Alumni spotlight
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Jacques LaPointe BSc (Eng)'87 (Civil Engineering)
Schulich and MBA a great “launching pad” for starting tech companies
Jacques LaPointe, 2024 Start Alberta Tech Investor of the Year, started with civil engineering
Jacques LaPointe has spent decades helping launch technology companies in Alberta, steering more than $50 million in investments into early-stage ventures, launching products in mobile software, telecommunications, robotics and engineering consulting, and getting his name on four patents along the way.
It’s no wonder that Start Alberta Tech awarded LaPointe with “Investor of the Year” in late 2024. The award recognizes his investment acumen, high level of integrity, and for raising the profile of local investing.
Winning the award “was a surprise,” says LaPointe, director of Metiquity Ventures. “We’re working in an area that most people are afraid of so it’s good to be acknowledged that we're making progress and also having a significant economic impact.”
The combination of engineering and an MBA has been very successful for me. I see others with that same background, and I think it provides a great sort of launching pad for growth into the industry and development of a career.
Jacques LaPointe BSc (Eng)'87 (Civil Engineering)
LaPointe, BSc (Eng)‘87, is impressed with the wide range of tech ideas and great startup companies that cross his desk at Metiquity. “Startup ideas are often very good,” says the Department of Civil Engineering alum. “The biggest question is can they build the right solution, and do they have a team that is strong enough to connect and execute with customers to make a transaction happen?”
At any given time, Metiquity’s $10 million fund is helping about 20 Alberta-based companies get off the ground. LaPointe and his founding partner, Bryan Slauko, “kick in” once a venture has a “minimum viable product” and is talking to customers. “It’s super exciting to see a company go from no revenue to first clients and then grow beyond the first million in revenue. Those are the fun things.”
Funding tech startups also comes with considerable stress, challenges and setbacks. “It is a roller coaster, especially in that early startup stage,” says LaPointe. “The biggest problem in Alberta is companies lack the ability to finance before they're in revenue. Until you’re in decent revenue of around a million dollars, it's really hard for companies to raise money.”
They don’t all make it. But over his long career helping finance pre-revenue tech ventures in Alberta, LaPointe has built an impressive track record—including co-founding ATTAbotics as well as piloting a number of “portfolio exits” (when the venture changes ownership via share buyouts, acquisition from another company—including a major from Silicon Valley—or through an initial public offering (IPO)).
Throughout the process of steering a startup to success, he says it’s crucial to think like an investor. “When you're building a company, it’s important to focus on a solution to solve the problem customers want, but it’s more important to understand the investor and at what stage the investors are interested in certain things. That’s absolutely, fundamentally critical to acquire investment.”
It’s also essential to be able to communicate with the engineers behind the tech product or service. LaPointe credits his background in engineering for much of his success. “We have to talk to technical people all the time and sum things up and boil things down into real applications for the business world,” he says. “The combination of engineering and an MBA has been very successful for me. I see others with that same background, and I think it provides a great sort of launching pad for growth into the industry and development of a career.”