Mapping The Board | Joe Canavan - GRIT ED. 7 Your Next Move - Magazine - Page 24
Mapping The Board | Joe Canavan
A LOOK AHEAD IN TECH
gas, a leading cause of greenhouse
gases that make a noticeable hole
in the ozone layer and significantly
contribute to climate change.
Grocery
stores
deem
food
unsellable based on store policy,
typically ranging from a few days to
1-2 weeks—leading to a significant
amount of food that typically gets
sent to the landfill. By selling this
food at 50% off the retail price
through Flashfood, grocers can
recover costs and significantly
reduce their carbon footprint, while
consumers can take advantage of
healthier food items like produce,
meat, and prepared meals at a
discounted rate.
“The other thing that I’m excited and
thinking about, and one that I’ve
been involved in for a long time and
in which many of the Founders and
CEOs have been big supporters of
NEXT, is financial technology. I believe
there’s more to come there, and I
continue to see so many companies
that are looking for funding, support
and advice. I really do believe that
the disruption that started with
people like Wealthsimple, Nest,
and Koho is being followed up by
disruption we saw from insurance - Neo
Bank out of Calgary, Homewise was a
graduate of our program in home-buying
and selling mortgages. They are taking a
very paper-intensive process and making
it all automated, taking a cumbersome
process and making it very simple. The
founder there is a superstar, and I believe
that he’s building something that’s going
to change the way we all interact through
a process from start to finish - from
identifying a house to getting all the legal
documents done, paying the land transfer
tax and paying your mortgage - all of that
is going to be done with companies like
Homewise.”
Through this pandemic, we have seen a
mindset shift around making financial
transactions virtually. As a result of more
people staying at home, the tech sector
has blossomed to fulfil many needs,
including gaming, conference calls and
collaboration tools, and telemedicine.
And tagging along is the growth of
e-commerce. The pervasiveness of
smartphones and smart technology,
whether you’re on a laptop or on your
phone, the convenience, the ease of that
is something that is happening not only in
the 18-35 year old group but in the 60-85
year old group as well.
“So now I can go to the bank without
actually going to the bank, I can
buy insurance online using artificial
intelligence; they have one person for
every 40 of a traditional player in the
P&C insurance arena. They are taking
the game to the next level. That whole
element of convenience, whether it’s
financial services or food services. I really
believe in artificial intelligence.”
All sectors of our economy depend
heavily on an extensive supply chain of
technology companies to meet needs
in finance, food, biochemistry, artificial
intelligence, data privacy, e-commerce
and clean technology.
“I believe that we are going to quickly
move away from what we have been
using traditionally towards the future
I do. I really feel that not only are we
putting pressure on traditional mainstay
players to improve the way that they do
business and conduct themselves in the
community by bringing new technologies
online like fusion and solar, and in how
we power our vehicles. Or even things
like taking waste and converting it to
green hydrogen, which is another thing
I’ve just started to look at. So there’s a lot
happening and it makes me very excited.”
RAGHAVENDER SAHDEV
NuPort Robotics | Next AI, 2019
LAUREN LAKE & MALLORIE BRODIE
Bridgit | Next 36, 2013
JOE CANAVAN’S
APPRECIATION FOR NEXT CANADA
NEXT Canada has meant the world
JOSH DOMINGUES
Flashfood | Next Founders, 2018
JOE CANAVAN’S
WATCH LIST
to me. It has created hundreds of
transformative effect on an industry or
entrepreneurs, trained them, educated
a region or the world, all out of Canada.
them, mentored them, and given them
And I think that’s the future of our
all
country.
AUTONOMOUS DRIVING &
ELECTRIFICATION
businesses. Whether they launched it
I’ve been very proud of the work of
out of NEXT or on their next iteration,
Ajay Agrawal, Claudia Hepburn, Reza
EMBARK
I really believe that the people to
Satchu and Tim Hodgson. When they
whom so much was given are some
first came in and met with me in my
of the most generous members of the
office and showcased their idea, I
ecosystem.
thought it was a great idea, but as I got
the
they
support
needed
and
to
infrastructure
launch
incredible
closer to the organization and became
Our alumni want to give back and help
deeply involved, I thought it was an
the next generation of entrepreneurs,
extraordinary idea.
and
some
of
my
most
enjoyable
interviewing
Here we are all these years later,
alumni in front of our current cohorts.
having had this magnificent impact.
Not only are they willing to give back
The NEXT Canada Founders have built
to the community, but they also want
a wonderful organization that Kyle
to do more.
Winters will lead long into the future.
moments
have
been
He is the leader that NEXT needs now,
This new era of leadership is passionate,
and he is the one that’s going to drive
grateful, and having this enormous,
this organization forward and continue
to have a huge impact on the Canadian
JAMES ROCKWOOD
economy.
CapIntel | Next Founders, 2020
Self-Driving Trucks
NUPORT ROBOTICS
Self-Driving Trucks
FINTECH
HOMEWISE
Mortgage Platform
CAPINTEL
Wealth Management platform
CONSTRUCTTION
BRIDGIT
Workforce Intelligence Solution
FOOD & FARMING
FLASHFOOD
Discounted Surplus Food App
ELEVATE
Vertical Farming
MIKE REID
Embark | Next 36, 2015
JESSE ABRAMS
Homewise | Next Founders, 2020
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