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Building Canadian Success Stories, One Pixel at a Time!
Added: (Fri Oct 28 2005)
Contact:
Alan Heller
(905) 830-9094
al@canadianpixelpage.ca
October 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Funding Canadian entrepreneurs – one pixel at a time
(Toronto, Ontario) For Canadian entrepreneurs, getting venture capital funding is more often than not a frustrating experience – that was until a young man named Alex, in the U.K, dreamt up an idea to fund his university education that would spread across the Atlantic and reach two enterprising Canadians, Alan Heller and Elliot Salmons, and so, www.canadianpixelpage.ca was born. Unlike Alex, whose motivation was for personal gain, this site was developed to fill the shallow pool of venture capital funding available to entrepreneurs in Canada.
“Alex”, as he is known on his website, came up with the idea of funding his education by selling home page links to businesses and individuals for $1 a pixel. The end result, which can be found at www.milliondollarhomepage.com, is a totally addictive tapestry of visual icons that has spurned over 100 copycat sites worldwide and even a site that monitors these sites called www.thepixelwars.com. Alex has sold in excess of $330,000 to date and there are still many pixels available.
Born out of frustration at not being able to secure adequate venture capital funding for an idea of their own, www.canadianpixelpage.com creators, Mr. Heller and Mr. Salmons decided to turn the tables and be the “funders” rather than the “fundees”. By selling homepage pixels to Canadian businesses they hope to raise $1,000,000 CDN. Of the funds raised, 40% will be used to fund Canadian entrepreneurs at the startup stage and 30% will fund new Canadian non-profit organizations and charities. The remaining 30% will be allocated towards administration and marketing purposes.
“Raising funds to finance a business in Canada can be an extremely frustrating experience,” laments Mr. Heller. “In the U.S. there appears to be a willingness to fund entrepreneurs but in Canada the answer is always you’re too big, too small, too early or too late.” “Using these funds to support Canadian innovation and Canadian entrepreneurs will help fill the gap between self-financing and the point where angels and venture capitalists are willing to participate,” adds Mr. Salmons.
For further information regarding www.canadianpixelpage.com, contact Alan Heller at (905) 830-9094 or info@canadianpixelpage.ca.