in the DMZ, a transdisciplinary workspace for young entrepreneurs infused with the energy and resources of downtown Toronto. Set atop Yonge-Dundas Square, this hub of digital media innovation, collaboration and commercialization is home to both entrepreneurial start-ups and industry solution-providers. With access to overhead and business services, students and alumni can fast-track their product launches, stimulating Canada's emerging digital economy through spending and job creation. In its first year of operations, the DMZ helped more than 80 entrepreneurs to launch 14 companies.