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Are you a tech startup that is starving for cash? Or are you an established company that is doing innovative research? How would you like to receive tens of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual recurring incentives from the federal government?

In this episode of Techopia Live podcast, OBJ publisher Michael Curran interviews Matt Pearson, who helps lead EY’s tax incentive practice in Canada. Pearson has a Ph.D. in engineering physics, specializing in telecommunications. He is an inventor on 12 granted U.S. patents and an author of more than 50 published papers and conference presentations.

It’s precisely the time of year when work is winding down and even busy executives are shifting priorities to accommodate summer vacation.

The question is, what’s the best way to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of work?

Ottawa-based RVezy has an answer to that question: escape to the great outdoors. The online marketplace for recreational vehicle rentals has taken Canada by storm.

Co-founded by Michael McNaught and Will Thompson in 2016, RVezy now lists 15,000 tent trailers and campers for rent. In its current stage of growth, RVezy is seizing the concept of “try before you buy” to build relationships with recreational dealers.

In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran speaks with McNaught about what the future holds for this promising local startup that some have predicted could become a unicorn.

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