The FINANCIAL -- IDC has released a new study, 10 Canadian Digital Media Companies to Watch (IDC #CA4TIW10).

The study features ten emerging companies that are innovating and excelling with a variety of new media technology solutions including: digital comics, live blogging tools, cross platform media content libraries, a self-serve advertising platform, a 3D animation tool, and a digital signage solution, to name a few.

Digital media is increasingly finding its way into Canadian homes and businesses as networks become better equipped to handle bandwidth intensive activities like video and movies and digital media devices such as smart phones and media tablets continue to proliferate. While innovation around digital media development, usage and adoption can be found across Canada, there is notable activity and infrastructure/support taking place in Toronto to drive the market forward.

"The digital media wave in Toronto is being driven in part by the unique intersection of art and technology at the higher education level. IDC expects the interest in digital media will only increase as more unique programs in the city are offered," said Krista Napier, senior analyst, Competitive Intelligence & Emerging Technology.

The IDC study profiles 10 relatively small digital media companies with a presence or base in Toronto, Canada, providing a review of each company's technology and go-to-market strategy, partners, and customers. It concludes with some of the overarching trends IDC is seeing in this market and what makes Toronto a unique place for Digital Media development and innovation. To qualify for inclusion in this document, companies had to be: privately held, have fewer than or about 100 employees, under C$20 million in revenue, based in or have a significant presence in Toronto, and have not been profiled in IDC Canada's 10 to Watch in the past.

The ten companies featured in the report (in alphabetical order) include:

Bitstrips
CoveritLive
Endloop Studios
InGamer
Nulayer
PushLife
ScreenScape
Shiny Ads
Verold
Visibli

"The growth of the Digital Media market will spell opportunity for emerging companies in this space as we see just shy of 1.5 million media tablets, over 1 million ereaders and around 13 million smart phones expected to be installed in the Canadian market by the end of 2011, coupled with bandwidth approaching 4G enabling more interactive experiences on these devices," added Napier. "With such rapid growth, organizations are struggling to understand how they can leverage these tools without leading to overwhelming expenses and complexity. The companies in this report are well positioned to address these concerns, as they are nimble, and able to deliver solutions that are easy to implement and pay for (SaaS, integrated billing), and provide the expertise end users value."

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