Solido expands Saskatoon operation
Solido Design Automation employees Jeff Dyck, left, Kris Breen, centre, and Roshan Thomas. Company CEO Amit Gupta says Saskatoon is the perfect spot to build a technology company.
Photograph by: Gord Waldner, The Starphoenix
Amit Gupta believes Saskatoon can be a beacon for technological innovation in Canada, and he wants his business to be a part of that shift.
In his role as chief executive officer and president of Solido Design Automation, Gupta is overseeing the company’s current expansion. The move added 2,200 square feet to its office at Innovation Place and doubled its staff with an additional 25 people, both of which Gupta says will create opportunities for local job seekers.
“They don’t have to go to B.C. or Alberta to get a good technology job. There’s great jobs here in Saskatoon,” Gupta said.
Solido Design Automation is a software firm based out of Saskatoon that builds programs used by other groups to streamline their own product development. The software they specialize in helps companies as they build devices that have become a fundamental part of the modern world.
“What’s really exciting for us is that the software that’s developed right here in Saskatoon is being used to make iPhones, smart TVs, smartwatches, tablets, iPads and laptops that we all use in our everyday life,” Gupta said.
Founded in 2005, Solido has seen significant growth in recent years – including a 60 per cent revenue increase in 2014 and a 90 per cent year-over-year increase in the first half of 2015.
The trend is not unfamiliar for Saskatoon, which is a city currently undergoing its own growth in the technological sector.
Vas Isman, president and CEO of Innovation Place, says his own company is expecting a surge in startups to hit the city before the end of 2015.
“I think that there’s a push as far as innovation is concerned, and a lot of our people are seeing opportunities where maybe they hadn’t stumbled across those kinds of opportunities before,” Isman said.
“Technology is changing so quickly and so rapidly. There’s new opportunities that are coming to light to people on an ongoing basis.”
Gupta credits Saskatoon as being a huge factor in Solido’s success.
“I think Saskatoon definitely has all the ingredients necessary to build a technology company,” he said, placing particular emphasis on its investment opportunities, excellent workplace facilities and deep talent pool of people as vital components when starting a business.
“We’re hiring top-notch computer scientists and engineers to come work for us,” Gupta said.
“Being beside a worldclass university like the University of Saskatchewan really helps.”
Looking to the future, Gupta is excited to hit the ground running with a larger team and dig deeper roots as a member of Saskatoon’s technological development scene. “We’re making a pretty big investment in Saskatoon.”
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Solido Design Automation Inc.
Technology Sector
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