Thursday March 10th, 2005

12 Startups to watch

Netistix is included in OBJ series. March 9 2005

Publication: Ottawa Business Journal

“Our main focus is the state of health of the vehicle, as opposed to where it is. We collect the fitness and condition of the vehicle then convey that information wirelessly to the company.” – John Woronczuk, assistant VP of corporate business development

Netistix develops, markets and sells vehicle relationship management (VRM) systems for businesses that have significant fleet operations, including fleet management companies and their repair service providers.

The product plugs into the on-board diagnostic port, something every vehicle built since 1996 employs. Service technicians plug their scanners into it.

“We use wi-fi to transmit the data from the vehicle to a hot spot like the fleet yard or a service centre,” Mr. Woronczuk said.

Netistix technology can also capture the location of the vehicle, but its focus is to stop potential breakdowns and accidents before they occur.

“We offer (location services) as an option, and we save companies money because we don’t use cell phone air time to convey the information,” Mr. Woronczuk added. “It’s the cell charges that’ll kill you.”

The company recently signed a contract with national parcel delivery firm CANPAR Transport L.P. “They were a pilot of ours and now we’re rolling out to eight locations across Canada,” Mr. Woronczuk said.

CEO Gordon Echlin said this deal is the beginning of bigger and better things to come. “This is a vote of confidence for our technology and value proposition and we are confident that the results of the trial will impress CANPAR and ultimately produce significant savings for this portion of their fleet.”

Other pilots currently underway include a municipal police force and a federal government department.

Mr. Echlin and Mr. Woronczuk worked together at Newbridge for about 11 years and prior to that at Mitel.

Founded: 2002

Employees: 16

VC to Date: Not disclosed.

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