Adaptavist, a company that specializes in helping companies overcome digital transformation challenges, has announced the opening of its new North American headquarters in Toronto.
According to a press release, Toronto was selected over a U.S. destination, because of the “area’s diverse talent pool, economic growth and stability, and increasing dominance in tech innovation.
“Toronto is currently the fastest growing tech market and second largest start-up hub in the world. In addition to creating the new work and innovation hub, the company will add up to 800 new jobs over the next five years.”
Adaptavist, a consultancy which first launched in the U.K. in 2005, said that it also plans to invest “more than C$50 million to help incubate new start-ups, drive public and private sector collaboration including initiatives with non-profits, and support academic and corporate R&D – all in an effort to create business, technology and community growth.”
At the official launch of the facility, which took place last week, the company said its first collaboration is with Ascent Soccer, an organization that provides talented youth in the African nations of Malawi and Uganda with the opportunity to win athletic scholarships to North American colleges and universities.
Adaptavist is donating $150,000 annually to the organization for the next two years.
Toronto deputy mayor Michael Thompson, who attended the launch, described the opening as being a “great addition to Toronto’s rapidly growing tech ecosystem.”
Plans call for the office and innovation hub to provide support for Atlassian professional services, managed services, training, and apps as well as support for more diverse technology ecosystems including Aha!, GitLab and Slack.
Teams in the Toronto office will focus on major transformational practices like agile, cloud, DevOps, IT service management (ITSM) and work management.”
Harp Athwal, head of client services and North American operations at Adaptavist, said “putting down roots in Toronto over eight years ago was one of the smartest decisions we have ever made.
“(It) provides an enviable mix of culture, collaboration and support – the city is extremely welcoming to business and is serious about fostering and nurturing talent.”
Athwal, a graduate of the University of Waterloo, said in an interview that there were only two options when discussions began about setting up a North American headquarters – either Toronto or Chicago, where Adaptavist also has an office – and ultimately it was decided to set up shop in Canada.
There are, he added, also growth opportunities for the company not only in Ontario, but also in Quebec and Alberta: “We will probably have hundreds of more people joining over the next few years.”
