MaRS and Demac Media partner to provide e-commerce startups with focused advisory services

Toronto, December 19, 2012 – MaRS Discovery District’s information technology, communications and entertainment practice (ICE) is pleased to announce its partnership with Demac Media, an award-winning e-commerce agency based in Toronto. This new partnership will provide targeted advisory services to e-commerce startups, fuelling job and wealth creation in the Canadian e-commerce space.

According to eMarketer, online spending will double in Canada over the next three years, but growth of e-commerce companies here has lagged behind consumer demand, allowing US retailers to gain traction in the Canadian market.

“With Canada’s prosperity and stable currency, there’s no better time to ignite growth in this sector,” says Nathan Monk, Go-To-Market Lead for ICE. “The goal of this partnership is to position MaRS’ ICE practice and Demac Media as Ontario’s leading e-commerce advisory service, helping to establish Toronto as the e-commerce hub of Canada. Both MaRS Discovery District and Demac Media aspire to build great e-commerce companies that are created in Canada, but globally competitive,” he says.

Matthew Bertulli, CEO of Demac Media, says the Canadian e-commerce market is expected to double its size by 2015, which presents a significant window of opportunity for online merchants.

“Canadian e-commerce only represents approximately four to five per cent of the entire Canadian retail pie, which leaves the startup community with a massive ‘found market,’” Bertulli says. “By partnering with MaRS, we are taking the first step in proactively pushing the industry forward by giving entrepreneurs and startups exclusive access to expertise, strategic help and networking opportunities.The partnership will combine structured mentorship, programming and networking opportunities for e-commerce and mobile startups within the ICE practice. Specifically, Demac Media will offer MaRS e-commerce clients:

  • Pro-bono office hours to discuss e-commerce strategy.
  • Interactive workshops dissecting strategy for user interface (UI), user experience (UX), development and extensions.
  • Interactive discussions designed to provide a prescriptive roadmap for design and development.

In addition, Demac Media and MaRS will co-host the E-commerce Toronto Meetup group within the MaRS Commons (@marscommons). E-commerce Toronto offers a monthly roundtable discussion for Canadian e-commerce merchants and professionals to share their knowledge. If you are interested in participating, please visit www.meetup.com/eCommerceToronto to request a free membership.

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (www.marsdd.com) (@MaRSDD) is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto. MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada’s next generation of growth companies.

About Demac Media
Demac Media (www.demacmedia.com) is an award-winning e-commerce agency based out of Toronto. As the largest Magento Gold Solutions Partner in Canada, Demac Media was awarded the 2011 Magento Partner Excellence Award, which placed the company among the Top 10 Magento Partners worldwide. From day one the company’s mission has been to be at the core of e-commerce and help grow the industry within Canada. As a full service e-commerce shop, Demac Media provides rich, flexible solutions that have been built and battle tested with some of the best merchants on the web.

For more information, contact:
Nathan Monk
Go-to-Market Lead, ICE practice
MaRS Discovery District
nmonk@marsdd.com

Katie Hudson
Marketing and Sales Coordinator
Demac Media
khudson@demacmedia.com