What The Tech?

Building a purpose-driven business isn’t easy. But when you start developing new technology that tackles a specific, pressing problem with a focus on the customers who most acutely need your solution, a wealth of support systems will open up to help your product take flight. To share their journey through Canada’s innovation ecosystem, we welcome onto the podcast Climative CEO Winston Morton. Climative is a clean tech company using AI-assisted digital energy assessments and blockchain to accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment. They create low-carbon plans for every building, which can be securely shared and updated by homeowners and those who support them to make better, faster decisions to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.Winston started as Climative’s CTO before taking on the CEO mantle almost 2 years back, but his experience and expertise in the tech space is extensive. He’s an active member of the Futurpreneur and Volta communities, for instance, serving as a mentor for founders out of Halifax and beyond, while helping steer the tech trajectory of many innovative businesses over the past two decades.It’s an impressive track record, and we pick Winston’s brain on what it takes to build a successful cleantech business in 2024 and what’s on deck as Climative grows!Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

At FMRK, Faisal and his team are developing a Rapid Urinary Tract Infection Antibiotic Susceptibility Test for the elderly and people with spinal cord injuries. Their technology is rooted in decentralized diagnostic testing solutions, making medical diagnostics easy to use, quick, and reliable. Their first-of-a-kind, near-patient Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Device was designed exclusively for community healthcare settings—deriving results in 6 hours or less—making the entire process easy, simple and faster than the traditional methods. Along with driving this incredible diagnostic innovation, Faisal is also a member of the GetFresh Ventures community and has been making his mark in the BC tech and startup ecosystem. I’m excited to pick his brains on what’s next for FMRK, hear about his path as an entrepreneur, and learn about what’s in store for the rest of 2024.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On the latest episode of What The Tech we welcome Hudhaifah Zahid, Co-Founder and CEO of econommi. At econommi, Hudhaifah and his team are  building a new generation of interest-free models that revolutionize private markets by digitizing real-world assets. Their unique technology can tokenize almost any asset — that includes cars today, and maybe rockets tomorrow. With over a decade of experience in economics, finance, and blockchain technology, Hudhaifah has a proven track record of developing cutting-edge risk scoring algorithms and creating efficient, debt-free financial systems, with expertise in enhancing liquidity, transparency, and returns for investors.He is passionate about transitioning to an asset-based economy, addressing wealth inequality, and leveraging technology to create sustainable financial solutions.It’s quite the mission, and I’m excited to pick his brain on what it takes to build a successful business in 2024! Without further ado, welcome to the show!Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On this bonus episode we welcome a return guest onto the What The Tech podcast: Our pal Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack. Ilya’s team just celebrated 9 years of success helping to create a borderless world for tech talent, with more than more than 450,000 members having joined the VanHack community from over 100 countries since VanHack’s inception. Ilya and his team are taking their on-demand staffing solution to the next level with the launch of VanHack’s SR&ED Unlocked program. In partnership with Boast, this new program is a boon for CCPCs—specifically, dev shops—throughout Canada by giving them an opportunity to unlock higher annual SR&ED claims while supporting some of the world’s top software engineering, design, and digital marketing talent in relocation. It’s an exciting program and opportunity, and we pick Ilya’s brain on how teams can take advantage and play a role in driving global innovation. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On this special episode, we welcome a member of the Boast team onto the show, Mr. Shahed Khalili! Shahed is Boast’s Chief Product and Technical Officer, where he’s leading the team that’s building our award-winning, data-driven R&D intelligence platform, using the latest in AI and ML to help our clients accelerate their innovation and extend their product runways. At his core, Shahed is a dreamer, builder, and a seasoned operator who has made strides in the B2B SaaS space before joining Boast. Most recently, he helped grow Galvanize to unicorn status on its April 2021 sale to Diligent for $1B USD. He’s also been a two-time co-founder, an engineer, and a product manager throughout his career, and has gained a lot of insights about building powerful solutions that I can’t wait for him to share. In this conversation, we dive in and understand where Boast has been and what’s in store as we continue to grow and help even more innovative businesses maximize their investments into critical R&D. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome onto the show Developa Founder Beth Nevins. Developa is a people and talent consultancy with deep expertise and experience operating in and supporting start-ups backed by Tiger Global, Sequoia, Target Global, Balderton, and Atomico. As experts in People & Talent, Beth and her team work as advisors, coaches, and consultants to help startups accelerate and realize their vision.Outside of Developa, Beth has extensive experience at tech-driven startups helping steer people ops and strategy at business from seed stage to commercial growth, international expansion, and following investment rounds.In this interview, we pick Beth’s brain on what skills and strategies founders can leverage as they navigate the various stages of startup life (and eventually march toward the CEO mantle), how teams should build their C-Suite in the first place, and common challenges facing startups when it comes to People and Talent in 2024.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We welcome to the show product development mastermind and tech guru Mathew Mozaffari of Speer. At Speer, Matthew and his team help startups and institutions build tools with proprietary tech, while assisting with end-to-end product development. At the same time, they’re also building apps and tools aimed to help improve our day-to-day lives, working beyond the technological nitty-gritty with a team of artists, designers, engineers and developers who strive to impact the world with their work.Along with establishing a standardized practice for software development  for accreditation standards in North America and Europe, Mathew has led the expansion of Speer's technical practice and business markets to bring in over $5 million in revenue.But beyond his business credentials, Mathew has been a major voice in Canada’s tech ecosystem, having traveled to 6 different countries for various competitions while being selected as a Top 30 Developer Under 30 in Canada already in his career. We're thrilled to learn more about the work Mathew is doing in the space, his strategies for success to date, and what’s in store for 2024. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome TravelAI Co-Founder and CEO John Lyotier onto the show. TravelAI is an applied AI company that connects high-intent travelers to the largest travel websites in the world and over 10 million properties through a network of interconnected brands. The company was an early spin-out of Canadian-based Left Technologies (which John also co-founded) and built upon years of experience in online marketplaces and e-commerce. By partnering with the world’s largest travel retailers, TravelAI matches millions of travelers with their dream destinations each year, facilitating more than $1.5B in gross booking value and 6M nights booked since 2016But as we alluded to earlier, this is hardly John’s first go-round as a Founder and entrepreneur. Today and in his past roles, John strives to lead by example, making even the most difficult business decisions based upon what is ‘right’ for all stakeholders, while advocating for responsible growth and championing Sustainable Commerce.It’s a fantastic mission, and we pick John’s brain on his journey into the startup space, experience as a leading entrepreneur, and what’s on deck for the rest of 2024.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We welcome Manmeet Maggu, Founder and CEO  at Trexo Robotics. His team are re-imagining pediatric rehabilitation, while also redefining mobility solutions for all people. Manmeet started the company when he found out that his nephew had Cerebral Palsy and was unable to walk. Instead of waiting for the future to happen, Manmeet and his team decided to build the future he wanted to see and made the first-ever exoskeleton that helps children walk at home every day, in many cases for the first time in their lives.Trexos are now being used by top hospitals and customers all over North America.At Trexo, they’re out to create devices that are designed with the user in mind, building wearable robotic devices that can be used at home to help children with disabilities experience walking. It’s a mission that’s steeped in really cool R&D and innovation—and they’re just getting started!I’m thrilled to pick Manmeet’s brain on the incredible innovation his team is driving, his team's goals for the future, and what it takes to drive innovation in 2024. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We welcome Francis Beauchamp-Verdon, Co-Founder, VP and Business Development Director at AWL-E, to discuss his mission in the mobility space and the amazing vision his team share. At AWL-E, Francis and his team have developed  a revolutionary method to move electricity wirelessly that not only breaks all boundaries of innovation, but also has immense potential for exploitation. Their mission is to provide industries seeking innovation a way to optimize their processes and make wireless electricity commonplace, while meeting the growing consumer demand for novelty and spatial freedom.It’s a big mission, and one that takes a lot of passion and entrepreneurial spirit to launch, which Francis has in spades. He’s an alumnae of the Creative Destruction Lab, has been part of the Centech MTL incubator, and is part of the MaRS Discovery District Community, to name just a few of the networks Francis has leveraged to drive his world-changing ideas. We’re thrilled to pick his brain on how he built AWL-E, his journey as an entrepreneur, and what the rest of 2024 and beyond has in store!Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.