BCTIA Kicks Off BC’s Only Second-Stage Accelerator, Featuring RentMoola and Others

The BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) kicked-off the first day of programming for HyperGrowth, a second-stage revenue accelerator program developed to establish British Columbia’s next global technology company.  

Following a six-week application process, HyperGrowth’s inaugural cohort will feature three growth stage companies: RentMoola, Thinkific and EDP Software.  These companies will participate in the six-month accelerator with some of the most experienced and influential mentors and advisors in the Vancouver tech environment.

Unlike many early-stage accelerators, the aim of HyperGrowth is to work with companies that have already achieved noteworthy traction and revenue, and ramp them up rapidly, intelligently, and effectively by leveraging the resources of the BCTIA and the insight of the best entrepreneurial minds in Vancouver.

The companies were chosen from seven finalists that pitched to a panel comprised of some of  Jeff Booth from BuildDirect, Dan Zitting from ACL, Matt Switzer from Hootsuite, Igor Faletski from Mobify, Dan Eisenhardt from Recon, and Michael McCarthy from TELUS. The judges, amongst other operating executives, will form the backbone of the HyperGrowth advisory team, providing coaching and connections to the cohort companies, helping them move the needle.

Booth said after the pitch event, “(W)e’re excited to engage deeply with these companies in the coming months to help them grow. If we truly want to reach our potential as a world class technology hub, we as a community need to rally around fast moving growth-stage companies like these and make sure they have access to every resource required to support them in becoming future anchors of our industry.”

Executives from each of the accepted companies are focused and deliberate about the opportunity.

Sachin Argrawal, CEO of EDP Software, a provider of sophisticated workforce management software, said, “We have managed some really strong traction to date, but our industrial customers are complex and have long sales cycles. We applied to HyperGrowth because we need to become even more sophisticated and focused in order to build a leading technology company here in BC.”

Andrew McLeod, Director of Strategy for RentMoola, said, “This month we have finalized the onboarding of our largest client to date, who is also one of the largest residential landlords in Canada, and we want to use this milestone, coupled with the support of mentors like Jeff Booth to continue growing even faster.”  RentMoola is a global payment network that allows tenants and owners to get rewarded for paying rent and condo fees online via credit card and direct debit. 

Thinkific CEO, Greg Smith said, “Our product is well positioned and our market is growing very quickly, so we want to make sure that we are aggressive and strategic in continuing to grow, and that’s why we are excited to be a part of HyperGrowth.” Thinkific is a web and mobile education company enabling users to create their own online courses and deliver or sell them under their own brand.

“The calibre of companies applying to HyperGrowth was incredible,” BCTIA President and CEO Bill Tam.  “It was clear from the volume of applications received that we have found an important niche that is currently missing from the market. There are several high-potential tech companies in our midst who are looking to grow to the next level, and they need more than startup-focused resources to help them get there. They’re ready to experience second-stage programming, they’re ready for HyperGrowth.”

The HyperGrowth cohort now begin their six month sprint to improve sales processes, grow revenue, and take their companies to the next level.