North Vancouver’s ePACT Network has secured a funding round that’s believed to be in the $1 million area, from the Byye group, Yaletown Ventures, BDC and other investors.
ePACT is an emergency network platform that is “changing the way the world prepares for and responds to crises.” It uses online networking to bring organizations and individuals together to share critical information, plan collectively and communicate before, during and after any emergency for greater connectivity and safety.
ePACT also welcomed Byye group partner Nancy Knowlton to its board, a cofounder of SMART Technologies, one of the world’s largest education technology companies. ePACT previously raised a small seed round from Yaletown Ventures after it graduates the GrowLab accelerator program in Vancouver. That round came in March of last year.
“We are proud to have the support of Byye, as their team and dedication to transformative ideas make them a perfect fit as a partner for ePACT,” said CEO Christine Sommers. “We are excited about our plans for growth, and how Byye can help us achieve our goals.”
Made up of a team of emergency management specialists and web technology experts, the company was founded by Sommers and Kirsten Koppang Telford in 2012, after speaking with survivors of the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. Specifically it was inspired by a friend of the cofounders who was separated from her two daughters during the earthquake and tsunami. Without any phone or text communications available, she didn’t know if her family was safe (although a few days later she received an email confirming their safety).
“After hearing Ayumi’s story, we looked in our own backyard and learned that North America has its own emergency management gaps. For example, we all use technology and social media to plan parties and document last night’s dinner, but we hadn’t harnessed its power to prepare for the unexpected,” wrote the cofounders. “We developed ePACT as the “LinkedIn for emergencies” – a web-based system that leverages the power of online networking to navigate unexpected events and increase safety across the board. Today, ePACT is the emergency network that connects and protects North American families, organizations and communities in any crisis.