FREDERICTON–PLATO Testing is getting ready for a busy couple of months.
The country’s only Indigenous-led and staffed technology services company has secured a $2-million investment from Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, a venture capital firm based in Vancouver that invests in companies making positive social and environmental impacts.
According to PLATO founder Keith MacIntosh, the funding gives Raven an increased ownership share in PLATO and will support the training and employment of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students as software testers across the country.
MacIntosh told Huddle about more developments that will help PLATO achieve what has been its ultimate goal from the start–to become a majority Indigenous-owned company.
He called Raven the first investor to take a larger stake in the company but said there are conversations with other partners happening as well.
“We’re in discussion with five Indigenous community partners interested in investing in the company,” confirmed MacIntosh.
He cites several reasons for PLATO Testing to become 51 percent Indigenous-owned: it would put money back into the hands of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis groups and also open up doors for future procurement.
“We’re trying to set an example and show ways that Indigenous people can continue building capacity and have technology jobs,” said MacIntosh. “To do that we need clients, and it’s easier for federal government and big corporate clients to work with us as a fully recognized Indigenous company.”
Having majority Indigenous ownership would bring PLATO to a whole new level of possibility. The federal government recently committed to a mandate that at least five percent of federal procurement must be sourced from Indigenous-owned businesses.
Meeting growth challenges
Scaling is also MacIntosh’s priority throughout 2022, with the Fredericton-based company continuing to deliver full-service software testing services to clients throughout the pandemic.
“We have grown probably 75 to 80 percent through the pandemic,” said MacIntosh. “That growth is just going to accelerate and this money to scale lets us do it. I honestly see that growth just taking off at a much higher rate than it already has.”
PLATO’s train-and-employ model, building capacity through delivery of its Software Tester Training Program, is an eight-month course consisting of five months of in-class training followed by a three-month internship with one of the PLATO’s corporate clients.
“We grew at a pretty good rate in the last couple of years for a bunch of reasons,” said MacIntosh, who points to PLATO’s ability to channel its programming remotely as key over the past 24 months.
PLATO currently employs more than 50 full-time Indigenous software testers and MacIntosh says it plans to double its headcount in the next 12-to-18 months. He said many existing partners have already asked about how to deliver the same training models for massive IT needs for skilled workers in cloud services and cybersecurity.
“Can we do it in big data and machine learning kind of stuff?” said MacIntosh, who is also CEO and founder of Professional Quality Assurance Ltd. “There’s a combination of factors, but suddenly tech workers in general are in high demand right now,” he answered.
Finding talent, a common concern
MacIntosh attended this past week’s Digital Innovation Summit, in St. Andrews and suggested the event could not have come at a better time, considering PLATO’s growth goals.
On a path to become 51 percent Indigenous-owned, PLATO Testing founder Keith MacIntosh says the Fredericton-based company grew almost 80 percent during the pandemic and has plans to double its headcount before the end of 2023. Image: Contributed.
“What we’re training and doing with the First Nations people here in the province can expand into the general population in rural communities,” he said.
Finding new talent for software testing, or for future IT roles, is going to start with finding talent in places that have been under the tech radar.
“The same thing happens with rural kids who grew up on the farm or worked in the woods, you don’t have those jobs anymore, but they still want to live in those communities.”
PLATO Testing’s strength is its willingness to work with First Nations and other places where talent is tougher to come by.
“Any company can go to Toronto and find 100 people, but can you find a way to go to Juniper and get three people and make it worthwhile?” asked MacIntosh.
Right now, PLATO Testing is offering its software training courses around the country.
“We just finished running one in Victoria, and one in Vancouver, Kamloops – and we start in Calgary next week,” he said.
MacIntosh says PLATO is planning on running six classes this year in its testing space. He believes If the company can expand toward cybersecurity and cloud-based training, it may allow enough interest and organization to effectively run one class each month.
PLATO Testing is striving to build a network of 1,000 Indigenous software testers across Canada, though one area where MacIntosh wants to continue to deliver on, is the work opportunities that come with the training.
“We certainly can take in folks who have had all kinds of jobs, even people that have finished a university degree maybe not in technology, but in history or arts – and we can train them in a different training course to bring them in and get them into technology,” he said. “There’s just so many opportunities in digital technology right now.”
Tyler Mclean is a Huddle reporter based in Fredericton. Send him your feedback and story ideas:[email protected].
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
