The global shift to online learning has put Epiphan Video at the front of the class when it comes to sales growth in 2020.
The Kanata-based firm – which is privately held and doesn’t disclose specific financial data – says it posted revenue gains of 41 per cent in the fiscal year that ended Oct. 31, its biggest year-over-year increase in more than a decade.
Demand for Epiphan’s products – which capture, stream and record video for easy playback on computers and mobile devices – has skyrocketed during the pandemic. Many of its more than 20,000 customers are colleges and universities that are now live-streaming more lectures than ever as schools have switched to virtual classrooms.
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Chief financial officer Jeff Kushner says supply-chain issues that plagued the company earlier in the pandemic have been solved. A smaller version of the company’s flagship Pearl all-in-one switching, streaming and recording platform that’s set to hit the market in January has already garnered hundreds of advance orders, he said, while the firm continues to develop new cloud software applications.
Global reach
While it’s based here in Ottawa, Epiphan is truly a global enterprise. The firm now does business in more than 125 countries, generating an eye-catching 97 per cent of its sales from customers outside Canada’s borders.
That worldwide market exposure has paid off handsomely for Epiphan. Kushner says the company is consistently profitable and has grown its revenues every year since it was founded in 2003.
“We’re in a very fortunate spot,” he told OBJ earlier this summer.
With surging demand also comes more hiring.
Epiphan’s headcount has risen 30 per cent in 2020 and now stands at about 60, with 50 of those employees based here in the capital. The company also has a 10-person sales and marketing team in Palo Alto, Calif., where founder and CEO Mike Sandler is now based, and employs a handful of software developers in Russia.
Hybrid work model
Epiphan was one of the first Ottawa companies to close its office when the coronavirus hit the region back in March. The firm will likely shift to a hybrid work model once the pandemic subsides, Kushner said, adding the company has no plans to abandon its 20,000-square-foot head office on March Road.
The CFO says he expects fiscal 2021 to be another banner year for Epiphan as it continues to evolve its product line and court new customers. More new software engineers and sales and marketing personnel are expected to join Epiphan’s team in the year ahead.
“We’d like to congratulate our staff on a great job,” he said in an email to OBJ. “They are our lifeblood.”
