Episode 24 of Bloom features a conversation with Brian Heath, CEO of Drivewyze, a company that is intent on growing from Edmonton even though most of its customers are in the United States.
"Tier 1 venture capital companies and private equity companies from around the world have really taken notice of the quality of the enterprise that's been built," said Heath, whose company has raised about $130 million in investment to build software and equipment to connect truckers with the information they need to drive safely.
"To know that the big component of that is Edmonton — our Edmonton headquarters and our Edmonton staff — is really cool. And that's validating to anyone in Alberta that wonders, 'Do we have the wherewithal to create world-class technology companies?' Absolutely we do."
Scaling the company to 200+ employees and 2.8 million trucks was somewhat beyond their imagination when Heath and his co-founder Fred Ko started building Drivewyze's parent company, Intelligent Imaging Systems, in 2003.
"Yes, we had big aspirations, but there's no way we could have premeditated what we've become," he said, crediting his team for finding the path that led the company to where it is today, with an impressive new building ready to welcome the startup community on Calgary Trail.
As the technology of trucking evolves, whether it's towards autonomous vehicles or something we haven't yet imagined, Drivewyze is well-positioned to take advantage, Heath said. "We're the bridge between the vehicle and the transportation network around it. And whether there's a driver today or in the future it's driverless, there's still an incredible need for that bridge."
Learn more about how Heath wants to shape Drivewyze's future and how he is fuelled by the memory of a grateful trucker on a highway in West Virginia on the July 28 episode.
You'll also hear co-hosts Faaiza Ramji and Karen Unland discuss the Clean Air Strategy Alliance's efforts this summer to measure what heavy-duty trucks are emitting, a new development in TransPod's efforts to create a high-speed connection between Edmonton and Calgary, and more. and In our sponsor spot, hear Darrell Petras of Innovate Edmonton discuss developing innovation in post-secondary institutions.