Klipfolio example dash

Ottawa’s Promising Tech Startups for 2019

We may be halfway through the year, but I decided to share a rundown of a handful of tech startups that are making waves this year: all based in Ottawa.

 

CanvasPop

Despite being founded in November 2009, this on-demand photo printing venture received a substantial funding injection in 2018. During their Series A, in February of last year, the company raised $3.3 million.

CanvasPop boasts to have served nearly half-a-million customers, and enjoys a strong social media presence.

 

Klipfolio

This Ottawa-based tech company brings real-time business dashboards to non-tech employees, raising nearly $20 million CAD since its founding in 2001; $12 million of which was raised during Series B in 2017.

According to their website, Klipfolio is used by some significant corporations and institutions, including IKEA, Grubhub, and the American Red Cross.

 

MindBridge AI

AI is certainly in vogue at the moment, and is sure to bring huge efficiency leaps to many industries. MindBridge AI is planning to bring this innovation to the world of financial auditing, processing vast quantities of financial data to reduce human error.

This Ottawa-based startup has clearly had its potential noticed, having raised over $42 million to date.

 

Do you know an Ottawa-based tech startup that deserves a mention? Let me know in the comments below!

Drone Delivery Canada

Drone Delivery Canada Gets Government Approval

In 2017, some people thought that drones were a trend that would go away in a few months, like a fad, but recently they have taken a more important role on than most people thought. Amazon made news with the announcement that they were looking to replace some of their delivery drivers with drones and other automated services. Something close to that almost science fiction like idea might be coming to fruition in Canada soon.

A company called Drone Delivery Canada announced in August that it had received a license from the Canadian government to fly a new heavy lifting drone that it says will be used for delivering goods. While this may not sound like a revolutionary step, the major thing is that the drone has been tested in a long range use. Never before has any machine like this passed a “beyond visible line of sight” test, or in other words, this is the first one to be able to go somewhere where the operator cannot see it.

I have been looking forward to a day when these promises would finally be fulfilled, and I think that there is a lot of potential for the kinds of things that companies could do with drones like these. Combined with this, there is always the fact that this is not the final step in the technological march. Times won’t stop, and eventually, this kind of thing will be commonplace and we will be fawning over the next new thing. The big concern is how many jobs will be lost to these drones, we will have to wait and see.

Ottawa endorses apps header

Ottawa: City Endorses and Builds Apps

We all know the saying that “there’s an app for everything”, and in today’s world, this couldn’t be more true. Apps are replacing some of the more traditional industries, such as PayPal taking the place of banks in some situations, iTunes taking over the place of CDs and records in music, and online news subscriptions have caused a massive drop in the news industry. However, one of the biggest and most burgeoning industries on the app world is the dating industry, with top apps such as Tinder not only getting hundreds of millions of downloads, but even working their way into our daily lives such as with the phrases “swipe left” and “swipe right” becoming commonplace phrases.

These apps have taken their foothold all over the world, and in Ottawa, it’s no different. In fact, the city itself has actually adopted this new movement to technology and has endorsed some apps that would provide a public service to its citizens  Like other cities, they not only endorse apps created by people made for the city, but have taken it one step father and have even developed some themselves.

Granted, the city may not be the cutting edge of technology but to me, it’s worth quite a bit that they have taken the effort to embrace the new culture surrounding public services. Some of the apps provided do miniscule things, such as one on the Ottawa.ca website called “Bathroom Scout”, which does just what it sounds like; finds the nearest bathroom, while others are a little more general and widespread like the “JOINOttawa” app, published by the city itself, which helps people get more involved with the community by showing things to do while they’re there.

Solink Team Ottawa

Solink Attracting Tech Companies to Ottawa

In today’s world, as more parts of business and people’s personal lives becomes dependent on technology, there is a race between cybersecurity and the people who try to circumvent it. However, there is also a different kind of crime that can be tackled using technology; in-store theft. While most companies are trying to focus solely on protecting their customers online assets from tech savvy people with bad intentions, the Ottawa-based company Solink is using that technology to delete a problem that has been around for years.

Solink fills a hole in the niche industry that I think has been around for far too long. They use video surveillance and tracking to weed out fraud and theft, which minimizes loss due to crime. Their work is valuable in the sense that it will make prices go down for the customers of these establishments, which is something that I am sure we can all be happy for. It also means higher profits for these conglomerates, leading to happy owners.

Through their work, they have received recognition both inside and out of Ottawa. In late 2017, they were named the recipient of the 2017 Team of the Year Award presented by the Best Ottawa Business Awards. Not only have they received awards in Ottawa, but they are also drawing more innovations to the city with some of their prestigious customers. One that is known by everyone is the business mogul Elon Musk, who has added them to his portfolio. In my eyes, once other companies see the potential for such big investments, they will not only be drawn to make better products, but even to see Ottawa as a new potential business hub for the high-tech age.

Aurrigo Driverless Pods Ottawa

Driverless Pod Company Aurrigo Moves Into Ottawa

When I think about Ottawa, I think of quite a few things: stunning museums, brutal snowfalls, and huge multiculturalism. But, one of the things that the capital of Canada is not so well-known for is being on the cutting edge of technology, and especially not in an automotive sense. However, earlier this year, Aurrigo’s Canadian division made the city the new headquarters of its project for driverless pods.

This is a decision that Aurrigo haven’t taken lightly, it is one that has Ottawa to thank for, as Ottawa in recent years has been determined to attract more technology companies to the city. Even though they are not the first driverless car company to invest in the city, they seem to make much more of a news topic than some of the other competitors. This is because no one expected them to choose Ottawa.

The company Aurrigo itself has stated that it chose Ottawa for two main reasons. The first being that where the company itself is based, in the United Kingdom, does not have nearly the same climate as Ottawa, so a different kind of region would be good for testing their products’ endurance. The second is the investments from Ottawa itself. Ottawa has an entire department dedicated to enticing high-tech companies into moving some of their assets to the city, and I have no doubt that they had a big part to play in this deal as well.

Overall, I see this as a major addition to the development of Ottawa, and because of this major step, there will likely be many more companies attracted to the city. As more technology keeps moving in, it will not only benefit the city, but provide evidence to other firms that Ottawa is a viable environment for their high-tech needs.

 

Aurrigo Driverless Pods Ottawa
Image source: aurrigo.com

 

Android Photography

3 Apps for Android Photography

Photography has undertaken a massive transformation over the last few years. From 2008 when the first Android phone was taken to market, the HTC Dream, it showed off an industry leading 3.15 megapixel camera. This was the start of the end of photography as we knew it, the beginning of the smartphone camera revolution. If we jump back to 2018, smartphone cameras are almost at DSLR quality. Here are the top 3 android apps to make the most of smartphone photography:

 

Google Photos – Free

Google Photos IconGoogle Photos is a must have for any smartphone photographer. It symbolises the end of those pesky your storage is full notifications, by providing free unlimited cloud storage for all your photos and videos. All these photos and videos are safely backed up to Google’s cloud, this means you never lose that perfect picture or priceless family video. These photos are then accessible on all your devices, no more connecting your device to a computer to get access.

 

Moment – Pro Camera – £1.79

 

Moment App IconSo you’ve got the smartphone with the best camera, you take a picture and it looks wonderful. Now you go to take another picture, you can’t make the picture how you want it because there are no manual settings. That’s where moment comes in, you can customise any of the camera’s settings and even save the photo in raw format. With moment your photos finally look like you intended.

 

Pixlr – Free

Pixlr App Icon

The best thing about smartphone photography is that the whole process can be done on something that can fit in your pocket, so why not do the editing on your smartphone too? With Pixlr you can do just that, it won’t replace Photoshop for your major edits, but it has all the tools you need to make your pictures look professional.

 

Looking back at 2016 as President of Antilia Homes

Hello folks.

2016 was a great year for Antilia Homes, the property development company I run here in Ottawa. We completed four semi-detached units on Carleton Avenue in the trendy Westboro district, and are beginning Phase 2 on the same street.

Carleton
Carleton Avenue interior

 

This year, we are moving forward with four luxury triplexes on Ravenhill Avenue, and three units on Dominion.

Dominion Avenue Triplexes
Dominion Avenue Triplexes

 

2017 will surely be an exciting year for us, as we move forward with these new developments. Head on over to our website to learn more, or to make an enquiry.

All the best,

Ravi Shanghavi