Category: Testimonial

Testimonial: A Lift for Arolytics 

In September this year Arolytics Ltd – a provider of methane software and data analytics solutions for the oil and gas sector – became the inaugural investment in BDC Capital’s new $150M Sustainability Venture Fund.

The fund itself is dedicated to investing in businesses which develop technologies which will support businesses both in Canada and further afield in meeting sustainability and climate targets. 

While additional investors include Yaletown Partners, StartupTNT, and a Houston-based strategic investor, it was co-founder Liz O’Connell’s work with Metiquity Ventures which she credits to the company’s exciting next chapter.

Liz met her two fellow co-founders during an academic emissions research group, during a time in which there were little-to-no strong widespread regulations around emissions management for the oil and gas sector. However, with a prompt wave of new regulations came an opportunity for Liz and her co-founders to create digital solutions to support and automate all these new processes.

“When we work with different oil and gas clients, we really understand your pain points and corporate objectives” Liz said on the topic, citing an ambition to get clients on the path to “exceeding their north star efficiently and effectively”.

However, Arolytics Ltd’s startup journey took an eventful turn two years ago when Liz and her fellow co-founders decided to start working with Metiquity Ventures in a bid to better position their company as a celebrated solution for oil and gas companies across Alberta and further afield.

“Over those two years,” Liz remarked, “Metiquity has been there through all of these crazy ups and downs, and all these things that get thrown at us as a result of running a startup.” These issues include a new range of data challenges at the hand of an evolving emissions measurement infrastructure, many of which pertain to the (very significant) monitoring, measuring and quantifying of emissions data across hundreds and thousands of individual facilities across dozens of different states and provinces and countries.

On the topic, Liz elaborated: “There’s always that ear to run something by – that second piece of advice. Jacques and Brian are extremely responsive and they always bring a unique perspective to the table, which we really benefit from.

“Leading up to our seed round that we kicked off earlier this year. Bryan Slauko had really great opinions on what type of investor we should pursue, and that they were really kind of a partner with us as we went to raise that money.”

As Liz and the gang continue to embark on their next chapter with Arolytics Ltd, Metiquity Ventures’ Bryan Slauko will continue to sit on the software development company’s board of directors.

Testimonial: When WaitWell Got Tired of Waiting

In July this year, queue management software WaitWell – a queue management software optimizes service delivery at busy locations like universities, government offices and clinics – secured $1.5 million CAD in seed funding to expand its product offering across the States, venturing into new markets along the way. However, without the “sounding board” of Bryan Slauko and Jacques LaPointe the WaitWell story would have been very different indeed.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, WaitWell’s founders – husband and wife Steve and Shannon Vander Meulen – ran a motor vehicle registry office in Alberta, but with the ‘unprecedented new normal’ of Covid-19 came a cavalcade of service problems for customers and companies alike.

When the Vander Meulens noticed an opportunity to better resolve lineup management issues, they decided to launch beta testing on WaitWell in August 2020. 

“Through the pandemic, we knew that we had the important role of providing an essential service while doing so in a safe and effective manner,” Steve began. “The solutions that were out there weren’t exactly fit for the style of business that we ran, so we built our own and had the good fortune to commercialise that to neighbouring markets.”

On the topic, Shannon said: “Immediately we realised once you digitize the way that people enter a queue, you have an opportunity to really digitally transform the entire customer experience from the time they join the queue until after they’ve left the building.”

The pair met Bryan and Jacques at an investment summit hosted by Startup TNT (WaitWell won the investment, by the way) and were struck by the pair’s unparalleled experience in the startup world, as well as their shared determination for the company to exit within Steve’s intention of a seven-to-ten-year timeframe.

It’s this “emotional investment” in the WaitWell journey that Shannon credits to the company’s success to date, crediting the pair as a “sounding board” for their questions and concerns as they worked to build WaitWell as a leader in queue management software.

“Although we’re experienced entrepreneurs, we are not experienced in the startup world, and so a lot of times we run into hurdles, challenges and questions,” Shannon said. “Bryan and Jacques have also been really helpful in providing connections for us. They’ve done a lot of introductions where necessary.”

Testimonial: Arolytics and Entrepreneurial Expertise

Founded by a trio of academics whose paths crossed during an emissions research group, Arolytics Ltd – a provider of methane software and data analytics solutions for the oil and gas sector – became the inaugural investment in BDC Capital’s new $150M Sustainability Venture Fund in September this year.

However, co-founder Liz O’Connell credits the input of Metiquity Ventures’ Bryan Slauko and Jacques LaPointe for the company’s success to date. On the topic, Liz remarked that being able to utilize Bryan and Jacques’ entrepreneurial experience to date allowed Arolytics to properly scale as a startup.

“They bring years of experience that as a young founding team we don’t have, and so we’re really able to leverage their background and governance in finance and being in the space for a while,” Liz began. “We get the advisory and that governance network perspective from which is wonderful.”

Moving forward, Liz and the team at Arolytics are hoping to jump head first into the company’s next stage of growth through expanding their team size “quite dramatically”.

“I’m sure that we’re exceeding the pace of this quickly moving market,” she added, before urging other prospective entrepreneurs to focus on the ‘partnership’ element of the founders’ story when trying to build a successful startup.

Liz elaborated: “It’s not just about this transaction of money,” instead pointing to the significance of working with professionals who align with your specific wants and needs as a founder (or what WaitWell co-founder Steve Vander Meulen refers to as philosophical ambition’ [link]).

“We spoke with other portfolio companies of Metiquity who had rave glowing reviews for working with Bryan and Jacques, and the notion that there’s a lot of other people that had a great experience with them previously really gave us a lot of comfort,” she concluded.

Testimonial: A Lift for Arolytics

In September 2023, Arolytics Ltd – a provider of methane software and data analytics solutions for the oil and gas sector – became the inaugural investment in BDC Capital’s new $150M Sustainability Venture Fund.

The fund itself is dedicated to investing in businesses which develop technology that furthers the field in meeting sustainability and climate targets. 

While additional investors include Yaletown Partners, StartupTNT, and a Houston-based strategic investor, it was co-founder Liz O’Connell’s work with Metiquity Ventures which she credits to helping leverage the company’s seed round experiences.

Metiquity Ventures was one of the first investors to partner with Arolytics Ltd. And Liz says their startup journey was in a much better position to raise greater investment because of their lead infuse of cash and contribution (for example, Bryan Slauko sits on the Arolytics Board).

“Metiquity has been there through all of these crazy ups and downs, and all these things that get thrown at us as a result of running a startup,” says Liz. “These issues include a new range of data challenges at the hand of an evolving emissions measurement infrastructure, many of which pertain to the (very significant) monitoring, measuring and quantifying of emissions data across hundreds and thousands of individual facilities across dozens of different states and provinces and countries.”

Liz met her two fellow co-founders during an academic emissions research group, during a time in which there were little-to-no strong widespread regulations around emissions management for the oil and gas sector. However, with a prompt wave of new regulations came an opportunity for Liz and her co-founders to create digital solutions to support and automate new processes.

On the influence of lead investor Metiquity Ventures, Liz elaborated: “There’s always that ear to run something by – a second piece of advice. Jacques and Bryan are extremely responsive and they always bring a unique perspective to the table.”

“Leading up to our seed round that we kicked off earlier this year. Bryan (Slauko) had great recommendations on what type of investor we should consider and why. Their lead investment contribution of not only time but experience has helped us move to further seed rounds.” 

Bryan Slauko continues to sit on the software development company’s board of directors.

 

Testimonial: When WaitWell Got Tired of Waiting

In July this year, queue management software WaitWell – a queue management software optimizes service delivery at busy locations like universities, government offices and clinics – secured $1.5 million CAD in seed funding to expand its product offering across the States, venturing into new markets along the way. However, without the “sounding board” of Bryan Slauko and Jacques LaPointe the WaitWell story would have been very different indeed.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, WaitWell’s founders – husband and wife Steve and Shannon Vander Meulen – ran a motor vehicle registry office in Alberta, but with the ‘unprecedented new normal’ of Covid-19 came a cavalcade of service problems for customers and companies alike.

When the Vander Meulens noticed an opportunity to better resolve lineup management issues, they decided to launch beta testing on WaitWell in August 2020. 

“Through the pandemic, we knew that we had the important role of providing an essential service while doing so in a safe and effective manner,” Steve began. “The solutions that were out there weren’t exactly fit for the style of business that we ran, so we built our own and had the good fortune to commercialise that to neighbouring markets.”

On the topic, Shannon said: “Immediately we realised once you digitize the way that people enter a queue, you have an opportunity to really digitally transform the entire customer experience from the time they join the queue until after they’ve left the building.”

The pair met Bryan and Jacques at an investment summit hosted by Startup TNT (WaitWell won the investment, by the way) and were struck by the pair’s unparalleled experience in the startup world, as well as their shared determination for the company to exit within Steve’s intention of a seven-to-ten-year timeframe.

It’s this “emotional investment” in the WaitWell journey that Shannon credits to the company’s success to date, crediting the pair as a “sounding board” for their questions and concerns as they worked to build WaitWell as a leader in queue management software.

“Although we’re experienced entrepreneurs, we are not experienced in the startup world, and so a lot of times we run into hurdles, challenges and questions,” Shannon said. “Bryan and Jacques have also been really helpful in providing connections for us. They’ve done a lot of introductions where necessary.”

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