Raising the Visibility of London's Tech Sector

On Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 from 4:30pm - 7:00pm approximately 200 local business representatives in London, Ontario gathered at Rum Runners to get connected to local technology solutions at Techsposure. The inaugural event, hosted by the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), offers purposeful networking intended to create business-to-business (B2B) opportunities in London.

With over 300 digital creative companies employing more than 9,000 talented people, London’s technology sector addresses industry problems with their local solutions, that many may not know exist within our community. Techsposure helps bridge this gap amongst the technology sector and encourage local businesses to adapt local solutions. It was an industry collision night that helped open doors. Many valuable connections were made amongst local companies, including new partnerships with OntarioSEO and DirectDial.com, and on the medical packaging side with innovative advances between Trudell Medical and Jones Packaging.

Recognizing Excellence in Tech

After gearing up the event with networking, Techsposure kicked off with a welcome from our MC of the evening, Jess Brady, Reporter and Anchor at AM980 News, and an introduction from LEDC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kapil Lakhotia.

A warm welcome was given to four technology companies that are new to London within the last year, including Bron Animation, Vehikl, Clausehound and Platero Visual, the later three which were just featured in a London Free Press article.

Lakhotia recognized many of the award-winning tech companies in London, highlighting how in the last two years alone, 28 digital creative companies in London received 48 awards for business excellence in growth, many of which were recognized on a provincial and national scale. Some of these companies include StartTech.com, Digital Extremes,Talbot Marketing, Digital Echidna, Media Sonar, and Big Viking Games.

It’s news like this that is putting London’s technology sector on the map” says Kapil Lakhotia, President and CEO, LEDC. “We have a vibrant digital creative sector here in London, with the largest gaming cluster per capita in Ontario. That is why Ontario’s technology sector cannot stop at Waterloo. We saw a need to raise the visibility of London’s tech sector and provide an opportunity for companies to share their innovative and locally made technologies with other sectors. That is what [Techsposure] is all about.

Pitching for Exposure

Throughout the night, a handful of local companies were given the opportunity to pitch their products and services to the crowd of almost 200 people, which included:

• Eyelook Media: Analyzes the performance of your digital signage, interactive kiosks and outdoor LEDs, and generates content that will produce the most impact and surpass you and your clients’ expectations. Eyelook helps with design and development of your signage, on-going support and maintenance, and digital signage monitoring and analytics.

• Antris: Safety and communication solution designed for organizations with work-alone or at-risk personnel. The Antris software communicates with your mobile device, automatically notifying the necessary people of a trip’s progress. If the unexpected happens or a check-in is missed, Antris instantly notifies managers or emergency contacts.

• DirectDial: A THINQ Technologies Ltd. Company, founded in 1997 as a leading, world-class provider of computer systems and information technology hardware for the small-medium business market. DirectDial has grown into one of North America’s leading online computer superstores with tier one partnerships and access to over 26 distribution centres throughout Canada and the USA.

• HR Downloads: Founded in 2008 in London, Ontario and has become the Canadian leader in providing results-driven and tailored human resources products and services. Provides thousands of Canadian businesses with cost-effective and time-saving documentation, live HR advice, employee and customer surveys, and online employee training solutions to transform and maximize the efficiency of HR processes.

• Clarendon Technologies Inc.: Offering software development (web and mobile) and information technology services and support. Clarendon also offers a OTMS application for the Airport Ground Transportation and Patient Transfer industries that do business by automating processes, streamlining reservations and data collection, and improving reporting capabilities.

• AdTube: Part of Keyframe Communications Inc.’s advertising service, using pre-roll campaigns using a targeted customer approach. Established in 2007, Keyframe Communications Inc. is an award-winning, full-service agency with a proven record of success. Skilled in planning for strategic brand campaigns and product launches, and specializing in creative services such as TV commercials, video production, and advertising.

• Ontario SEO: An online marketing agency specializing in search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), strategy, analytics, content marketing, website development and social media. Offering services that help businesses target and attract the traffic that will build a client base.

• FreePoint Technologies: Designs products for the manufacturing industry that enables more informed decision making. FreePoint I/O Solutions allow productivity monitoring of start times, stop times, down times, and parts per second time. Connecting manufacturing processes to a company’s own production management software.

• Coresolutions: One of North America’s top software and custom database development firms, solving problems and simplifying complex data to help your business run more smoothly, and empowering you to manage your solution better. Specializing in custom software, filemaker development, baseline CRM, and mobile and web development.

Following Techsposure, Kim Atkinson, Director at Ontario SEO, wrote a blog post about her experience pitching to the crowd and attending the event:

“I decided to get creative [for our pitch] and get the audience to participate in an activity. I asked that everyone in attendance take out their phones and search for the product or service that their potential customers might be looking for. After the presentation, our team got to speak to attendees who had a variety of responses to the exercise. There were business owners who were very pleased with their results, and individuals who found their company in the last spot on the first page - a scary place to be. For me the great news was that it got attendees thinking: What problem are they solving? What were people searching for? And what could they improve to make sure they came up in the search results?”

Missed Techsposure?

In case you couldn’t make it, there are many ways you can learn more about technology in London, Ontario:

• View highlights from the event, such as a live stream and photos, and by searching #Techsposure on Twitter.

• Discover post-secondary programs, assets and infrastructure available in London that are helping to train and accelerate local technology employees and companies

• Explore London’s top employers in the digital creative sector and connect with them using our Business Directory

• Discover who’s hiring for technology-related positions in London at a variety of companies, as well as ways to get involved within the tech community on London Tech Jobs

• Read about local technology success stories like Autodata Solutions, Big Blue Bubble and Diply in our London Magazine, in print or digitally

• Contact us if you’re looking for a local technology solution and would like to get connected