Stephanie Florio is co-founder of Swob, a different kind of job board that responds to the needs and trends of a changing workforce. She shares with us why she and her brother Alexander started the business. Swob is a social recruiting platform to help employers and HR professionals in high turnover industries find local talent, using…
The resource price crash of 2014 forced Horizon North to turn its old business model on its head
A high-end home built by an oil-and-gas logistics company? Now, that’s disruptive technology at work. Disruption is a way of life now for Horizon North, a company that has had to be exceptionally nimble after the resource price crash of 2014 turned its old business model on its head. Created as a spinoff from Mullen…
Technology company ZayZoon's Early Wages On-Demand is taking off across North America, with more than 80,000 businesses participating
Imagine, as an employee, being able to access money as you earn it. Technology company ZayZoon, based in Calgary, has created a platform, Early Wages On-Demand, that allows people to access their paycheque before payday. The concept has taken off across North America. The platform is now available to more than two million employees by…
Rohit Joshi talks about how Brightsquid’s patient information technology helps protect the viability of the health-care system
Rohit Joshi is chief executive officer at Brightsquid. What is Brightsquid and how did it start? Joshi: Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp. is a Calgary-based communications software company that has developed technology to transfer patient information between doctors and between doctors and their patients. Clinics that use Brightsquid Secure Mail see improved patient safety and a reduction in wait times for…
Calgary company meeting a growing demographic need in the community with a transparent, interconnected service
Calgary-based Vytality At Home is launching an app-based home care service that offers seniors new options to remain in their homes. With Calgary’s senior population growing three times faster than any other demographic, and with limited choices for personalized care in their homes, Vytality is providing on-demand technology to connect families with a range of…
It’s opening up the financial sector, serving acute needs and transforming how businesses raise capital
When fundraising garnered leftover crumbs, the gatekeepers of finance barely cared to notice. Now digitized, it’s drawing a growing portion of the financial pie, running into regulatory barriers and legal limbo in Canada. The critics of crowdfunding, particularly regarding private equity, make many accurate claims. Open-access financial intermediation dislodges state social services and favours savvy…
Dan Harper of Harper’s Tire tells us what it takes to compete against huge operations. And why getting good service when it comes to tires is important
Dan Harper is co-owner of Harper’s Tire in Calgary. What’s the history behind Harper’s Tire and how it began in Calgary? Harper: My grandfather, J.M. Harper, opened the original store on 12th Avenue S.W. in 1931. During the war years, tires were rationed so repairs and custom retreading was a large part of the business.…
Prototype aims to provide protection and connection for those who are affected by displacement and natural disaster
A former Calgary Bow Valley College student is testing out his “LO8OP Home in a Bag” concept until the end of the month to brave the elements and raise money to move the idea to commercial production. Micah Louison, 24, is camping outside his family’s northeast Calgary home in the Bridgeland area until the end of…
Provides clients with teams of top software engineers and data scientists working from satellite offices in Canada
MobSquad is the first company to receive support from the new Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund. The company provides clients in the United States with teams of top software engineers and data scientists working from satellite offices in Canada. It’s establishing a new business based in Calgary with hundreds of high-calibre software developers across Canada. “We…
We need to embrace intangible assets. And the lending world and investors need to free up funds to support intangible creators
Could intangibles help avert the next financial crisis? Yes. And they'd better, because the train of global prosperity is about to jump the track and intangible assets are the only possible salvation. Today's headlines are depressing. There's a constant stream of negativity led by U.S. President Donald Trump's assault on the North American Free Trade…
Michael Murray talks about how his app sends real-time messages from where you live, work and play
Michael Murray is founder of Block Talk. Calgary’s Business: What’s Block Talk? Murray: Block Talk is an app for your phone. You should download it to send and receive urgent safety alerts specific to the communities you choose to follow. It has five other categories of communication, including a platform to communicate non-urgent crime such…
Teara McGinn has helped create a shared shopping website that showcases Calgary-produced goods
Teara McGinn is co-founder of browseYYC. Calgary’s Business: What is browseYYC and how does it work? McGinn: browseYYC is a ‘shop local, online’ marketplace. It’s a website where people can experience the convenience of online shopping with the feel-good value of supporting local businesses. By allowing all types of sellers (retailers, artisans, etc) across the…
Twenty-five ventures to be selected for the launch of the Creative Destruction Lab Energy program
The University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business is launching a new program to help early-stage energy ventures bring their technologies to the market. This weekend, the school’s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Rockies will select a group of 25 ventures for the program’s launch of CDL Energy. “Calgary is already known for its pioneers and…
It took Chad and Cherie Ball of Wheel Estate years to get their business on the road, but they refused to abandon their dreams
Chad and Cherie Ball are owners of Wheel Estate. Calgary’s Business: What is Wheel Estate and how did the company come into being? Chad and Cherie: Wheel Estate is a peer-to-peer RV trailer sharing marketplace. We efficiently connect people who would like to rent a travel trailer with owners whose trailer would otherwise go unused, backing…
We put premium gas in our luxury cars so why not put the best, highest quality baby food into the most important members of your family?
Jennifer Carlson is co-founder of Baby Gourmet and academic chair (Innovation and New Ventures) at SAIT's School of Business. Calgary’s Business: How did the idea of establishing Baby Gourmet come about? Carlson: The idea for Baby Gourmet came about 13 years ago when my then six-month-old daughter was starting solids and I was not happy…