Octopz Named One of Canada’s Companies-to-Watch in the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards
September 20, 2007
TORONTO, Ontario – Octopz Inc. is proud to announce that it has been named one of Canada’s Companies-to-Watch as part of the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards. The prestigious award program honours early-stage companies with the combination of compelling technology and management expertise essential to continued growth.
To qualify for the Companies-to-Watch Award, candidates must have been operating for less than five years, be headquartered in Canada, and devote a significant portion of their operating revenues to creating proprietary technology and/or intellectual property. Nominees were assessed by teams of subject matter experts who conducted interviews with candidates across Canada. Companies were evaluated based on competitive advantage; market attractiveness; management effectiveness and organization; and financial performance.
“The Octopz team is delighted to receive the recognition of the highly-regarded Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards program, especially since it reinforces the positive reaction we’re receiving from the marketplace,” said Ron McKenzie, CEO of Octopz Inc. “Since we launched Octopz in mid-April, our online collaboration software has been trialed by users in 66 countries around the world. Customers consistently tell us they find Octopz extremely intuitive and powerful – qualities that are essential to business success in a competitive global marketplace.”
Offered on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis, Octopz enables up to five people to synchronously view and markup an unprecedented range of document types – including video, animations and other digital media. It’s easy to use, with nothing to download, and virtually no training required. Octopz has built-in text, voice and video chat capabilities, and features fully integrated SSL encryption to ensure security. In addition, Octopz is extensible and can be integrated (via API, web services and Flash) with external applications including content and digital asset management systems.
“With no learning curve required, we were able to begin using Octopz the very first day we saw it.” said Aldo Cundari, chairman and CEO of The Cundari Group of Companies, an international branding and communications agency. “This on-demand access continues to be extremely compelling for us – in seconds, personnel from our various offices, clients and suppliers, anywhere in the world, are online and effectively collaborating in real-time. For Cundari, this is a competitive advantage that enables us to be cost-effective while producing award-winning campaigns on tight deadlines.”
Octopz formally launched in April at the Web 2.0 Expo 2007, where it was named one of the ‘Top Five’ Web 2.0 services by CNET. Since then, Octopz was nominated as a finalist in the “Webware 100” awards, identified as a 2007 rising star by InfoWorld, and selected by Red Herring as one of the ten hottest startups in Canada.
“Companies-to-Watch award winners frequently go on to score high rankings in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 once they have a five year track record,” said John Ruffolo, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte. “Octopz has quickly distinguished itself for its innovative technology and entrepreneurship and this award recognizes its potential as a future leader in the Canadian technology industry.”
-30-To qualify for the Companies-to-Watch Award, candidates must have been operating for less than five years, be headquartered in Canada, and devote a significant portion of their operating revenues to creating proprietary technology and/or intellectual property. Nominees were assessed by teams of subject matter experts who conducted interviews with candidates across Canada. Companies were evaluated based on competitive advantage; market attractiveness; management effectiveness and organization; and financial performance.
“The Octopz team is delighted to receive the recognition of the highly-regarded Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards program, especially since it reinforces the positive reaction we’re receiving from the marketplace,” said Ron McKenzie, CEO of Octopz Inc. “Since we launched Octopz in mid-April, our online collaboration software has been trialed by users in 66 countries around the world. Customers consistently tell us they find Octopz extremely intuitive and powerful – qualities that are essential to business success in a competitive global marketplace.”
Offered on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis, Octopz enables up to five people to synchronously view and markup an unprecedented range of document types – including video, animations and other digital media. It’s easy to use, with nothing to download, and virtually no training required. Octopz has built-in text, voice and video chat capabilities, and features fully integrated SSL encryption to ensure security. In addition, Octopz is extensible and can be integrated (via API, web services and Flash) with external applications including content and digital asset management systems.
“With no learning curve required, we were able to begin using Octopz the very first day we saw it.” said Aldo Cundari, chairman and CEO of The Cundari Group of Companies, an international branding and communications agency. “This on-demand access continues to be extremely compelling for us – in seconds, personnel from our various offices, clients and suppliers, anywhere in the world, are online and effectively collaborating in real-time. For Cundari, this is a competitive advantage that enables us to be cost-effective while producing award-winning campaigns on tight deadlines.”
Octopz formally launched in April at the Web 2.0 Expo 2007, where it was named one of the ‘Top Five’ Web 2.0 services by CNET. Since then, Octopz was nominated as a finalist in the “Webware 100” awards, identified as a 2007 rising star by InfoWorld, and selected by Red Herring as one of the ten hottest startups in Canada.
“Companies-to-Watch award winners frequently go on to score high rankings in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 once they have a five year track record,” said John Ruffolo, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte. “Octopz has quickly distinguished itself for its innovative technology and entrepreneurship and this award recognizes its potential as a future leader in the Canadian technology industry.”
About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program, which celebrates business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship. The program features four distinct categories including the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Ranking, Companies-to- Watch Awards (honouring early-stage Canadian technology companies in business less than five years) Leadership Awards (Deloitte Technology Fast 50-ranked companies that demonstrate leadership in each of the four industry subcategories (emerging technologies, hardware, software, and telecommunications) and the Deloitte Technology Green 15 Awards (honouring companies creating innovative and economically viable intellectual property in the burgeoning field of green technology.) Deloitte Technology Fast 50 winners are automatically eligible for the prestigious Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranking. Program sponsors include Deloitte, Gowlings, GrowthWorks, CIBC World Markets, Stonewood Group, Behr & Associates, and CATAAlliance. For further information, visit www.fast50.ca or call 1-888-6FAST50.
About Octopz Inc.
OctopzInc. (www.octopz.com) develops advanced online collaboration technologies built specifically for today’s creative professionals. With fully integrated support for text messaging, VoIP and webcams, Octopz allows colleagues and partners anywhere in the world to work together securely in real-time, or individually at their own convenience, using multiple document types. Team members can then save and archive their work for subsequent retrieval, review and feedback. The result is accelerated decision making and speed-to-market – a significant competitive edge.
For more information about Deloitte’s Fast 50 Awards, contact:
Andrea Lekushoff
Principal
ALC Communications
alekushoff@deloitte.ca
416-435-2569
416-874-3837
For more information on Octopz contact:
Ann Christie
Vice President, Marketing
Octopz Inc.
416.673.8187
email here
