Ottawa Business Journal Ottawa Business Journal

More than 20 years after its founding, TrueContext Corp. has been acquired by U.S. private equity firm Battery Ventures in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $150 million.

The change in ownership is a big milestone for its founder, Alvaro Pombo, a native of Colombia and former CIO of Newbridge Networks.

Pombo founded TrueContext, formerly known as ProntoForms, in 2001 and led the company to a public listing on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2005. The Kanata-based software company gained customer traction with a low-code mobile solution aimed at field workers, who collect data in industries such as oil and gas.

As its CEO, Pombo scaled TrueContext to about 135 employees and more than $20 million in annual revenues over two decades. However, its status as a publicly traded company with low trade volume started to create a “misalignment of objectives” between shareholders focused on short-term returns and those taking a longer-range view of the company’s success.

That caused TrueContext executives to consider their alternatives.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Pombo about what led to the decision to sell TrueContext and what comes next with Battery Ventures. Pombo also talks about the challenges of operating a microcap public company.

What if you could disrupt one of the world’s oldest industries with IoT and artificial intelligence and significantly reduce its carbon footprint? Wouldn’t that be a game changer?
That is precisely what Ottawa’s Giatec Scientific is doing.
Now 14 years into its mission, Giatec has commercialized academic research into a complete suite of solutions for the world’s $800-billion concrete industry.
Its two founders Pouria Ghods and Aali Alizadeh ‒ supported by advisors such as Debbie Weinstein and Jeff Westeinde ‒ are gaining traction in a very old world industry, signing on companies such as Lafarge. Giatec estimates its products are now used in 85 countries and 12,000 construction projects.
In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher speaks to Ghods about the company’s journey, its rise to 150 employees, its goal to create a complete digital solution for users of concrete and what comes next for this Giatec.

A who’s who from the Ottawa-Gatineau technology community came together on May 8 to celebrate the second annual Techopia-EY Insights magazine. More than 200 guests gathered at Queen St. Fare to get their hands on the first copies of the magazine. Themed “A new lens on Ottawa’s tech ecosystem,” the magazine included features that examined the state of the sector from many perspectives, including local serial entrepreneurs, tech leaders who have left Ottawa and executives working abroad for Ottawa-based companies. The magazine also included a listing of tech ecosystem players and listings of local tech firms from 11 different niches.

A digital edition of the magazine can be found at https://techopiaeyinsights.ca.

Interested in Ottawa’s tech scene? Be sure to visit www.obj.ca/techopia for regular news coverage.

You can also sign up for Techopia’s weekly email newsletter here: https://obj121.activehosted.com/f/5

Join us for an engaging webinar on the transformative impact of acoustic pods in today's workplace environment.
Acoustic pods have emerged as an innovative solution by providing focus-friendly spaces, flexibility for varied work types and environments that adapt to the needs of users. In this session, we will tap into the evolving needs of modern work, and how to revolutionize your workplace.
Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the new era of workplace and the high-performing office as OBJ's Michael Curran chats with Burovision Ottawa’s president Gillian Oxley-Harper, and Framery’s Kendryn Hutt.

What you will learn:

What solutions are needed for the new era of work
Who benefits from having acoustic pods and how to engineer a smarter office.
Why having a space for privacy and acoustics is crucial

Who should tune in:

Productivity and procurement specialists
Employers and organizational leaders
Human resource executives

If you’re looking to work for a local technology company, be warned, the job market has shifted. Only a few years ago, HR departments were clamouring for fresh recruits. That’s not necessarily the case today, when many tech firms are laying off staff and cutting costs.

In this uncertain job market, the Kanata North Business Association organized its annual job fair, Discover Technata, attracting more than 30 exhibitors and securing 4,000 registered attendees.

The participation from companies and job seekers suggests the tech job market cannot be painted with one brush. Some companies such as MDA Space, which is building satellites for a billion-dollar contract with Telesat, are aggressively recruiting in Ottawa and across the country.

OBJ publisher Michael Curran visited the job fair to speak with organizers, exhibitors and attendees to get a sense of hiring trends. The podcast guests included KNBA chair Guy Levesque, uOttawa co-op team lead Chantal Yelle and MDA Space talent acquisition director David Mann.

With valuations down and a tight venture capital market, tech venture founders are looking for ways to stretch their working capital.

In some cases, that means cutting expenses and laying off employees. In other instances, it means going back to early-stage investors for more money.

The Capital Angel Network is answering this call in this challenging economic climate.

With approximately 60 members, CAN says it’s staying committed to its portfolio companies with a significant increase in follow-on investments.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Suzanne Grant, executive director of CAN. Grant provides an update on the local angel scene, plus previews the upcoming National Angel Capital Organization Summit, which happens in Ottawa on May 7-8.