In the past few weeks, several Canadian startups have made announcements and launched new features. Here’s the latest on Canada’s movers and shakers.
Clearpath adds former Google and Uber VP to its board of advisors
Kitchener-based Clearpath, which builds autonomous vehicles for factories and industries like mining and defense, has found a new advisory board member in Brian McClendon, former VP of Google’s and Uber’s Mapping divisions.
McClendon will provide insight and expertise on mapping technologies to the company’s Otto Motors industrial division and its research solutions division. In October 2016, the company raised a $39 million Series B as it looked to bring its Otto vehicle to factories.
McClendon joins advisory board member and Tesla co founder Marc Tarpenning, who currently advises on electric vehicle technologies.
“It’s often overlooked, but self-driving vehicles rely upon digital mountains of very specialized mapping data in order to operate,” said Matt Rendall, CEO of Clearpath. “Brian is a visionary in the world of mapping technology. His expertise and mentorship will help us build truly world-class mapping technology and we could not be more excited to have him join us.”
McClendon will advise the team on mapping technologies, software architecture, and engineering leadership as they develop strategies for accurate, scalable mapping capability of the OTTO self-driving vehicle.
“What’s exciting to me about Clearpath is that they are building their mapping system and database from scratch,” said McClendon. “This presents a really exciting opportunity to innovate and guide the next generation of technology with the next generation of company.”
Picatic launches pricing geared at non-profits
Vancouver-based event ticketing platform Picatic has launched Movement, a pricing model that offers a reduced rate on ticketing websites for non-profits.
The Movement feature allows non-profits to access all of Picatic’s core features, and does not require application for access. In a video marking the launch, Picatic CEO Jayesh Parmar said that the company got the idea to launch the feature after being approached to donate $1,000 to a charity called Instruments Beyond Borders. Picatic decided to work with the charity to leverage their software, and IBB ended up raising over $30,000.
“Their success motivated our team to think, ‘how could we help raise more money and awareness for other organizations?'” said Parmar. “Within a year, our platform helped raise over $5 million for these organizations.
“Feeling inspired, our teams thoughts are, if we can raise $5 million, why can’t we raise $100 million for these communities globally?”
Indochino launching showroom in Nashville
Vancouver-based Indochino is opening a showroom in Nashville, Tennessee on January 26 as part of a push to reach the southern US.
This is set to be the first of up to 18 locations Indochino intends to open this year, with a focus on southern US states.
“2018 is set to be another landmark year for Indochino and I’m thrilled that we’re kicking it off in style by adding the vibrant city of Nashville to our growing list of storefront locations,” said Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. “When we pinpoint where to expand, we look at our online customer base and Music City is one of a number of southern cities on the leaderboard, so it’s time we introduced both current and future customers there to our award winning showroom experience.”
Indochino said that 2017 was its second consecutive year of around 50 percent growth year-over-year, with showrooms representing a significant portion of revenue and becoming its top customer acquisition channel for its online business.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to perfect every aspect of the customer experience, making sure we provide outstanding service every time, offer the broadest range of fabrics at the best prices, and lead the industry in delivery times,” said Green. “We’re now looking forward to rolling our unique omnichannel concept out to every major city in North America, making perfectly tailored clothing truly available to everyone.”
Feature photo via Unsplash