The Boast team has been meeting with innovators across North America these past few months to spread the word about how to maximize innovation and growth by unlocking the true value of your organization’s research and development.
Our latest stop took us to Canada’s capital for a week of fun in Ottawa, where each year the SaaS North Conference brings together stakeholders across the software ecosystem.
Along with holding it down right outside the keynote hall at Booth A10 all week, our team tracked down some of the biggest movers and shakers at the event for a quick chat to discuss the undeniable innovation being born out of events like these.
Support at all stages of the SaaS lifecycle
Day 1 got off to a great start as the Boast team got to connect IRL with our long-time pal and venture-builder extraordinaire Dallas Price at Booth A10!
Dallas was featured on a panel discussing the various funding paths available to entrepreneurs in the SaaS ecosystem. As he told Paul Davenport, leveraging Venture Capital (VC) is the logical path for many founders, but it’s not the only way to find your innovation.
Check out Dallas’s interview with Paul last year to learn more about how he’s helping tech leaders fund and build innovative businesses in North America and beyond.
SaaS support beyond just funding
Simon Fortin and the team from SupportMyMac are one of the many SaaS support solutions meeting with software leaders in Ottawa last week.
Both Simon and Paul Davenport are two-time attendees of Saas North, and they both agree that 2024 is somehow even more exciting than last year, with so many stakeholders in the software ecosystem making their presence known.
New founders entering the SaaS space
Cheryl Bond (LeBarr) of 27K has one of those unconventional entrepreneur journeys that make events like SaaS North Conference so worthwhile.
With a background in fashion, Cheryl and her team unlocked game-changing innovation in the custom apparel space that’s introducing automation and efficiency like never before.
Cheryl joined Paul Davenport at Booth A10 to chat about funding and learn more about the tax credits available to businesses in both the US and Canada.
Connecting with the MC on the floor in Ottawa
As the MC for SaaS North 2024, Manuela Bárcenas of the Fellow App has a packed schedule. She still took the time to connect with Paul Davenport from Boast about the amazing SaaS ecosystem that turns out for this incredible event each year.
While the Ottawa community are one piece of the puzzle, it’s the support from across Canada that sets this event apart. Resources abound—from funding to development—and the organizers go out of their way to ensure plenty of creative collisions take place throughout these incredible 2 days.
Another familiar face to anyone who had their eyes on the main stage was JS Patenaude of Fireraven, who gave one of the standout pitches on Day 1.
JS stopped by the Boast booth to share their innovation story and the opportunity to both partner and invest in a powerful Canadian startup
New and old friends stop by to chat about Tax Credits
Of course, one of our highlights from each year’s SaaS North is catching up with Ottawa-based Knak, one of the premier SaaS solutions born from this incredible tech community.
Boast wasn’t the first provider that Patrick Proulx and the team at Knak turned to for SR&ED. But after our team of skilled tech writers turned what used to be a hassle into “practically an afterthought” his team never looked back.
Boast helped Knak maximize their R&D tax credit claim while taking the work off their shoulders—allowing the Knak team to keep innovating and get the recoup on their product development investments that they deserved.
Unpacking the SaaS metrics that matter most
On Day 2 of the event, we were thrilled to catch up with one of Boast’s longtime partners Lauren Thibodeau, whose work at SaaSCan has been invaluable to helping founders in the software space understand what success should look like.
Both Lauren’s research and Boast’s own R&D Benchmark Study emphasize how critical it is for companies to maximize their innovation runway in 2024 through a diversified capital strategy.
Lauren caught up with Paul Davenport bright and early on Day 2 to discuss the amazing founders who she’s connected with, the value of R&D tax credits and what’s in store for Canada’s SaaS ecosystem in 2025.
Innovation leaders on the cutting-edge of building great SaaS
We were pumped to see another familiar face in the form of Lodestone’s own Dennis Chow, who recently stopped by our What The Tech podcast following his big win at the Code Launch Accelerator pitch competition over the summer in Toronto.
What sets Lodestone apart is that it offers a truly holistic solution for product development —including helping product leaders shape the narrative around fresh solutions to help maximize their market potential.
It’s sympatico with our mission here at Boast: Help teams maximize their product innovation (and focus on the work they do best) while we focus on turning that innovation into funding through tax credits.
In that same vein, Jane Maslianska and the team at Staff Nash want to accelerate and simplify the process of finding talent for SaaS leaders.
Jane and her team were Boast’s neighbors on the floor and took advantage of the amazing, friendly atmosphere that only SaaS North can foster.
Building great software hinges on efficiency, and both Boast and the Staff Nash team have the expertise to help teams maximize output without over-extending their resources.
While it was a whirlwind week in Ottawa, the Boast team is always on the road looking to help businesses not just tap into the funding they deserve to drive more innovation, but streamline processes for long-term success.
To learn more about Boast’s combination of AI-driven platform excellence with unmatched tax and tech expertise, talk to an expert today.
