What The Tech?

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.

Today we welcome Shan Gu, Founder & CEO of Foci Solutions. At Foci Solutions, Shan’s team helps organizations build strong software engineering teams and self-sustaining talent engines, with the belief that the best engineering teams are ones that invest in each individual's development and learning.Foci’s development pods work with their clients' software teams to provide coaching and mentorship on solid engineering principles and practices, while helping customers accelerate their product delivery velocity. Part-in-parcel, Foci also helps clients develop internal training and learning frameworks to rapidly ramp up new staff, ensuring a more resilient and self-sustaining workforce.We can’t emphasize enough how valuable this approach can be for innovative founders, especially those driving unique R&D to develop truly innovative products and services. We pick Shan’s brain to understand how he got into this space, the successes he’s seen since launching Foci Solutions, 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 a member of the Boast team onto the show, Mr. Matt Funk! Matt is Boast’s VP of Customer Delivery, and has been a critical member of the Boast team pretty much since the beginning! He joined Boast back in 2013 as a Technology Advisor and has been helping steer the ship ever since, today leading our Customer Delivery arm and ensuring that the hundreds of businesses who work with Boast enjoy maximized claims with minimal effort or stress.Along with picking his brain on what it’s been like seeing Boast grow and evolve over the past decade, I’m excited to hear his take on how the funding and innovation landscape has changed throughout his tenure at Boast. From mastering the SR&ED claim process, to expanding into the United States, to understanding what our customers have been up against before, today, and in the future—Matt’s seen a lot!We dive in and understand where we’ve been and what’s in store as Boast continues 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.

This episode we welcome Ian McCarter, the Director of Corporate Innovation at MaRS Discovery District. MaRS Discovery District helps Canadian startups succeed so they can solve our toughest problems in areas like climate, health and the economy. As North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity, MaRS provides direct support for more than 1,200 ventures, builds communities of innovators within its 1.5 million square feet of lab and office space and beyond, and spurs the adoption of new solutions — in Canada and around the world. In Ian’s role, he’s focused on creating meaningful, economic relationships between Canadian ventures and globally significant early adopters of innovation. In particular, Ian has been helping energy, mobility, real estate, mining, construction, and heavy industry partners inject Canadian innovation into their net-zero journey.Currently, this mandate includes the Mobility Unlimited Hub, which helps early-stage personal mobility companies bring their products and services to the people who need them most. Through a cohort-based program, startups are connected to the resources, talent and know-how needed to commercialize their innovations so that they can help more people put their goals and dreams in motion.I’m excited to pick Ian’s brain on what it takes to drive innovation in the current market, dig into what urban innovation looks like, and in particular how important community—in it’s many definitions—is to building a successful, innovative business.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’s guest is Jason Taylor, President and Founder of CodeLaunch, the FREE seed accelerator event that pairs tech startups with world class dev teams to help them raise. They do this by helping early stage tech startup founders get their digital products off the ground, increasing their likelihood to launch, raise funding, and succeed as a disruptive startup venture. Jason is an advocate for Conscious Capitalism and manages the Improving-CodeLaunch FUEL Fund which deploys investment capital into the growing community of CodeLaunch alumni.So needless to say, Jason knows his way around the startup and tech ecosystem, and is expanding his reach this year by bringing the CodeLaunch party up to Toronto for an event that shines a light on Canadian Innovation. It’ll all culminate in a  North America-wide competition down in Texas this fall.We dive into the details of that gathering, pick Jason’s brain on how he got into the startup space in the first place, and share some of the exciting innovation he’s played a hand in driving throughout his incredible career to date. 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 episode of What The Tech we welcome FrontFundr Founder & CEO Peter-Paul Van Hoeken! At FrontFundr, Peter-Paul and his team have built the leading equity crowdfunding platform in Canada, empowering everyday Canadians to invest in companies they believe in, providing entrepreneurs with the essential funding to drive growth. To date, more than 40,000 users have joined the FrontFundr community to help businesses raise more than $200 million.But FrontFundr is just one of the many organizations that Peter-Paul has been a part of that are helping drive innovation across the Canadian and global tech landscape. I’m excited to pick his brain on the state of funding, building a business in Canada, and the nuances of crowdfunding versus other financing channels in our chat.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 Kristjan Sigurdson, Managing Director at Endeavor Canada. Founded in 1997, Endeavor is a global organization with a mission to unlock the transformational power of entrepreneurship by selecting, supporting, and investing in the world’s top founders. Today, Endeavor’s network spans 40+ locations and supports 2,300+ entrepreneurs, whose companies generate combined revenues of over $28 billion, have created more than 3.9 million jobs, and, in 2020, raised over $4 billion in capital. As Managing Director of Endeavor Canada, Kristjen connects growth-stage entrepreneurs with resources, mentorship, and networks to scale their businesses and transform their communities. But he’s been working hard to drive Canadian innovation in numerous roles for more than a decade, including helping scale the Creative Destruction Lab into one of the world's largest startup support organizations, while also completing a PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. He’s got an amazing background and has been a stellar resource to founders across Canada and beyond, and I can’t wait to pick his brain on what it takes to drive innovation, achieve growth and scale 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.

Today we welcome to the show Neil Weitzman, CEO and Co-Founder of PORCH and Founder amd Fractional CRO of revenue•x. Neil is a go-to-market operator who understands that “revenue is everything.” He builds and scales teams within SaaS, DaaS and tech businesses, while helping CEO’s,  founders and executive teams build and execute robust GTM strategies focused on revenue acceleration.But Neil is also an Entrepreneur who focuses on making an impact through the power of community. At PORCH, their mission is to help 1,000,000 immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in Canada through community, helping level the playing field for immigrants by providing a curated, engaging and safe place to build relationships, learn, and help each other grow.It’s an amazing mission, and I’m thrilled to learn about his successes to date and what’s in store for the future. Without further ado, welcome to the show, Neil!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 episode of What The Tech, we welcome Quin Sandler, Plantiga’s Co-founder and CEO. Quin's team is on a mission to optimize human performance, resilience and recovery through the monitoring and analysis of biomechanics—that is, a person’s unique movement patterns. The Plantiga platform combines an advanced sensor insole that measures how a person moves so they can maximize their health, recovery and performance. Combining predictive analytics and applied sport science, Plantiga supports hundreds of teams, trainers and athletes - in sport and life. As impressive as that mission is at Plantiga, Quin’s experience in the Canadian startup ecosystem is extensive and mighty as well. As the latest serial entrepreneur to join our show, Quin has founded companies in online learning, coaching and digital branding. He’s most recently spent more than a decade in the wearable space, where he brings a wealth of experience in product design, development and branding that truly sets Plantiga apart.Quin has also been an amazing Boast customer and partner, and an incredible resource across the Vancouver tech ecosystem and beyond. We pick his brain on the work he’s done to date, his path to success, and what’s next for Plantiga. 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 founder-extraordinaire Diraj Perkash Goel, Managing Partner and Founder of Get Fresh Ventures. At Get Fresh, Diraj and his team have played a pivotal role in launching over 200 startups onto paths of significant growth and profitability. His tenure at technology giants such as Hootsuite and Vision Critical has given him invaluable insights into operational excellence and customer engagement strategies, making him a cornerstone in the realm of business growth acceleration.Before establishing GetFresh Ventures, Diraj's visionary leadership was instrumental in the revitalization of BC Tech's HyperGrowth Programme. His overhaul of the program structure led to a marked increase in the success rates of participating startups, many of which have since surpassed $100 million in revenue.Of course, these are just a few of the bona fides that have made Diraj such a distinguished figure in the tech industry both in Canada and globally. I can’t wait to pick his brain on his startup journey, some of the great companies he’s working with today, and what’s on deck at Get Fresh Ventures 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.