Launched by former Oxio leaders and employees, Gaiia aims to become “the world’s first network-agnostic operating system for connectivity.”
The Québec City-based software startup has spun out of Oxio and secured $13 million USD in initial equity seed financing from Y Combinator (YC), Kima Ventures, Oxio alumni, and undisclosed previous Oxio investors and YC members to do just that.
Campagna saw the challenges of managing ISP operations at Oxio, from manual processes to the complexity of integrating multiple software solutions.
Gaiia co-founder and CEO Marc-André Campagna previously co-founded and led Oxio, the formerly independent, fast-growing Montréal-based internet service provider (ISP). During his time at Oxio, Campagna saw the challenges of managing ISP operations effectively firsthand, from manual processes to the complexity of integrating multiple software solutions. To address this issue and support Oxio’s expansion, the Gaiia team began developing its platform in early 2022.
“As the former successful ISP, we needed a system that could enable growth, drive efficient operations, and deliver awesome customer experiences,” Campagna told BetaKit. “At the time, it didn’t exist—so we assembled the best possible team of product managers, engineers, and business operators to build it.”
In March, Oxio sold its telecom business to Cogeco Connexion for $100 million but held on to Gaiia. This move enabled Campagna and the Gaiia team to focus entirely on providing software to ISPs globally. Post-transaction, Oxio became Gaiia’s first official customer.
In July, Gaiia became a standalone entity, with an employee base consisting primarily of former members of Oxio’s product and engineering teams. Campagna founded Gaiia alongside Alex Verret, Gabriel Laflamme, Simon Frenette, Olivier Falardeau, and Marc-Olivier Alain.
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Today, Gaiia bills itself as “the simplest platform to run your ISP,” and an all-in-one solution for billing, operations, automation, and more. Gaiia is targeting any communication service provider (CSP), including ISPs, that is looking for an operating system.
During its first few months as an independent firm, Gaiia has onboarded and begun serving multiple ISPs across the continent and beyond.
Today, Gaiia’s Canadian clients include Oxio and Cogeco. However, most of the startup’s customers are based in the United States (US) and Latin America. As it looks to better support those clients, Gaiia plans to expand its team in the US.
According to Campagna, this seed funding will help Gaiia accelerate its product development roadmap and integration library, as it looks to onboard CSPs more quickly and give its customers additional tools and flexibility.
Feature image courtesy Pexels. Photo by Manuel Geissinger.
