Applexus Technologies founder and CEO Sam Mathew said they were looking at multiple cities before they chose Calgary for their Canadian headquarters.
The global technology company made the announcement Wednesday at the Platform Innovation Centre in Calgary. They received a $1.43 million grant from the Government of Alberta’s Investment Growth Fund (IGF) to tip the scales in Calgary’s favour. The Applexus total investment will be $3 million in the local economy.
Mathew said the government investment wasn’t necessarily part of their determining criteria, but it made the decision to locate here easier.
“Many people that I have met here, they have asked me, and the most important thing I felt is that we found a very welcoming community,” he said.
“The second of it being there was a good talent pool and there were good, excellent education institutions, world class infrastructure and connectivity.”
Calgary Economic Development CEO Brad Parry said that it was important to have companies like Applexus enter Calgary to support the community from within.
“It’s not just about coming in and taking talent. It’s about growing talent and becoming talent,” Parry said.
He also said that they spent a lot of time with Applexus beforehand to understand their corporate values to ensure a match with the city.
“Once we started to understand how they value the communities they move into and what they support and they invest back into the communities and help retrain, it was a no-brainer for us to really go after them and really make sure they understood the value proposition and the advantages they had to be in our province and our city directly.”
Jobs coming over five years
The company, which provides business consulting services to help manage SAP solutions software, plans to employ 125 people in Calgary. Those jobs will come over five years, Mathew said.
Applexus intends to help upskill local talent, including new graduates. They also hope to attract new tech talent to the area.
They’re looking for space in the downtown core. Mathew said they’ll be looking for 4,000 to 5,000 square feet to start. They currently have four employees working at the new headquarters and will be hiring more, he said. Right now, the company employs roughly 20 people in Canada, many in the Toronto area.
Alberta Minister of Trade Immigration and Multiculturalism Rajan Sawhney represented the province for the announcement and said this is what the IGF was meant to do.
“We are thrilled that the IGF helped seal the deal for Applexus to set up shop in Calgary, helping further strengthen Alberta’s technology sector and create many new jobs,” she said.
Applexus was founded in 2005 and operates in North America, the UK, India and Sri Lanka.
