A homegrown success story written by an alumnus of Waterloo Engineering marked a major milestone – cumulative revenue topping $1 billion – by unveiling a public sculpture yesterday at its headquarters in the David Johnston Research and Technology Park on the north campus.
TextNow was launched 2009 as a co-op placement by student Derek Ting (BASc ’10) to help pay his bills while he was earning his undergraduate degree in computer engineering at Waterloo.
The company has since attracted millions of users of its free, app-based phone service and steadily grown on its own terms - without an infusion of venture capital after initial seed funding and close to its roots to take advantage of the local technology ecosystem.
"This milestone is less about the number and more about what it represents," Ting, a co-founder and CEO, said in a media release. "There is a belief that reaching this level requires outside funding and a specific growth model. We have shown there is another way. It can be earned by building something people choose to use over time."
The largest ad-supported free wireless service in the United States, the company’s app gives customers access to a local phone number and nationwide talk and text. Wireless data can be added for a flexible fee.
TextNow, which also has an office in San Francisco, described the sculpture as “a lasting marker of the (revenue) achievement and a reflection of what was built in Waterloo, highlighting the role of the region's innovation ecosystem while inviting the next generation of founders to see what's possible when there's another way to build.”