Alumnus company Solink raises $23 million in funding

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

A video security and data analytics software firm started by a Waterloo Engineering alumnus has secured $23 million in funding to help fuel its growth.

Solink, which is based in Ottawa and has about 80 employees, was co-founded in 2009 by electrical engineering graduate Mike Matta, now the chief executive officer.

Its products integrate video surveillance footage with technology including point-of-sale platforms and inventory tracking tools. Artificial intelligence then analyzes data to help clients spot suspicious activity and inefficient workflows.

The company got a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic when it identified a need for clients - many of them fast-food restaurants and retailers - to remotely monitor their closed operations and added a feature to its platform to do that.

“Our goal when we built Solink was to offer any organization, from individual store owner to senior executives, the ability to ask any question of their business, and use data and video to get a complete answer,” Matta (BASc ’07) said in a media release. “This next phase of our growth will allow us to integrate more data to help brick and mortar businesses innovate and scale.”

Its latest funding round, led by OMERS Ventures, increases the company’s total backing to $40 million.