Justin Schurman

Justin Schurman, RBC Regional Vice President, Business Financial Services

Seven ways to fix Canada’s housing shortage

Expert Blogs

For most Canadians, the dream of owning a home is getting more elusive. Affordability has worsened. Here in Ottawa, it’s near it’s all time worst

Get our email newsletters

Get up-to-date news about the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Ottawa and beyond.

The Latest

Ottawa businesses critically important to ending youth homelessness across the city

Feds’ workplace culture could take hit if office space woes aren’t fixed soon, HR experts say

Inside a data centre: How PureColo is using an old IBM building to serve the needs of the future

UPDATED: Regional Group acquires Slater Street office tower from Manulife

Video

Ottawa’s AI scene is evolving. Early momentum was created by companies such as Solink, founded by Mike Matta, which applied computer vision to retail analytics, and Ranovus, led by Hany Mussad, which develops the optical hardware necessary for high-capacity AI data centres. Subsequent growth was driven by firms such as MindBridge, co-founded by Solon Angel and Eli Fathi, and BluWave-ai, led by Devashish Paul, which targeted specific industrial applications in financial auditing and energy grid management.

A new AI player is garnering international attention. Backboard.io is developing a memory-native API designed to manage long-term context in large language models. In January 2026, the company closed a pre-seed funding round led by Mistral Venture Partners, with participation from N49P, Garage Capital, and Developer Capital.

In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran speaks to Rob Imbeault, the founder and CEO of Backboard.io. Having already co-founded tech unicorn Assent, Imbeault is now in the CEO seat and predicting big things to come.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:56 Introducing Rob Imbeault
14:00 Sponsor Segment
22:27 Building a Better Working World
24:03 Techopia Sponsors
24:43 Closing and What’s Ahead at OBJ

For more on Ottawa’s tech and innovation scene, visit https://obj.ca/techopia.

Subscribe to Techopia’s weekly newsletter here: https://obj121.activehosted.com/f/5

Techopia Live: Imbeault is back with Backboard.io | Episode 295

OBJ360

Sponsored

EXPERT BLOGS

View All | Submit an Expert Blog

Sueling Ching, Ottawa Board of Trade

2026 marks a new chapter for Ottawa

Justin Schurman

The federal downsizing effect: Risk, resilience and Ottawa real estate

Justin Schurman

Sueling Ching, Ottawa Board of Trade

Building Canada’s Defence Innovation Hub

Justin Schurman

EVENTS

View All | Submit an Event