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Kinaxis, uOttawa ink five-year partnership to develop new technologies

January 29, 2025

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Software company Kinaxis has signed a five-year partnership with the University of Ottawa that will see the two organizations work together to develop new technologies to power supply-chain applications. The Kanata-based tech firm, which specializes in software that helps customers manage their supply chains, says it will work with researchers and students pursuing master’s and doctorate degrees at uOttawa to create new products in areas such as artificial intelligence and next-generation user interfaces. “We are so lucky to be headquartered in Ottawa, which has such a world-class tech community as well as prestigious universities like uOttawa that are excited to collaborate with industry on such important projects,” Kinaxis chief technology officer Gelu Ticala said in a statement. “We are thrilled to partner with uOttawa, and are looking forward to all the learning, innovation and positive impacts that can come out of this, for the students, the university and for supply chains.” University of Ottawa vice-president of research and innovation Julie St-Pierre said the partnership will provide students with “invaluable hands-on industry experience” while helping create new solutions that will have “a lasting impact on global supply chains.” Founded in 1984 by three former Mitel engineers, Kinaxis supplies supply-chain planning software to some of the world’s biggest companies, including Ford, Exxon and Procter & Gamble. The company, which now generates nearly half a billion U.S. dollars in annual revenues, has come under mounting scrutiny from shareholders in recent months amid ongoing upheaval in its senior leadership ranks. Two high-profile investment firms late last year publicly called on Kinaxis’s board to “aggressively” explore the possibility of a sale. The investors made it clear they aren’t happy with the steep decline in Kinaxis’s stock price since late 2020, as well as the departures of former CEO John Sicard, who retired at the end of December, and chief sales officer Claire Rychlewski, who vacated a C-suite that has already seen several key figures exit in the past 12 months. Kinaxis’s shares were down $9.90, or nearly six per cent, to $167.65 in late afternoon trading Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.