Mobify uses the power of connection to transform the way people use their mobile devices for commerce. And with a recent investment by Acton Capital Partners, a European technology investment fund, Mobify will continue to ensure that its digitally savvy clients and their customers remain loyal friends.

The company was founded in 2007 by SFU computing science alumni Igor Faletski and John Boxall who were later joined by Peter McLachlan. Working in Faletski’s mom’s basement, they developed what would become Mobify’s first product: MyBus, an app that delivers bus schedules via text message. 

Today, the company is a global leader in mobile customer engagement, driving hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year for its 230 clients, including Eddie Bauer, Carnival and L’Oréal. The company employs 150 people between its Yaletown space and London office, including several people the founders first met in their student days at SFU.

“Relationships are the key not only to our success, but to our customers’ success as well. Whether it’s the future business partner you meet in university, or the relationships you build and maintain with your customers through our Mobile Customer Engagement Platform, people are the foundation of everything we do.”

Faletski and Boxall, both recipients of BC Business Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 award, haven’t forgotten that it was at SFU where they were first given the opportunity to connect, engage and innovate, so they continue to give back. Faletski presented at TEDxSFU in 2013 to encourage students to start companies of their own. Mobify hires SFU co-op students, which has proved to be a mutually beneficial relationship. And Mobify has recently donated a total of $40,000 to help SFU computing science students and recent graduates try their hand as entrepreneurs. 

“Being an immigrant definitely helped me in terms of starting a company. I didn’t know how the country worked when I came to Canada, but I did know that the old rules didn’t apply anymore. When we started out, getting funding for a tech company wasn’t as commonplace as it is nowadays, so it took us a few years to get the business off the ground.”
Startups like Mobify—which is today one of Vancouver’s anchor tech companies—have helped pave the way for today’s upstarts. And, its headquarters were used as the location for the province’s $100 million technology innovation venture capital fund announcement in 2015. 

“At Mobify, we know from personal experience how critical early stage investment is for startups. Increasing access to venture capital in B.C. is a major boost to growing technology companies and to the overall economy, but we have to support students and create opportunities for innovation to avoid a brain drain to bigger centres.”