01 Jun 2018 2018 TIAs Winners Announced
Meet the companies and leaders who are shaping the future of British Columbia
VANCOUVER, BC, June 2, 2018 – The BC Tech Association (BC Tech) announced the winners for the 2018 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs) on the evening of Friday, June 1, 2018. The TIAs are the longest-running and largest technology awards program in the province, and this year marks the 25th anniversary of celebrating excellence and innovation in BC’s tech sector.
“Each year we are blown away by the accomplishments in our growing community, and the visionary companies and individuals who are paving the way forward in tech,” said Jill Tipping, BC Tech President and CEO. “This year we had an incredible group of finalists who impressed the judges with the quality and diversity of their achievements. From law to natural resource management to retail, this year’s winners demonstrate that technological advancement is the bedrock for industry success and positive social change. We congratulate all the winners and finalists on their contributions towards building a strong, vibrant future for BC and the world we share.”
Winners were announced in front of a sold-out audience at the Technology Impact Awards Gala, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The event was co-hosted by Jill Tipping and Riaz Meghji, founder of the philanthropic non-profit 1Karma.
The winners of the 2018 TIAs are:
Company of the Year: ACL
ACL delivers enterprise governance SaaS solutions that help governments and the world’s largest companies quantify risk, stamp out fraud, and optimize performance. Their integrated family of products—including cloud-based governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) solutions and flagship data analytics products—are used at all levels of enterprise to help maximize growth opportunities. With 30 years of experience, ACL has built a community of more than 7,100 active customer organizations around the world, including 60% of the Fortune 1000.
The 2018 Company of the Year Award is presented in partnership with EY.
Person of the Year: Judi Hess
Judi is the CEO of Copperleaf, a Vancouver-based software company that provides decision analytics to companies managing critical infrastructure. Under Judi’s leadership, Copperleaf has become one of the top 20 biggest software companies in BC, and one of the fastest-growing software companies in Canada.
Judi began her career as a software developer at MDA and spent 14 years there before joining Creo Inc. in 1995. She rose to become president in 2002, a position she held until Creo was acquired by Eastman Kodak for just under $1 billion USD in 2005, where she held the positions of vice president and head of Kodak Canada. She is currently a member of the Federal Economic Strategy – Clean Technology Table, and board of directors of Pason Systems Inc. In 2017, Judi was recognized as an Influential Women in Business by BIV, an award celebrating BC’s most outstanding business women.
The 2018 Person of the Year Award is presented in partnership with Korn Ferry.
Startup of the Year: Klue
Founded in 2015, Klue is a market and competitive intelligence platform that helps sales teams to win business. Their platform combines information shared by team members with bot-collected and machine-curated intel from across the web, in order to provide to up-to-date intelligence on competitors. Klue offers companies an innovative new way to capture, manage and communicate insights.
The 2018 Startup of the Year Award is presented in partnership with Microsoft.
Community Engagement: iQmetrix
iQmetrix is the leading provider of cloud-based retail management solutions for the North American wireless industry, with solutions powering over 20,000 retailers. To create great experiences for retailers, employees, and end consumers, iQmetrix focuses on their company’s unique culture and their core values. Their success is the result of bringing the right group of people together, striving for forward-thinking innovation while remaining authentic and giving back to their community.
The 2018 Community Engagement Award is presented in partnership with SAP.
Excellence in Technology Adoption: Teck
Teck is a Canada’s largest diversified resource company, committed to responsible mining and mineral development with a focus on copper, steelmaking coal, zinc and energy. Over the last 100+ years, Teck has helped to build communities, create jobs, and drive innovation, making the natural resource industry more sustainable.
Excellence in Technology Innovation: Finn AI
Finn AI is a conversational banking technology provider, specializing in AI-powered solutions built for personal banking and finance. They help bank customers manage their money by offering simple, natural conversations with a virtual financial assistant. With customers on four continents, and services delivered in three languages, Finn AI helps banks and customers to have better experiences.
The 2018 Excellence in Innovation Award is presented in partnership with MDA.
Growth Company of the Year: Buyatab
Buyatab is a leading provider of advanced online gift card infrastructure solutions for medium and large-sized businesses. With clients across North America and Europe, they provide eGift Card services to merchants in a wide variety of sectors, including retail, hospitality, and restaurant. Buyatab was also celebrated at the 2016 TIAs, where they were honoured with the People’s Choice Award.
The 2018 Growth Company of the Year Award is presented in partnership with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.
Tech Culture of the Year: Clio
Clio is the most comprehensive cloud-based legal practice management platform in the world, easing the processes of time tracking, billing, administration, and collaboration for law firms of all sizes. One of Canada’s fastest-growing companies with international reach, Clio has a customer base spanning 90 countries. Clio was also a winner at the 2017 TIAs, where they received the Team of the Year award.
The 2018 Tech Culture of the Year Award is presented in partnership with BDC.
Bill Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Gerri Sinclair
Dr. Gerri Sinclair is a trailblazer in the BC tech industry, who has helped to establish our province as a global leader in industry over the course of her distinguished career. The founder of NCompass Labs, Dr. Sinclair became the first woman in tech to have a successful exit when she sold the company to Microsoft in 2001. She went on to create groundbreaking opportunities in education and research, founding the ExCITE Lab at Simon Fraser University and the multidisciplinary Centre for Digital Media, for which she also served as CEO. Dr. Sinclair is currently the Managing Director of Kensington Capital, which supports future generations of tech leaders by running the $100 million BC Tech Fund.
Spirit of BC Tech Award: Ayogo
Ayogo is a pioneering digital health company, drawing on behavioural economics, design thinking, and psychology to activate patients for better health outcomes. With customers in life science, pharmaceutical, and medical technology realms, Ayogo creates award-winning health apps that are efficient, effective, and fun. Ayogo has twice been recognized as one of the top 100 most innovative digital health companies, and was the 2017 winner of the Professional Services Category in the BC Export Awards.
The 2018 Spirit of BC Tech Award is presented in partnership with Harper Grey LLP.
For more information on the awards, finalists and winners, please visit www.thetias.com. Media assets can be found here, including a photo of the winners.
About the BC Tech Association
Making BC the best place to grow a tech company has been the mission of the BC Tech Association since 1993. While our members focus on growing their businesses, BC Tech has been providing opportunities for our industry members to collaborate, learn, and grow together. We are dedicated to connecting companies, developing talent, and advocating so our industry and our province thrive. To learn more visit www.wearebctech.com.
Media Contact:
Kathleen Reid
T: 604-724-1242
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