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How the pandemic taught Rewind CEO Mike Potter the importance of having a backup plan

Insider Only Techopia, Top Stories

‘Emotionally, it was excruciating’: OSEG boss Mark Goudie looks back on the pandemic shutdown

Insider Only Ottawa, Sports and Entertainment, Top Stories

Mathieu Grondin, Ottawa nightlife commissioner. Photo provided by the City of Ottawa.

‘This doesn’t happen overnight’: Nightlife commissioner Mathieu Grondin sheds light on his role

Ottawa, Insider Only Sports and Entertainment, Top Stories, Tourism

Escape Manor co-founders Chris Bisson and Steve Wilson

‘Scrappy we got’: How Escape Manor found its way out of the pandemic

Insider Only Ottawa, Sports and Entertainment, Top Stories, Tourism

Owner Farid Dagher is opening a new venue on Rideau Street, Gridwrks, which will replace Mavericks Bar and Cafe Dekcuf. Photo by NPG Studio.

Owner of new music venue on Rideau St. says he’ll have ‘synergies’ with History Ottawa

Ottawa, Insider Only Sports and Entertainment, Top Stories, Tourism

Mitel HQ

Kanata-based tech mainstay Mitel files for bankruptcy protection in U.S.

Insider Only Techopia, Top Stories

KRP residential project in Kanata

Wesley Clover unveils details of office-to-residential conversion project in Kanata North

Insider Only Real Estate, Top Stories

Rendering of the convertible business and living space in a unit at Evospace's development, The Nebula. Supplied

New development in Orléans offers units for entrepreneurs with both residential and work space

Real Estate, Insider Only Top Stories

Downtown YMCA building

YMCA holding on to flagship Centretown building as site’s assessed value falls

Insider Only Ottawa, Real Estate, Top Stories

Apartment for rent stock image

Apartment rents levelling off as parts of Ottawa are now ‘oversupplied,’ real estate exec says

Insider Only Ottawa, Real Estate, Residential, Top Stories

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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 | Eposide 295

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SnowBall 2026: A premier networking event with purpose returns to 50 Sussex Dr.

OCOBIA eyes Ottawa BIA expansion as it gears up for election year

How shared goals at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend strengthen workplace culture

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and partners lead with generosity

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Moe Tabesh writes about communicating with the CRA

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