 Waterloo Tech Highlights for November 2020 Our goal is to provide you with a monthly primer on significant news events from private Waterloo-based technology companies in 5 minutes or less. Intellijoint topped the Deloitte Fast 50 list for 2020 followed immediately by Apply Board (#2). Avidbots (#8), Auvik (#12), Bonfire (#30) and Smile (#48) also made the list. Voltera was named a Company to Watch while Vidyard (#449) and eSentire (#478) made the Deloitte Fast 500 along with the above firms.
Intellijoint has increased their monthly joint replacements by 40% relative to pre-pandemic levels. Armen Bakirtzian has a great profile story with lots of background.
SSIMWAVE signed a multi-year deal with a leading video streaming service (who must go unnamed). They also hired two senior sales executives to accelerate growth.
KA Imaging reports their clinical trial at UHN for pneumonia/COVID is proceeding well and giving good technology validation. They're switching their sales model to hardware-as-a-service.
Shinydocs is up to 42 staff and tripled their cash this year.
Bridgit added a new head of Strategic Partnerships and Alliances.
Emmetros has launched an integration with PointClickCare's EHR platform. Chris’ Thoughts Laughing
We get together with friends on Zoom once a week to talk through a book. This week the conversation devolved into "Things that cause stress in your marriage". An hour of hilarity ensued, and everybody's sides hurt. It has been a long time. Laughing with others is so much healthier than laughing at movies or videos on our own. Think about finishing the year by seeking out a couple friends and bringing some joy to their life through laughter.
Losses and Memories
Waterloo Engineering, and our community lost two real stars this week. First came the news that Professor Igor Ivkovic had suddenly passed away. Possibly the most beloved engineering professor, he loved teaching and invested heavily in students. Is there anybody who influences more individuals than a great teacher? Here's a Reddit thread filled with memories and stories.
Then, a day later came the news that Pearl Sullivan has passed away. She was a force of nature, running circles around much of the Waterloo administration while showing great concern for students. She was missed when she stepped down a year ago as Dean of Engineering and now much more so.
2021 Will Be Interesting
We won't push out a newsletter on January 1. While everybody else is making 10-best lists that I can't seem to resist clicking, I'm going to take a bit of time off. Have a great Christmas and thanks for reading and the feedback. Here's my own semi-random top-1 from a few categories of 2020:
Best short video: Four Chord Song (it's old but new to me) Best Wine: Meiomi Best Book: The Dictator's Handbook Best Show: Ted Lasso Best Gift: Nixplay frame for my mom. I send it a new picture every day. Works great. Best Learning with Teens: The Accounting Game Best Consumer Electronics Purchase: Bose 700 Headphones Best App: Phone (Zoom stresses me out) Best Game: Euchre Best Fidget Fixer: Jigsaw puzzles Best Alternative to Swimming: Indoor Rowing Best Topic: Intellectual Property Waterloo Tech Highlights is a communication initiative run by a group of experienced investors and strategists who would like to receive and share real news about the vibrant Waterloo, Ontario tech community. If you would like to share news with us, or our readers, email info@ironhorseangels.com. If you are interested in continuing to receive Waterloo Tech Highlights, you can subscribe here: Chris Wormald @cwormald |
