Investment by Government of Canada Helps Start-up Company in Barrie

BARRIE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 15, 2011) - gShift Labs, a software company that provides better web search engine rankings for its customers, will further develop its innovative product, thanks to a new Government of Canada investment. The announcement was made today by Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

"Our government is committed to making sure the people, businesses and communities of southern Ontario have the tools they need to succeed," said MP Brown. "This investment in gShift will help the company grow and create new jobs."

With marketers and businesses increasingly wanting to manage their own web presence, gShift Labs has become an industry leader with their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) software, Web Presence Optimizer™. Barrie's gShift has built a solution for the purpose of helping businesses with an easy way to track, manage, measure and report on its search engine optimization. By developing and selling software that produces better search engine rankings, gShift will help their customers increase traffic to their web sites through search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, which will translate into more business for their customers. With a repayable contribution of up to $500,000 through FedDev Ontario's Investing in Business Innovation, gShift Labs will accelerate the next stage of product development while at the same time creating jobs.

"Early stage investment has been critical to the growth of gShift Labs as we grow our team and develop a unique software product that's gaining tremendous traction with customers," said Krista LaRiviere, co-founder and CEO, gShift Labs. "This funding will enable us to further tap the wealth of talent in Southern Ontario and lays the groundwork for us to build on our early success in a fast growth sector."

Investing in Business Innovation is a direct result of feedback from business leaders, academics and community leaders from across southern Ontario, who suggested FedDev Ontario take a leadership role in encouraging entrepreneurs and investors to take the risks necessary to put southern Ontario businesses on the map.

For more information, please refer to the backgrounder.

FedDev Ontario was created as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan to support businesses and communities in southern Ontario. Now in its third year of operation, the Agency has launched a number of initiatives to create a Southern Ontario Advantage and place the region in a strong position to compete in the global economy. These initiatives are designed to support businesses and other organizations through partnerships and investments in skills and training; innovation; research and development; and increased productivity. To learn more, please visit www.feddevontario.gc.ca or call 1-866-593-5505.

BACKGROUNDER

Contribution to gShift Labs

gShift Labs provides Search Engine Optimization (SEO) software for non-technical marketers and small- and medium-sized businesses, by giving marketers control over their organic search campaigns. Companies across North America are getting top web search ranking in search engines using gShift's Web Presence Optimizer™ (WPO), which simplifies, demystifies and standardizes the way a web site gets found on the internet. Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization. Winner of numerous technology awards, gShift is considered one of the hottest software innovation companies in Canada.

FedDev Ontario is providing gShift Labs with a repayable contribution of up to $500,000 through the Investing in Business Innovation initiative. This financing will be help propel the company's next stage of product development as the company scales its industry leading search engine optimization software, Web Presence OptimizerÔ. More information is available at: www.gshiftlabs.com.

Investing in Business Innovation

FedDev Ontario's Investing in Business Innovation is designed to boost private sector investment in start-up businesses to accelerate the development of new products, processes and practices and help bring them to market. Funding under the initiative is also available for angel investor networks and their associations to attract new investment and support the growth of angel investment funds.

Applications for funding are being accepted and assessed on an ongoing basis. For more information and to apply, please refer to the program guidelines available on the FedDev Ontario web site at www.feddevontario.gc.ca.