Last Laugh
A small technology company from Victoria is getting the last laugh on local bankers after signing an agreement with the world's largest electronics retailer to sell its digital sign platform.
EditNew Inc. produces micro computer packs that fit on the back of LCD television screens to display everything from restaurant menus and airport schedules to in-house advertising and — ironically — lending rates at major banks. The wireless system allows users to change digital content at any time and from anywhere in the world via the Internet using laptop, personal device or home base.
The company was founded by Jeremiah Archambault and Mike Maclean on a $5,000 overdraft after attempts at financing were spurned by big banks. The partners plowed ahead on a shoe string budget anyway, securing their own contracts and re-seller agreements, and then hitting the motherlode late last year with Best Buy Canada.
EditNew signed a vendor agreement to sell its compact flash drives as part of television packages in Best Buy stores across Canada. That deal could expand into the U.S., which would give the Victoria company exposure in 1,100 Best Buy stores across North American.
The privately held company, which operates out of small office on Meares Street furnished with antiques and a warren of busy offices for programmers, does not divulge its financial figures. But Archambault said revenues have vaulted more than 250 per cent over the past year as re-seller agreements roll in and advertising starts rolling over from print to digital formats.
He said the company has 800 active licenses and that number is growing fast.
Perhaps its most quirky application has been on the golf bag of PGA superstar John Daly. Through one its re-sellers, ProBagAds.com, the long-hitter of the professional tour installed a LCD screen on the side of his bag that displays his sponsors and charities.
Users in Greater Victoria ran the gamut, said Maclean, from grocery stores and hotels to liquor stores and bars — and right over to churches and seniors activity centres.
Although most users develop and update their own material, much of the content is created and managed in-house by EditNew staff. The company has 10 employees at any given time working on contract, most of which are now in a vested share program.
Archambault, 38, is "the son of hippies born and raised in a socialist utopian society" on Sointula Island. But he took a decidedly different path than his parents, taking technology courses at Camosun College and later working for RBC Dominion Securities. Maclean, 40, is a Royal Roads University grad who spent years in the restaurant businesses, most recently managing in the GTR Group.
Abridged article: Darren Kloster, Times Colonist.
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